A CHILEAN RONDEO 127 



any other man s horse, and each drove his 

 animal right against his opponent. The two 

 men fronting each other at the bar kept their 

 horses head-on against the bar; the others 

 strove each to get his horse s head between the 

 body of one of his opponents and the head of 

 that opponent s horse. They then remained 

 in a knot for some minutes, the riders cheering 

 the horses with their strange, wild, Indian-like 

 cries, while the horses pushed and strained. 

 Usually there was almost no progress on either 

 side at first. It would look as though not an 

 inch was gained. Gradually, however, the 

 horses on one side or the other got an inch or 

 two or three inches advantage of position by 

 straining and shoving. Suddenly the right 

 vantage-point was attained. There was an 

 outburst of furious shouting from the riders. 

 The horses of one side with straining quar 

 ters thrust their way through the press, whirl 

 ing round or half upsetting their opponents, 

 and rushed down alongside the bar. Why the 

 men s legs were not broken I could not say. 

 On this occasion all the men were good-natured. 

 But it was a rough sport, and I could well 

 credit the statement that, if there were bad 

 blood to gratify, the chances were excellent for 

 a fight. 



