of her speed. This continues nearly all the
day, and at night they are again locked up.
Next day the same game goes on, the horse
still assisted by a well-mounted peon; until,
at the end of eight or ten days, their acquaintance
is made. If any remain refractory, they
are thrown down, the axe applied to one of
the hoofs of the hind legs; it is cut to the
quick, and, thus punished, she is compelled
to limp it for fifteen or twenty days, until the
hoof grows again. By that time she becomes
reconciled, and the manáda is entablada, and
keep together. They are then conducted to a
quiet part of the ground, apart from the other
herds, in order to prevent collision between
the horses of the different families.

This is the way in which one manáda is
established. Let me now describe the mode
in which several manádas are founded at the
same time.

Let us suppose that five hundred mares are
to be parted off from the different herds, and
that twenty-five horses are selected to form
their future families. The first thing to be
done is to throw down the mares, and cut to
the quick one of the hoofs of the hind legs,
taking care that the near side hoof be cut in
them all, in order that they may all limp in
one direction. They are then enclosed, with
the horses, and at daylight next morning are
let out to graze. A peon is appointed to look
after them, and prevent them extending too
far over the ground. As soon as the peon
observes that any one of the horses has got as
many mares to follow him as are sufficient to
form a manáda, he informs the capitaz, and
they are allowed to remain at large, whilst
others, less social, are condemned to be shut
up in the potrero. As the peon reports daily,
that the chesnut, the brown, or the bay horse
has made up his complement, they are
severally set at liberty, with their future charge,
and by the end of the month the whole is
completed.

When I have occasion to go to the Vigilante,
as soon as I arrive my horse is unsaddled
and turned loose. Having taken water
and grazed awhile, he returns to the Estancia,
and joins his mandda. As soon as the horse
which I have saddled at the Vigilante arrives
and is unsaddled here, he immediately returns
home, and seeks the herd to which he
belongs. The whole system is this:—the horse
keeps the mares together, the colts and fillies
follow their mother, and the saddle-horses
cleave to the herd in which they have been
bred and reared. As the colts reach the
proper age (three years) they are given to the
peons to break in for the daily duty of the
Estancia. Each manáda has from fifteen to
twenty saddle-horses attached to it; and
these are brought to the corral in rotation
for the men to change after collecting the
cattle in the morning. When about to go
a journey, I tell the capataz to bring me
the black horse, the roan, the chesnut, or the
sorrel, and he gives the order to his deputy,
who knows in which manáda he is
domesticated. It is brought to the corral, and the
horse I order is caught with the lazo, and
saddled for me. When I reach any of the
more distant puestos, as soon as the capataz
presents himself, and the usual "buenos
dias" have been exchanged, the first question
is, "Do you wish to change horse, Señor?"
"Let this go, and saddle me the tordillo" and
away goes the peon, brings up the herd, and
the grey is immediately at my disposal; on
him I ride from Sta. Isabel to the Vigilante,
or San Martin, let him go there, and saddle
another to bring me home. Each horse, as
soon as dismissed, returns to the herd,
although the distance was from ten to fifteen
miles.

Apart from these herds of horses already
described, we have small troops of horses
accustomed to go together in company with a
mare selected for that purpose, and called the
madrina. These are reserved for particular
service, and are called tropillas. The horses,
which generally consist of ten or twelve, are
selected of one colour, and the mare, to render
her more distinguishable, is as different as
possible from the horses. For instance, a
tropilla of black horses will generally have
a white mare; she wears a bell suspended
from her neck, so that the horses, at night,
may hear the sound, and prevent them from
parting company.

The mode of forming these tropillas
depends upon circumstances; if the horses are
all ready, they are put with the madrina,
kept together by day, and at night enclosed
in the corral, until they are accustomed to
each other, and form an attachment to the
mare. When the horses are not all at once
put with the mare, you proceed, one by one,
to neck-collar them with her, and let them go
a few days together; you then cast the horse
off, and neck-collar another, and so on, until
you complete the number required. It is
necessary to keep the tropillas as much as
possible from the manádas, to prevent them
mixing, as the horse is apt to carry off the
mare, and the horses of the tropilla, left to
themselves, would separate after they lost
the madrina. The principal value of the
tropillas is, that they can be taken to any
distance where the capataz requires them,
and at night he places a sort of fetter or
handcuff upon the fore-ancle of the mare to
prevent her from going to a distance, and the
horses stick by her all night. They appear
to distinguish the sound of their own bell, for
if twenty tropillas are near each other, each
horse remains by the side of his madrina; and
a careful peon, if he chances to lose the bell
from the neck of his mare, will always shut
up the tropilla for a few nights, until the
horses become accustomed to the tone of the
new one. We have here seven tropillas of
twelve horses each, reserved for special
purposes.

With these sketches of the equine economy