GUATAVITA, 193 



His wife, a thrifty-looking, active woman, 

 reminded me of a careful farmer's wife 

 in England, with her bunch of keys at her 



The lasso is made from long strips of untanned hide ; 

 it is used of different lengths, from ten to twenty yards, 

 and of various degrees of strength, from a quarter of an 

 inch to an inch in circumference ; it has an eye, or loop, at 

 one end, through which the other is passed, so as to form 

 a bight, or noose. This end is then either secured to a 

 ring fixed to the girth of the saddle, or to the large pom- 

 mel in front ; and sometimes carried loose in the hand, 

 according to the object the individual has in view. The 

 whole lasso is made up in a neat coil. This the horseman 

 takes in his left, or bridle-hand ; and on coming within 

 thirty or forty yards of the object he wishes to take, al- 

 lows the noose to slip down, with an opening of about 

 three feet. He then draws about eight or ten feet of the lasso 

 through the eye of the noose, and coils it up in small circles 

 alongside of the three-feet noose, to the bottom of which 

 the eye is allowed to slip. This is the most approved 

 method, but some let out the whole length of noose at 

 once, and swing the entire extent round their head; 

 w^hich is very inconvenient, and cannot be done when 

 amongst trees. To throw it, the arm and wrist require. to 

 be turned much in the same manner as a seaman does to 

 heave the lead, only that the arm moves horizontally, in- 

 stead of perpendicularly; and according to the distance 

 you wish to throw it, you increase the velocity. By giv- 



VOL. II. 



