completed, two peons were appointed to take
charge of the horses, with orders to keep
near the sennelo.* The cavalcade moved
forwards, taking with them twelve tame oxen,
the lads with the horses (two hundred and
fifty in number) bringing up the rear.
* Tame animals, used as a decoy.

As soon as we approached the first herd of
cattle, which we found grazing, the party
halted, and each capataz, taking with him
ten men, proceeded slowly forwards, with a
view to surround them. They advanced in
two lines, each taking a circuit, and proceeded
cautiously, so as not to alarm the cattle, and
cause them to disperse too soon. The other
peons were left with the tame bullocks, to
receive and guard the captured animals as
they were brought in.

Having approached as near as possible, the
men are directed each to single out an animal
of the age and condition required, and to
drive it down to the place where the men with
the tame oxen are waiting to receive them;
in ease they cannot do that, they have their
lazos ready to enlazar the animal before he
gets to a distance.

Each capataz now proceeded forwards at a
gallop, and as soon as he had advanced one
hundred and fifty yards, the man nearest to
him followed at the same pace, and when he
had gained his distance, the other followed in
the same order, until they had formed a
cordon round the cattle. The animals, seeing
themselves surrounded now, try to escape;
but the men head them at every point.
They then disperse, and break through every
opening, and it is then that the men single
out the animals, and either drive them down
to the sennelo, or catch them with the lazos.

The scene is now animated in the extreme,
cows followed by their calves, yearlings, two-
year old bulls, and oxen, all flying over the
plain at the top of their speed; the horsemen
intermixed; some bringing down their oxen,
others with the noose of the lazo twirling over
their heads, and not unfrequently a horse,
which has stumbled, is seen without his rider
making the best of his way in the mêlée.

When the heat of the work is over, for the
present, such of the men as have delivered
their cattle, adjust their saddles and brace up
their girths, or, if necessary, change horses,
and go to the assistance of those who have
caught animals that will neither be led nor
driven. If at a distance, we move the sennelo
near to them, and in succession remove the
lazos, and let them mix with those already
captured. The first corrido was thus finished.

The men now prepared to surround a
second herd, with much the same success as
before; and we went on like keen sportsmen,
until night approached, and caught us on the
very edge of our boundary line, and at too
great a distance to return to San Carlos. We
directed our steps to the puesto of a neighbour,
and shut up the cattle in the corral for
the night. The peons now unsaddled and
let go their horses, and each of them caught a
fresh one, which he tethered for the duty of
the following morning.

Previous to closing the entrance of the
corral, the capataz ordered two of the peons
to enter and, with their lazos, to bring out
two of the fattest cows for the evening meal;
others of the men were gathering the dry
bones of the animals previously killed, in
order to make the fires necessary to cook the
supper. These were piled in heaps, which
appeared like rudely constructed altars upon
which they were about to offer up sacrifice;
six of the men had undertaken this duty, the
others were occupied in slaughtering and
cutting up the animals, to be cooked as carne
con cuero, or beef with the hide on.

By this time night had set fairly in; thick
volumes of smoke arose from the fires, and
the lurid glare cast a demonish hue upon the
swarthy faces of the men now gathered round.
They were of all complexions, from the jet
black to the ruddy hue of the English yeoman;
Indians of the Pampas, and natives of the
interior provinces, with their long black hair,
which in texture vies with the manes of their
horses. Yet there was much good-nature in
their conversation as they, like the fox-hunter,
ran over the fortunes of the day, naming the
horse which had carried his rider well through
danger, when pressed by the furious ox. The
men who had thrown a good lazo came in for
their share of praise, and those who had
suffered mishaps, were subject to pity or
ridicule as their case might present. All
came in for their share of criticism, and their
loud laughs made the Pampas ring.

When the meat was cooked nothing could
appear more uninviting. The different parts
presented a black mass, apparently burnt to
a cinder. My peon de mano now came to
announce that supper was ready. I was
seated on the green sward, at a short distance
from the fires. He brought a cake of dried
cow's dung, and placed it before me; over
this he threw part of the web of fat which
incloses the intestines, to serve in the absence
of a table-cloth; he then brought part of the
roasted meat, and, after carefully removing
the charred ribs, he placed it on the
uninviting table, the hide serving as a plate.
When thus dished up few Commanders-in-
Chief, after a hard fought day, would have
quarrelled with their supper. The meat was
delicately white and tender, a little salt
sprinkled over it made the gravy flow like a
stream as I scraped the meat from the shell.
Having satisfied my hunger, a drink of water,
out of a cow's horn, completed the feast.

Next morning, soon as the cock from the
ridge of the neighbouring cottage announced
the approach of day, the capataz and early
risers of the party shook the dew from their
ponchos, and commenced their toilet. The
fires of the preceding night were rekindled,
and the mati handed round. When the