72 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 



generally weigh three to the hundred weight, 

 or about thirty-six pounds each. The cow's 

 hide weighed about that average, but the 

 bull's more than half a hundred weight, and 

 was very thick. Many hunts of the same 

 nature I have since enjoyed, but I cannot 

 say that they are so spirit-stirring as those in 

 Chili, where there is an open country, finer 

 horses to work with, and a bracing climate 

 instead of the enervating moisture of this, 

 but there is also an excitement in shooting 

 and hunting in Central America unknown to 

 most parts of South America, and that is 

 like fishing in the sea ; you never know what 

 you are to catch. In Chili, the small quan- 

 tity of game that exists, or rather the very 

 few kinds, are well known, but in the forests 

 of Central America no person can predict 

 the game, prey, or adversary the hunter may 

 meet with. 



I will now introduce my reader to another 

 mode of hunting, used in some parts of this 

 country with great success, and might be 

 used with greater by adding the lasso wield- 

 ed by the hand: it is employed for catching 

 wild cattle or horses, and the account of a 

 day's hunting may, perhaps, give the best idea 

 of it. Having lost some mules, and having 



