During the night it rained, and the next day (17th) wa very stormy, with much hail and snow. We rode across th island to the neck of land which joins the Rincon del Tor (the great peninsula at the S. W. extremity) to the rest o the island. From the great number of cows which hav been killed, there is a large proportion of bulls. These wander about single, or two and three together, and are ver savage. I never saw such magnificent beasts; they equalle in the size of their huge heads and necks the Grecian marbl sculptures. Capt. Sulivan informs me that the hide of a average-sized bull weighs forty-seven pounds, whereas hide of this weight, less thoroughly dried, is considered a a very heavy one at Monte Video. The young bulls generally run away, for a short distance; but the old ones do no stir a step, except to rush at man and horse; and man horses have been thus killed. An old bull crossed a bogg stream, and took his stand on the opposite side to us; w in vain tried to drive him away, and failing, were oblige to make a large circuit. The Gauchos in revenge determined to emasculate him and render him for the futur harmless. It was very interesting to see how art completel mastered force. One lazo was thrown over his horns as h rushed at the horse, and another round his hind legs: in minute the monster was stretched powerless on the ground After the lazo has once been drawn tightly round the horn of a furious animal, it does not at first appear an easy thin to disengage it again without killing the beast: nor, I apprehend, would it be so if the man was by himself. By th aid, however, of a second person throwing his lazo so as t catch both hind legs, it is quickly managed: for the animal as long as its hind legs are kept outstretched, is quite helpless, and the first man can with his hands loosen his laz from the horns, and then quietly mount his horse; but th moment the second man, by backing ever so little, relaxe the strain, the lazo slips off the legs of the struggling beast which then rises free, shakes himself, and vainly rushes a his antagonist
During our whole ride we saw only one troop of wil horses. These animals, as well as the cattle, were introduce by the French in 1764, since which time both have greatl increased. It is a curious fact, that the horses have neve left the eastern end of the island, although there is no natural boundary to prevent them from roaming, and that par of the island is not more tempting than the rest. The Gauchos whom I asked, though asserting this to be the case were unable to account for it, except from the strong attachment which horses have to any locality to which they ar accustomed. Considering that the island does not appea fully stocked, and that there are no beasts of prey, I wa particularly curious to know what has checked their originally rapid increase. That in a limited island some chec would sooner or later supervene, is inevitable; but why ha the increase of the horse been checked sooner than that o the cattle? Capt. Sulivan has taken much pains for m in this inquiry. The Gauchos employed here attribute i chiefly to the stallions constantly roaming from place t place, and compelling the mares to accompany them, whethe or not the young foals are able to follow. One Gaucho tol Capt. Sulivan that he had watched a stallion for a whol hour, violently kicking and biting a mare till he force her to leave her foal to its fate. Capt. Sulivan can so fa corroborate this curious account, that he has several time found young foals dead, whereas he has never found a dea calf. Moreover, the dead bodies of full-grown horses ar more frequently found, as if more subject to disease o accidents, than those of the cattle. From the softness o the ground their hoofs often grow irregularly to a grea length, and this causes lameness. The predominant colour are roan and iron-grey. All the horses bred here, both tam and wild, are rather small-sized, though generally in goo condition; and they have lost so much strength, that the are unfit to be used in taking wild cattle with the lazo: i consequence, it is necessary to go to the great expense o importing fresh horses from the Plata. At some futur period the southern hemisphere probably will have its bree of Falkland ponies, as the northern has its Shetland breed.