GUATAVITA. 195 



fresh horses, which were instantly procured, 

 by lassoing out of a large troop driven for 

 that purpose into a corral 



sees (which he does in an instant) that the lasso which he 

 has thrown will take effect, he stops his horse, and turns 

 him half round, — the bull continuing his course, till the 

 whole cord has run out. The horse meanwhile, knowing 

 by experience what is going to happen, leans over as much 

 as he can in the opposite direction from the bull, and 

 stands trembling in expectation of the violent tug which 

 is to be given to him by the bull when brought up by the 

 lasso. So great indeed is the jerk which takes place at 

 this moment, that were the horse not to lean over in the 

 manner described, he would be certainly overturned ; but 

 standing as he does across the road, with his feet planted 

 firmly in the ground, he offers sufficient resistance to stop 

 the bull as instantaneously as if he had been shot, though 

 the instant before he was running at full speed. In some 

 cases, this check is so abrupt and violent, that the animal 

 is not only dashed to the ground, but rolls along at full 

 stretch of the lasso, while the horse is drawn sideways and 

 ploughs up the earth with his feet for several yards. This, 

 which takes so long to describe, is the work of a few se- 

 conds ; during which, the other horseman gallops past, 

 and before the bull has time to recover from the shock, 

 places the noose over his horns, and continues advancing 

 till this lasso is at full stretch. The bull, stupefied by the 

 fall, sometimes lies motionless on the ground, but the men 

 soon rouse him up by tugging him to and fro. When on 

 O 2 



