30 STATES OF THE RIVER PLATE. 



gaucho dismounts, hamstrings, and kills it with his long 

 knife. Swinging the ' balls,' he will pursue the wild horse, 

 and when within range cast them, striking the legs or 

 the ground within the horse's stride ; they wind round the 

 fleeing animal's hind legs, and cause it to fall. His horse 

 falling with him, even at full gallop, the gaucho rarely 

 comes to grief, for loosing his knee hold, he is impelled 

 forward on his legs, and catches his horse before he is up. 

 As an instance of the extraordinary sagacity and clever- 

 ness of a horse perfectly trained to work among cattle, I 

 will relate an encounter which took place only two or three 

 days ago, on the town killing-grounds, at the southern 

 extremity of the city of Buenos Ayres, and witnessed by 

 my son. An unusually large and powerful bull was loosed 

 from one of the corrales ; he was approached in the usual 

 way by the lasso-men, whom he charged, freeing himself 

 from the lassoes ; he became infuriated, and charged and 

 charged again with such velocity that none of them could 

 succeed in throwing him ; he unhorsed two of the men, 

 disembowelling one of the horses, and injuring the rider ; 

 he gored another horse in the leg, and finally beat his 

 antagonists out of the ground. There was a moment of 

 suspense, for none seemed willing to try their chances 

 against him, when from the far side of the killing- ground 

 an old man was seen to approach cautiously on a somewhat 

 lean and ancient-looking roan horse ; a cry was raised by 

 the beaten lasso-men to warn the old man, and induce him 

 to return and avoid what appeared to be certain death ; 

 but the old man heeded not, and availing himself of the 

 diversion of the bull's attention to the cries in the front, 

 ran his horse, breast on, against the infuriated animal's 

 flanks, which staggered and then instantly charged. The 

 old man dexterously avoided the onslaught, cast his lasso 

 over the horns, and, at the same moment, drew a rug 



