VI THROWING THE BOLAS 117 



came at full gallop after him, shouting to him to stop, and 

 saying that he only wanted to speak to him. Just as the 

 Spaniard was on the point of reaching the boat, Luciano threw 

 the balls : they struck him on the legs with such a jerk, as to 

 throw him down and to render him for some time insensible. 

 The man, after Luciano had had his talk, was allowed to 

 escape. He told us that his legs were marked by great weals, 

 where the thong had wound round, as if he had been flogged 

 with a whip. In the middle of the day two men arrived, who 

 brought a parcel from the next posta to be forwarded to the 

 general : so that besides these two, our party consisted this 

 evening of my guide and self, the lieutenant, and his four 

 soldiers. The latter were strange beings ; the first a fine 

 young negro ; the second half Indian and negro ; and the two 

 others nondescripts ; namely, an old Chilian miner, the colour 

 of mahogany, and another partly a mulatto ; but two such 

 mongrels, with such detestable expressions, I never saw before. 

 At night, when they were sitting round the fire, and playing at 

 cards, I retired to view such a Salvator Rosa scene. They 

 were seated under a low cliff, so that I could look down upon 

 them ; around the party were lying dogs, arms, remnants of 

 deer and ostriches ; and their long spears were stuck in the 

 turf Farther in the dark background their horses were tied 

 up, ready for any sudden danger. If the stillness of the 

 desolate plain was broken by one of the dogs barking, 

 a soldier, leaving the fire, would place his head close to 

 the ground, and thus slowly scan the horizon. Even if the 

 noisy teru-tero uttered its scream, there would be a pause 

 in the conversation, and every head, for a moment, a little 

 inclined. 



What a life of misery these men appear to us to lead ! 

 They were at least ten leagues from the Sauce posta, and since 

 the murder committed by the Indians, twenty from another. 

 The Indians are supposed to have made their attack in the 

 middle of the night ; for very early in the morning after the 

 murder, they were luckily seen approaching this posta. The 

 whole party here, however, escaped, together with the troop of 

 horses ; each one taking a line for himself, and driving with 

 him as many animals as he was able to manage. 



The little hovel, built of thistle-stalks, in which they slept. 



