HISTORY. 497 



Either some of the docility of temper remains which the race 

 had acquired in the domestic state, or the genial clime and 

 abundant herbage render them of gentler temperament than 

 the pristine horses of the Asiatic deserts. The means, how- 

 ever, taken to subdue them are of unequalled barbarity, and 

 altogether different from the careful culture with which, in 

 other countries, the youthful colt is reconciled to obedience, 

 and gradually trained to administer to the wants and plea- 

 sures of his protector. 



When it is intended to capture a Wild Horse or Baguale, 

 as it is called, the Guachos, or inhabitants of the plain, set 

 out in search of the herd on horses trained to the chase. 

 Either by means of the bolas and lazo, or of the lazo alone, 

 the animal is entangled, thrown to the ground, and either at 

 once mounted and furiously ridden, or tied to a post for se- 

 veral days without food or water, castrated and mounted. 

 The bola referred to consists of three stones rolled in leather, 

 and tied to a common centre, with strong leather cords more 

 than a yard in length. One being taken hold of, the others 

 are swung around the head, and, when the necessary impe- 

 tus is acquired, thrown with matchless dexterity round the 

 limbs of the animal to be entangled. The lazo has been 

 often described. It consists of a rope, about the thickness 

 of the finger, made of twisted thongs of untanned hide, fifteen 

 or twenty yards in length. It has a ring at one end forming 

 a running noose. The other end is attached to a strong belt 

 of hide, bound tightly round the horse. The coil is held by 

 the left hand of the horseman ; the noose end trails on the 

 ground, except when in use, and then it is swung round the 

 head, when it expands in a circular form, and is discharged 

 from the hand with unerring aim, falling upon the part at 

 which it is aimed, the neck, or one or more of the legs, or 

 round the body, as may be wished, the horseman himself at 

 speed all the while. The entangled animal is hurled to the 

 ground with tremendous violence, and, before he can recover 

 himself, is seized, and sometimes a saddle is strapped upon 



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