night. Those that remain yet in a wild state,
will for the most part have to be taken with
the lazo, and sold to the drovers in troops of
five hundred each. They are principally
oxen, and three-year-old cows. This work of
the lazo is both hard and very dangerous for
those that are engaged in it, and I heartily
wish that it was concluded; the men, when
once heated, pursue it with great animation,
with all the ardour of the fox-hunter; but
it is a description of riding which would
make the boldest of our steeple-chasers quail.
When a peon once catches a five-year-old ox
by the horns, and he turns out a tartar, after
a few ineffectual shakes of the head, to throw
off the lazo, he directly darts at the horse,
who immediately starts off, as the reins direct
him, at full speed, the foaming ox close at his
heels, and fast to the saddle with twenty-five
yards of lazo. The rider, in the meantime, has
his attention divided, to direct the reins, and
with the other hand to hold the lazo, so as to
prevent it from becoming entangled with the
legs of the horse. The horse must take all that
comes in his way: patches of long grass that
reach up the stirrups, to the burrows of the
viscachas, and every other obstacle. There
is no course but to go on, until he reaches his
companions, and they arrive to his assistance.
Should the ox give up the chase suddenly, the
rider must immediately check the speed of
his horse, otherwise the jerk would break the
lazo, or what is worse, it would draw the
saddle back to the flanks of the horse, or
break the girths made of vaca hide; in which
case the man would be brought to the ground
and be at the mercy of the furious animal,
still with the lazo on his horns but no longer
fast to the horse. They who have seen the
countenance of the fox-hunter when rising to
a dangerous leap, or the jockey when he is
approaching the winning post with the nose
of the second horse at his girths, may equally
imagine the anxiety of the herdsman of the
Pampas in such a situation, with nothing
short of his own life depending upon the
issue of the race.

You will like to know something of the
people by whom I am surrounded. The
first and most numerous class is that of
the simple paisano, the herdsman and shepherd,
the hired servants of the Estanciero.
Upon them devolves the duty of looking after
the cattle and horses, under the direction of
the Capitaz in charge of the herd, either at
the Estancia or at the Puestos. A herd of five
thousand head requires a Capitaz and three
peons to take care of them. The shepherds
are hired by the month, and their business is
entirely confined to taking care of their
respective flocks. Next these already named
comes the husbandman, the grower of wheat,
Indian corn, &c. Their farms are called
Chacras, and Chacareros, the agriculturists of
the Pampas. In general, they are not breeders
of cattle, and keep no more than merely the
oxen and horses necessary for the cultivation
of the soil. Connected with the business of
the estancias, and next in order, is the Resero,
or driver. They are pretty numerous, and
require to be matriculated and licensed by
the department of Police, being also
compelled to give security to the chief for their
good conduct. As their place of abode is
uncertain, constantly moving from Estancia to
Estancia, they are exempt from military
service. Their business is to receive the
cattle purchased by the owners of the saladeros,
or salting establishments, from the estancieros.
They bring with them peons and horses to
part the cattle from the rodios, or herds, and
drive them to town. They are paid so much
per head by their employers, and are responsible
for losses on the road; they pay their
assistants so much per trip, and these, again,
find their own horses. These men occasionally
assist the estanciero, when he requires extra
hands to get through the work of particular
seasons; they are then hired by the day, and
work with their own horses.

There are a few men employed in driving
troops of carts drawn by bullocks, for the
conveyance of produce, hides, grain, &c., &c., to the
city, and from thence bringing what is required
for the use of the country. There still remains
to notice the wandering gaucho. A few years
have produced a great change in this class. He
was the gipsy of the Pampas, literally, as the
name implies, a man without a home; an
idler, without any fixed abode or occupation.
He passed his days in riding from estancia
to estancia. He was sometimes useful as a
friend, always to be avoided as an enemy.
Both considerations ensured him food and
shelter; and he would occasionally work a
few days on horseback to purchase cigars and
clothing. Some of these men were perfectly
inoffensive in their habits and dispositions;
but the majority of them were dangerous
characters, men capable of committing any
crime, however atrocious. The race is now
all but extinct. The excellent regulations of
the police, under the present Government,
have effectually put down these Bedouins of
the Pampas. All men now who are found
without occupation are sent to the encampment
near Buenos Ayres, and are there
disposed of, according to their demerits.

Large estancias presently render an
immense tract of land to a certain extent
productive; but they are not favourable to
population—indeed they are almost
incompatible with each other; cattle must have
room, and the less they are disturbed, the
better; the whole number of souls upon the
estate, men, women and children, does not
amount to fifty! and yet the number is equal
to the care of forty thousand head of horned
cattle, fifteen thousand sheep, and four
thousand horses and mares, with leisure to
build, and keep in repair their cottages, as
well as to cultivate Indian corn, pumpkins,
water-melons, &c., for the use of themselves
and their families.