GOLD MINES OF LA CAROLINA. 



61 



ner by the fore-legs, with his nose resting on the 

 ground, as far from him as possible, to preserve 

 his balance. As soon as we saw him in this 

 situation, we allowed the other horses to escape, 

 and in a moment the peon threw his lasso with 

 the most surprising precision, and it went be- 

 low the animaPs tail like the breeching of har- 

 ness. We then all hauled upon it, and at last 

 lifted the horse, and succeeded in dragging him 

 up : during the whole time time he remained 

 quiet, and to all appearance perfectly conscious 

 that the slightest struggle would have been fatal to 

 him. We then mounted our fresh horses, and 

 although the path over the mountains was so steep 

 and rugged, that we were occasionally obliged to 

 jump a foot or two from one level to another, we 

 scrambled along with the loose horses before us, at 

 the rate of nine or ten miles an hour. 



In the evening, we came to a small stream of 

 water, which led us to the wretched hamlet of La 

 Carolina, which is close to the mine. 



A man offered us a shed to sleep in, which we 

 readily accepted, and we then went into several of 

 the huts, and conversed with the poor people, who 



