CHAP. IX.] WILD HORSES. 191 



him and render him for the future harmless. It was very inter- 

 esting 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 disengage it again without killing the 

 beast ; nor, I apprehend, would it be so if the man was by him- 

 self. 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 outstretclied, is quite 

 helpless, 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 introduced by tlie 

 French in 1764, since which time both have greatly increased. 

 It is a curious fact, tliat the horses have never left the eastern 

 end of the island, although there is no natural boundary to pre- 

 vent them from roaming, and that part of the island is not more 

 tempting than the rest. The Gauclios whom I asked, though 

 asserting this to be the case, were unable to account for it, ex- 

 cept from the strong attachment whicli horses have to any loca- 

 lity to which they are accustomed. Considering that the island 

 does not appear fully stocked, and that there are no beasts of 

 prey, I was particularly curious to know what has checked their 

 originally rapid increase. That in a limited island some check 

 would sooner or later supervene, is inevitable ; but why has 

 tlie increase of the horse been checked sooner than that of the 

 cattle ? Capt. Sulivan has taken much pains for me in this 

 inquiry. The Gauchos employed here attribute it chiefly to 

 the stallions constantly roaming from place to place, and com- 

 pelling the mares to accompany them, whether or not the young 

 foals are able to follow. One Gaucho told Capt. Sulivan that 

 he had watched a stallion for a whole hour, violently kicking 

 and bitins" a mare till he forced her to leave her foal to its late. 

 Capt. Sulivan can so far corroborate this curious account, that 



