single finger on the bridle is sufficient for instant obedience. As to
the huge spurs they are not necessarily cruel, indeed they are less so
than the sharp English kind, which draw blood easily where the native
instrument does not abrade the skin.

The remarkable and dexterous management of the lasso, or _riata_, by
the rural Mexican is such as fills the beholder with admiration and
surprise that so skilful a combination of hemp and horseflesh, managed
by a man's hand, could exist. Behold the _vaquero_, with his _riata_
whirling aloft as at full gallop he pursues a fleeing bull! Closing
upon it a few yards away the lasso swings its unerring coils through
the air, the noose descends upon horns or hoofs at the will of the
_vaquero_, and it is quite common to lasso the two hind legs of the
animal whilst he is in full gallop. And now the horse plays his
intelligent part. The noose has fallen with the accuracy desired; the
_vaquero_ winds his end rapidly around the horn of the saddle; the
horse gives a half-turn in the quickness of thought, in obedience to
his own knowledge and a touch of the bridle, so presenting his flank
and a long base to the direction of the strain; the rope tightens tense
and smoking with the pull; horse and rider stand unmoved, but the great
bulk of the arrested bovine falls prone to the ground. It is an art, a
wonderful dexterity we have witnessed, acquired from birth. I
ambitiously tried it once, but failed to turn the horse quickly enough,
and was pulled over to the ground. Of sports on horseback the Mexicans
indulge in several. Mark our friend the _ranchero_, in his holiday
dress, upon a _dia de fiesta_. He is going to show us the "raya." His
man marks a spot on the flat ground; the horseman retires with his
steed to a short distance, put spurs to the animal, comes thundering
along towards us at full gallop, and as he reaches the mark on the soil
he suddenly draws rein, and the obedient horse putting his legs rigidly
together, slides forward on his hoofs with his own momentum, scoring
out a mark about his own length on the ground, and stops dead without
moving a muscle. This mark is the "raya." Another diversion is that
where gaily-be-ribboned chickens--alive--are provided by the _novias_,
or sweethearts of the young men: and these, mounted on their steeds,
ride fast and furious to capture the bird from the one who holds it.
The unfortunate chicken is generally torn to pieces, and sometimes in