such is the dexterity of the guassos, or countrymen, that they are not only sure of catching the animal they are in chase of, but can fix, or, as they term it, place their lasso on any particular part they please: over the horns, round the neck, or the body; or they can include all four legs, or two, or any one of the four; and the whole with such ease and certainty, that it is necessary to witness the feat to have a just conception of the skill displayed; which, like that of the savage Indian in the use of his bow and arrow, can only be gained by the practice of many years. It is, in fact, the earliest amusement of these people; and I have often seen little boys just beginning to run about, actively employed in lassoing cats, and entangling the legs of every dog that was unfortunate enough to pass within reach: in due season they became very expert in their attacks on poultry; and afterwards in catching wild birds; so that, by the time they are mounted on horseback, which is always at an early age, they begin to acquire that matchless skill, from which no animal, of less speed than a horse, has the slightest chance of escaping.
Let us suppose that a wild bull is to be caught, and that two mounted horsemen, guassos as they are called, undertake to kill him. As soon as they discover him, they remove the coil of the lasso from behind them, and, grasping it in the left hand, prepare the noose in the right, and dash oft at full gallop, each swinging his lasso round his head. The first who comes within reach aims at the bull's horns, and when he sees, which he does in an instant, that the lasso will take effect,
