i6o BAN DA ORIENTAL chap. 



meat, and as soon as it is given him, he skulks away as if 

 ashamed of himself. On these occasions the house-dogs are 

 very tyrannical, and the least of them will attack and pursue 

 the stranger. The minute, however, the latter has reached the 

 flock, he turns round and begins to bark, and then all the 

 house-dogs take very quickly to their heels. In a similar 

 manner a whole pack of the hungry wild dogs will scarcely 

 ever (and I was told by some never) venture to attack a flock 

 guarded by even one of these faithful shepherds. The whole 

 account appears to me a curious instance of the pliability of 

 the affections in the dog ; and yet, whether wild or however 

 educated, he has a feeling of respect or fear for those that are 

 fulfilling their instinct of association. For we can understand 

 on no principle the wild dogs being driven away by the single 

 one with its flock, except that they consider, from some con- 

 fused notion, that the one thus associated gains power, as if in 

 company with its own kind. F. Cuvier has observed that all 

 animals that readily enter into domestication consider man as 

 a member of their own society, and thus fulfil their instinct of 

 association. In the above case the shepherd -dog ranks the 

 sheep as its fellow -brethren, and thus gains confidence ; and 

 the wild dogs, though knowing that the individual sheep are 

 not dogs, but are good to eat, yet partly consent to this view 

 when seeing them in a flock with a shepherd -dog at their 

 head. 



One evening a " domidor " (a subduer of horses) came for 

 the purpose of breaking -in some colts. I will describe the 

 preparatory steps, for I believe they have not been mentioned 

 by other travellers. A troop of wild young horses is driven 

 into the corral, or large enclosure of stakes, and the door is 

 shut. We will suppose that one man alone has to catch and 

 mount a horse, which as yet had never felt bridle or saddle. I 

 conceive, except by a Gaucho, such a feat would be utterly 

 impracticable. The Gaucho picks out a full-grown colt ; and 

 as the beast rushes round the circus, he throws his lazo so as 

 to catch both the front legs. Instantly the horse rolls over 

 with a heavy shock, and whilst struggling on the ground, the 

 Gaucho, holding the lazo tight, makes a circle, so as to catch 

 one of the hind legs, just beneath the fetlock, and draws it close 

 to the two front legs : he then hitches the lazo, so that the 



