70 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 



for the occupations of his future life : with a lasso 

 made of twine he tries to catch little birds or the dogs 

 as they walk in and out of the hut. By the time he 

 is four years old he is on horseback, and immediately 

 becomes useful by assisting to drive the cattle into the 

 corral. The manner in which these children ride is 

 quite extraordinary : if a horse tries to escape from 

 the flock which are driven towards the corral (the 

 enclosure for cattle), I have frequently seen a child 

 pursue him, overtake him, and then bring him back, 

 flogging him the whole way ; in vain the creature 

 tries to dodge and escape from him, for the child 

 turns with him, and always keeps close to him ; 

 and it is a curious fact, which I have often observed, 

 that a mounted horse is always able to overtake a 

 loose one. 



" His amusements and his occupations soon become 

 more manly. Careless of the biscacheros (the holes 

 of an animal called the biscacho, which undermine the 

 plains, and which are very dangerous) he gallops after 

 the ostrich, the gama, the puma, and the jaguar ; he 

 catches them with his balls ; and with his lasso he 

 daily assists in catching the wild cattle and dragging 

 them to the hut, either for slaughter or to be milked. 

 He breaks in the young horses, and in these occupa- 

 tions is soon away from his hut many days, changing 

 his horse as often as the animal is tired, and sleeping 

 on the ground. As his constant food is beef and wa- 



