216 KESOUECES OF CALIFORNIA. 



rancli, and the work is continued from day to day until fin- 

 ished. All the rodeos of a neighborhood are usually lield in a 

 regular and close connection. The rancheros from a distance, 

 therefore, stay until they have attended all the rodeos in a 

 district to which they suppose that any of their cattle have 

 strayed ; and they are usually the guests of the man upon 

 whose ranch the rodeo is given. 



When a cow is driven out, her calf follows. Every ran- 

 chero knows his cattle by the brand, which law find custom re- 

 quire him to use. Of course, when a man has four or five thou- 

 sand head of cattle, he cannot recognize them all by sight; he 

 can only distinguish them by marks. He knows his cows by 

 their brands, and his calves by their following the cows. 



The spring rodeos are the busiest seasons of the rancheros, 

 and are for them the chief occasions of general meeting, exci- 

 ting adventure, conversation, and festivity, in the course of the 

 year. Frequently three or four hundred men will meet at these 

 places, mounted on their best horses, and ready for fun. All 

 the work of the rodeo is exciting. Lively scenes are enacting 

 at every moment, and in every direction. Calves will try to 

 get away from the herd, and escape to the hills. Cows which 

 have been driven out will endeavor to get back. These must 

 be chased by the horsemen. Frequently the lasso must be 

 used. Many of the vaqueros are fond of showing their skill 

 before so many spectators, and astonishing feats of horseman- 

 ship are performed. 



When a ranchero returns from a rodeo, with his cattle which 

 had strayed away, he drives them into his corral, and brands and 

 marks his calves ; so that if they should return to their former 

 range, he will know them the next year. If those that have been 

 on other ranches are too numerous to he branded and marked 

 in one day, some of his vaqueros stay with them on horseback, 

 and herd them until all can be marked. When a cow has be- 

 come accustomed to a ranch, she likes to return to it. After all 

 the calves are marked, the owner does not care much whither 

 they go, provided that they do not stray beyond the Hmits of 



