208 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 



twenty or thirty. The cacique escaped in a manner 

 which surprised every one: the chief Indians have 

 always one or two picked horses, which they keep 

 ready for any urgent occasion. On one of these, an 

 old white horse, the cacique sprung, taking with him 

 his little son : the horse had neither saddle nor bridle. 

 To avoid the shots the Indian rode in the peculiar 

 method of his nation, namely, with an arm round the 

 horse's neck, and one leg only on its back. Thus 

 hanging on one side he was seen patting the horse's 

 head, and talking to him. The pursuers urged every 

 effort in the chase ; the commandant three times 

 changed his horse, but all in vain; the old Indian 

 father and his son escaped, and were free. What a fine 

 picture one can form in one's mind : the naked bronze- 

 like figure of the old man with his little boy, riding 

 like a Mazeppa on the white horse, thus leaving far 

 behind him the host of his pursuers ! 



Colt breaking is managed by the Gauchos, or 

 Guassos, as they are called in Chili, with the lasso, 

 much in the same way as by the Kalmucks. Their 

 skill in the use of this instrument is extraordinary, 

 and it was a weapon of great power in their hands 

 during the war of independence. They never failed 

 to dismount cavalry with it, or to throw down the 

 horses of those who came within their reach. There 



