WILD HORSE HUNTING. 77 



to choose their own trails. Down they plunged 

 into the river, and, by giving them a little 

 more time, we were in expectation that some 

 would get into the lassos laid for them near 

 the opposite bank ; however, the only one 

 who got his head into the trap was the lead- 

 ing horse, the sire of the troop, and he got a 

 desperate fall, which turned the remainder off 

 to the right and left, so as to escape the re- 

 maining lassos. A young lad, who had joined 

 us during the chase, and who did not know 

 exactly where the lassos were placed, got an 

 awful purl by galloping his horse's head right 

 into one of them ; he was sent flying into 

 a clump of aloes and cacti, which broke 

 his fall indeed, but it was some days before 

 he could get rid of all the thorns he brought 

 out with him. One man having been left on 

 the spot to watch the captive horse and 

 lassos, the remainder followed the troop, and 

 soon forced the whole of them to break co- 

 vert on to a large flat piece of ground. All 

 the other horses escaped, more through our 

 anxiety to recover the mules, for they were 

 nearly done up ; but the mules were soon 

 lassoed, and we soon saw that they had all 

 once been tame and broken, which is known 

 by their stopping short directly the lasso is 



