248 FALKLAND ISLANDS. March, 1834. 



determined to render him for the future innocuous. It 

 was very interesting to see how art completely mastered 

 force. One lazo was thrown over his horns, as he rushed 

 at the horse, and another round his hind legs : in a mi- 

 nute the monster was stretched harmless on the ground. 

 After the lazo has once been tightly drawn round the horns 

 of a furious animal, it does not at first appear an easy thing 

 to disengage it again ; nor, I apprehend, would it be so, if the 

 man was by himself, and he did not wish to kill the beast. 

 By the aid, however, of a second person thro^^ang his lazo, so 

 as to catch both hind legs, it is quickly managed : for the ani- 

 mal, as long as its hind legs are kept outstretched, is quite 

 powerless, and the first man can with his hands loosen his 

 lazo, and then quietly mount his horse ; but the moment 

 the second man, by backing ever so little, relaxes the strain, 

 the lazo sHps off the legs of the struggling beast, which thus 

 rises free, shakes himself, and vainly rushes after his 

 antagonist. 



During our whole ride we only saw one troop of wild 

 horses. These animals, as well as the cattle, were intro- 

 duced by the French in 1764, since which time they have 

 greatly increased. It is a curious fact, that the horses 

 have never left the eastern end of the island, although 

 there is no natural boundary to prevent them from roam- 

 ing, and that part of the island is not more tempting than 

 the rest. The Gauchos, though asserting this to be the 

 case, are unable to account for the circumstance. The 

 horses appear to thrive well, yet they are small sized, and 

 have lost so much strength, that they are unfit to be used in 

 taking Avild cattle with the lazo. In consequence, it is neces- 

 sary to go to the great expense of importing fresh horses 

 from the Plata. At some future period the southern hemi- 

 sphere probably will have its breed of Falkland ponies, as 

 the northern has that of Shetland. 



The rabbit is another animal which has been introduced, 

 and has succeeded very well ; so that they abound over large 

 parts of the island. Yet, like the horses, they are confined 



