like magic, caught one hind leg of my horse; the other ball
was then jerked out of my hand, and the horse fairly secured.
Luckily he was an old practised animal, and knew
what it meant; otherwise he would probably have kicked
till he had thrown himself down. The Gauchos roared with
laughter; they cried out that they had seen every sort of
animal caught, but had never before seen a man caught by
himself.

During the two succeeding days, I reached the furthest
point which I was anxious to examine. The country wore
the same aspect, till at last the fine green turf became more
wearisome than a dusty turnpike road. We everywhere saw
great numbers of partridges (Nothura major). These birds
do not go in coveys, nor do they conceal themselves like
the English kind. It appears a very silly bird. A man on
horseback by riding round and round in a circle, or rather
in a spire, so as to approach closer each time, may knock
on the head as many as he pleases. The more common
method is to catch them with a running noose, or little lazo,
made of the stem of an ostrich's feather, fastened to the
end of a long stick. A boy on a quiet old horse will frequently
thus catch thirty or forty in a day. In Arctic North
America [1] the Indians catch the Varying Hare by walking
spirally round and round it, when on its form: the middle
of the day is reckoned the best time, when the sun is high,
and the shadow of the hunter not very long.

On our return to Maldonado, we followed rather a different
line of road. Near Pan de Azucar, a landmark well