176 RANGE WEAPONS 



A maniac temper will evaporate in talk in 

 about forty-five minutes, but savages will 

 sometimes last two hours or more before they 

 are quite run down. After the first laugh one 

 may walk away in safety. It is not safe to be 

 seen in the state of collapse which follows the 

 overstrain. 



The killing of live creatures or even men has 

 always been abhorrent to me. I am not 

 sure of having murdered anything bigger than 

 a crow with a broken leg, who had to be knocked 

 out with a stone as an act of mercy. Not being 

 a sportsman I may not advise on the use of 

 weapons for sport. 



Weapons. There are three weapons used 

 only by range horsemen. The lasso, known on 

 the range as The Rope, consists of a noose 

 which is spun by a delicate play of the thumb, 

 thrown to its length, and the strain taken by 

 saddle and horse as it catches a running beast. 

 We share this practice with the ancient Peruv- 

 ians, Sarmatians, Sagartians, and Scythians, 

 and the modern Tartars of the Asiatic steppe. 



The bolas are three egg-shaped weights 

 connected by as many plaited strings with a 

 rawhide rope, and thrown like the riata to 

 catch wild animals. This instrument belongs 

 to Patagonia and the Argentine pampas. 



