308 NATURAL HISTORY. 



any part of that continent, although the boundless prairies were admirably fitted for the support of 

 countless herds. Soon, however, those imported by the settlers strayed away, and as a consequence 

 horses are now met with in vast numbers, in some cases amounting, it is said, to ten thousand in 

 one troop. They appear to be under the command of a leader, the strongest and boldest of the herd, 

 whom they implicitly obey. When threatened with danger, at some signal, understood by them all, 

 they either close into a dense mass and trample their enemy to death, or, placing the mares and foals 

 in the centre, they form themselves into a circle and welcome him with their heels. The leader first 

 faces the danger, and when prudence requires a retreat all follow his rapid flight. In the thinly 

 inhabited parts of South America, according to Youatt, it is dangerous' to fall in with any of these 

 troops. The Wild Horses approach as near as they dare ; they call to the loaded Horse with the 

 greatest eagerness, and if the rider is not on the alert, and has not considerable strength of arm and 

 sharpness of spur, his animal will divest himself of his burden, take to his heels, and be gone for ever. 

 Byron well describes the Wild Horse in his " Mazeppa " : 



" A trampling troop ; I see them come ! 

 In one vast squadron they advance ! 

 I strove to cry my lips were dumb. 

 The steeds rush on in plunging pride ; 

 But where are they the reins to guide ? 

 A thousand horse and none to ride ! 

 With flowing tail, and flying mane, 

 Wide nostrils never stretch'd by pain, 

 Mouths bloodless to the bit or rein, 

 And feet that iron never shod, 

 And flanks unscarr'd by spur or rod, 

 A thousand horse, the wild, the free, 

 Like waves that follow o'er the sea. 

 On came the troop . . . 

 They stop they start they snuff the air, 

 Gallop a moment here and there, 

 Approach, retire, wheel round and round, 

 Then plunging back with sudden bound, 

 They snort they foam neigh swerve aside, 

 And backward to the forest fly." 



Of the meeting a troop of Wild Horses in a more thickly inhabited part of the country, Sir F. 

 Head gives some interesting details. He describes some unfortunate captured animals as being forced 

 along by their riders at their very utmost speed : " As they are thus galloping along, urged by the 

 spur, it is interesting to see the groups of Wild Horses one passes. The mares, which are never 

 ridden in South America, seem not to understand what makes the poor Horse carry his head so low 

 and look so weary. The little innocent colts come running to meet him, and then start away 

 frightened ; while the old Horses, whose white marks on the flanks and backs betray their acquain- 

 tance with the spur and saddle, walk slowly away for some distance, then breaking into a trot as they 

 seek their safety, snort and look behind them, first with one eye and then with the other, turning 

 their noses from right to left, and carrying their long tails high in the air." 



The capture and breaking in of Wild Horses in America are described by Miers as follows : 

 " The lasso is a missile weapon, used by every native of the United Provinces and Chili. It is a 

 very strong plaited thong of equal thickness, half an inch in diameter, and forty feet long, made of 

 many strips of green hide, plaited like a whip-thong, and rendered supple by grease. It has at one end 

 an iron ring, above an inch and a half in diameter, through which the thong is passed, and this forms 

 a running noose. The Gaucho, or native peon, is generally mounted on horseback when he uses the 

 lasso. One end of the thong is affixed to his saddle-girth ; the remainder he coils carefully in his left 

 hand, leaving about twelve feet belonging to the noose end in a coil, and a half of which he holds in 

 his right hand. He then swings this long noose horizontally round his head, the weight of the iron 

 ring at the end of the noose assisting in giving to it, by a continued circular motion, a sufficient force to 

 project it the whole length of the line." The Gauchos drive the Wild Horses into a corral, which is 

 a circular space surrounded by rough posts firmly driven into the ground. The corral, relates Miers, 



