206 EAMBLES AFTER SPORT. 



eacli hold of a bullock wlio had followed the example of 

 the bull ; and eventually the whole were safely driven 

 into the corral. 



An accident occurred which might have ended fatally. 

 Don Francisco, unable to restrain the excitement of the 

 splendid horse he bestrode, started off in pursuit of a 

 bull, and having no lasso, endeavoured to run along 

 and knock the animal over with his horse. Whether he 

 was too inexperienced, or his horse not up to this 

 business, I don^t know; but the bull turned suddenly 

 round as he came alongside, and, lowering his head, 

 tossed him, horse and all, to the ground. Luckily no 

 bones were broken, and after a pull at the chicha Don 

 Francisco appeared to be all right again. No one but 

 an expert horseman, mounted on a good horse, is 

 successful at this game ; and many young men, who go 

 to a rodeo for the fun of the thing, get killed or injured. 

 Nothing surprised me more than the excellence of Juan's 

 horse ; to look at it seemed not worth one dollar, yet 

 as a cattle horse it was invaluable, as it could literally 

 twist round half a dozen times in its own length in as 

 many seconds, and his rider could dismount at any 

 moment and leave him free, and he would not move for 

 hours. 



On arriving at the farm we gave orders for a fresh 

 casuela to be made for all hands, and rode off to the 

 ravine where the calf had been placed. As we ap- 

 proached a whole tribe of galinaz os, or turkey buzzards, 

 flew lazily off, and after a deal of hopping and flapping 

 an old male condor just managed to get away, accelerated 

 no doubt by a charge of shot, which only rattled on 

 his feathers like a coat of mail. On the course were 

 three others, gorged so full that they could not raise 



