50 WAGGONS OF THE COUNTRY. 



bamboo^ the tops covered with hide ; they are 

 mounted on two immense wheels, about ten or 

 eleven feet in diameter, which are never greased, 

 so that when you are close to them, their squeak- 

 ing and creaking is almost sufficient to stun one. 

 They are drawn by four oxen that are a consi- 

 derable distance from their work, the foremost pair 

 being twenty feet from the wheel pair ; the driver 

 sits between the heads of the wheel pair, which 

 are lashed by the horns to a cross piece of wood 

 attached to the shaft : a long pole leads out from 

 the waggon, armed with iron spikes, with which 

 he goads any beast he pleases, and you seldom 

 see them without the blood running down their 

 sides ; independent of this, he carries a heavy 

 block of wood to strike them over the horns, 

 and not unfrequently will they break a horn off 

 the wretched animaPs head. 



We soon came to the village of Frayle Mu- 

 erto, or Dead Friar, where the Gauchos were 

 horse-racing, which, in general, is their Sunday ^s 

 amusement. They were gaily dressed for the 



