I:; ’
ft-
Wales; having however less sunshine and less frost, but more
wind and rain.
March 16th.— I will now describe a short excursion
which I made round a part of this island. In the morning
I started with six horses and two Gauchos : the latter were
capital men for the purpose, and well accustomed to living on
their own resources. The weather was very boisterous and
cold, with heavy hailstorms. We got on, however, pretty well;
but excepting in the geology, nothing could be less interesting
than our day’s ride. The country is uniformly the same undulating
moorland; the surface being covered by light brown
withered grass and a few very small shrubs, all springing
out of an elastic peaty soil. In the valleys here and there
might be seen a small flock of wild geese, and every where
the ground was so soft, that the snipe was able to feed.
Besides these two kinds of liirds, there were few others.
There is one main range of hiUs, nearly two thousand feet
in height, and composed of quartz rock, the rugged and
barren crests of which gave us some trouble to cross. On
the south side we came to the best country for wild cattle;
we met however no great number, for they had lately been
much harassed.
In the evening we came across a small herd. One of my
companions, St. Jago by name, soon separated a fat cow;
he threw the bolas, and it struck her legs, but failed in
becoming entangled. Then dropping his hat to mark the
spot where the balls were left, while at full gallop he uncoiled
his lazo, and after a most severe chase, again came up
to the cow, and caught her round the horns. The other
Gaucho had gone on ahead with the horses, so that
St. Jago had some difficulty in killing the furious beast.
He managed to get her on a level piece of ground, by taking
advantage of her as often as she rushed at him ; and when she
would not move, my horse, from having been trained, would
canter up, and with his chest give her a violent push. But
when on level ground it does not appear an easy job for one
man to kill a beast mad with terror. Nor would it be so, if
the horse, when left to itself without its rider, did not soon
learn, for its own safety, to keep the lazo tight; so that, if
the animal moves forward, the horse moves just as quickly
so much away; otherwise, it stands motionless leaning on
one side. This horse, however, was a young one, and
would not stand still, but gave in to the cow as she
struggled. It was admirable to see with what dexterity St.
Jago dodged behind the beast, till at last he contrived to
give the fatal touch to the main tendon of the hind le g ;
after which, driving his knife into the head of the spinal
marrow, the cow dropped as if struck by lightning. He cut
off pieces of flesh with the skin to it, but without any
bones, sufficient for our expedition. We then rode on to
our sleeping-place, and had for supper “ came con cuero,”
or meat roasted with the skin on it. This is as superior to
common beef, as venison is to mutton. A large circular
piece taken from the back, is roasted on the embers with
the hide downwards and in the form of a saucer, so that
none of the gravy is lost. If any worthy alderman had
supped with us that evening, “ came con cuero,” without
doubt, would soon have been celebrated in London.
During the night it rained, and the next day (l7th) was
very stormy, with much hail and snow. We rode across
the island to the neck of land which joins the Rincon del
Toro (the great peninsula at the S.W. extremity) to the rest
of the island. From the greater number of cows which have
been killed, there is a large proportion of bulls. These wander
about hy twos and threes, or by themselves, and are very
savage. I never saw such magnificent beasts; they truly resembled
the ancient sculptures, in which the size of the neck
and head is but seldom equalled among tame animals. The
young bulls ran away for a short distance, but the old ones
did not stir a step, except to rush at man and horse; and many
of the latter have thus been kiUed. One old bull crossed a
boggy stream, and took up his stand on the opposite side to
us. We in vain tried to drive him away, and failing, were
obliged to make a large circuit. The Gauchos in revenge