the horse being swifter, the thong is prevented from being so much straitened as to break, till another hunter throws another noose about one of his hind-legs.  When this is done, the horses being trained to the sport, instantly turn in opposite directions, straining the two thongs contrary ways, by which the beast is overthrown.  The horses then stop, keeping both thongs on the stretch, so that the beast remains on the ground incapable of resistance; and the two hunters alight from their horses and secure the beast in such a manner that they afterwards easily convey him to wherever they please.

They catch horses by means of similar nooses, and are even said to catch tigers in the same manner, which, however strange it may appear, is asserted by persons of credit.  It must be owned, indeed, that the address both of Spaniards and Indians in this part of the world, in the use of this lash or noose, and the certainty with which they throw and fix it on any intended part of a beast, even at a considerable distance, is so wonderful as only to be credited and repeated on the concurrent testimony of all who have frequented this country.  The cattle killed in the before-mentioned manner are slaughtered only for their hides and tallow, and sometimes their tongues also are taken out; but the rest of the flesh is left to putrify, or to be devoured by birds of prey and wild beasts.  The greatest part of it falls to the share of the wild-dogs, of which there are immense numbers to be found in the country.  These are all supposed to be descended of Spanish dogs from Buenos Ayres, which had left their masters, allured by the great quantity of carrion, and had run wild where they had such facility of subsisting, for they are plainly of the European breed of dogs.  Although these dogs are said to prowl in vast packs, even some thousands together, they do not diminish the number, nor prevent the increase of the cattle, as they dare not attack the herds, by reason of the vast numbers that feed together, but content themselves with the carrion left by the hunters, and perhaps now and then meet with a few stragglers, separated accidentally from the herds to which they belong.

This country, to the southward of Buenos Ayres, is also stocked with great numbers of wild-horses, brought also originally from Spain, and prodigiously increased, and extending to a much greater distance than the cattle.  Though many of these are excellent, their numbers make them of very little value, the best of them being sold in the neighbouring settlements, where money is plenty and commodities very dear, for not more than a dollar a piece.  It is not certain how far to the southwards these herds of wild cattle and horses extend; but there is reason to believe that stragglers of both are to be met with very near the Straits of Magellan, and they will doubtless in time fill all the southern part of the continent with their breeds, which cannot fail to be of vast advantage