f^ip!??^ 



194 A STUBBORN BULL. [chap. ix. 



very stormy, with much hail and snow. We rode across 

 the island to the neck of land which joins the Rincon del 

 Toro (the great peninsula at the S.W. extremity) to the 

 rest of the island. From the great number of cows which 

 have been killed, there is a large proportion of bulls. 

 These wander about single, or two and three together, and 

 are very savage. I never saw such magnificent beasts ; 

 they equalled in the size of their huge heads and necks the 

 Grecian marble sculptures. Captain Sulivan informs me 

 that the hide of an average-sized bull weighs forty-seven 

 pounds, whereas a hide of this weight, less thoroughly 

 dried, is considered as a very heavy one at Monte Video. 

 The young bulls generally run away for a short distance ; 

 but the old ones do not stir a step, except to rush at man 

 and horse ; and many horses have been thus killed. An old 

 bull crossed a boggy stream, and took his stand on the 

 opposite side to us ; we in vain tried to drive him away, 

 and failing, were obliged to make a large circuit. The 

 Gauchos in revenge determined to emasculate him and 

 render him for the future harmless. It was very interest- 

 ing to see how art completely mastered force. One lazo 

 was thrown over his horns as he rushed at the horse, and 

 another round his hind legs ; in a minute the monster was 

 stretched powerless on the ground. After the lazo has 

 once been drawn tightly round the horns of a furious 

 animal, it does not at first appear an easy thing to dis- 

 engage it again without killing the beast ; nor, I apprehend, 

 would it be so if the man was by himself. By the aid, 

 however, of a second person throwing his lazo so as to 

 catch both hind legs, it is quickly managed ; for the animal, 

 as long as its hind legs are kept outstretched, is quite help- 

 less, and the first man can with his hands loosen his lazo 

 from the horns, and then quietly mount his horse ; but the 

 moment the second man, by backing ever so little, relaxes 

 the strain, the lazo slips off the legs of the struggling 

 beast, which then rises free, shakes himself, and vainly 

 rushes at his antagonist. 



During our whole ride we saw only one troop of wild 

 horses. These animals, as well as the cattle, were intro- 

 duced by the French In 1764, since which time both have 

 greatly increased. It is a curious fact, that the horses have 

 never left the eastern end of the Island, although there is 

 no natural boundary to prevent them from roaming, and 

 that part of the island is not more tempting than the rest. 



