THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 201 



they pass the gate, they spring forward at full speed 

 with all the appearance of terror. But were they to 

 go ten times faster, it would avail them nothing 

 against the irresistible lasso, which, in the midst of 

 dust and a confusion seemingly inextricable, is placed 

 by the Guachos, with the most perfect correctness, 

 over the parts aimed at. There cannot be conceived 

 a more spirited or a more picturesque scene than was 

 now presented to us. Let the furious beast be ima- 

 gined, driven almost to madness by thirst and a variety 

 of irritations, and in the utmost terror at the multitude 

 of lassos whirling all around him ; he rushes wildly 

 forward, his eyes flashing fire, his nostrils almost 

 touching the ground, and his breath driving off the 

 dust in his course. For one short instant he is 

 free, and full of life and strength, defying, as it were, 

 all the world to restrain him in his headlong course ; 

 the next moment he is covered with lassos ; his horns, 

 his neck, his legs, are all encircled by those inevitable 

 cords, hanging loose, in long festoons, from the hands 

 of the horsemen, galloping in all directions, but the 

 next instant as tight as bars of iron, and the noble 

 animal lying prostrate on the ground motionless and 

 helpless. He is immediately despatched by a man on 

 foot, who stands ready for this purpose with a long 

 sharp knife in his hand ; and as soon as the body is 

 disentangled from the lassos, it is drawn on one side, 

 10* 



