OF THE PAMPAS. 



^1 



in dragging them to the hut either for slaughter, or 

 to be marked. He breaks in the young horses in the 

 manner which I have described, and in these occu- 

 pations is often away from his hut many days, 

 changing his horse as soon as the animal is tired, 

 and sleeping on the ground. As his constant food 

 is beef and water, his constitution is so strong 

 that he is able to endure great fatigue; and the 

 distances he will ride, and the number of hours that 

 he will remain on horseback, would hardly be cre- 

 dited. The unrestrained freedom of such a life he 

 fully appreciates ; and, unacquainted with subjec- 

 tion of any sort, his mind is often filled with senti- 

 ments of liberty which are as noble as they are 

 harmless, although they of course partake of the 

 wild habits of his life. Vain is the endeavour 

 to explain to him the luxuries and blessings of a 

 more civilized life ; his ideas are, that the noblest 

 effort of man is to raise himself off the ground and 

 ride instead of walk — that no rich garments or va- 

 riety of food can atone for the want of a horse — 

 and that the print of the human foot on the ground 

 is in his mind the symbol of uncivilization. 



The Gaucho has by many people been accused of 



