Throwing the _lasso_ is a favourite amusement of this country, and is performed by the natives with great dexterity. A man on horseback, holding the _lasso_ (a rope looped at the end) rides amongst a herd of cattle, casting the rope towards the object he wishes to entrap; the first attempt almost always succeeds, and the animal is fast secured by the leg. They practice this _lasso_ from boyhood: it is a formidable weapon, against a flying enemy. An annual fair is held on some open ground, before the Recolator church, about two miles from the fort, and one mile north of the town. It commences on the 12th of October (the nativity of Nostra Señora del Pilar), and continues a week. The amusements are not very great: there are a few booths for eating and drinking, swings, two or three humourless clowns running about, and a military band. The national British and American flags are hoisted from houses and booths devoted to good cheer, rented for the occasion by individuals of those nations. At night, the country people dance till a late hour in the booths; they may be observed to perfection then. I wandered into several; and the Gaucho ladies and gentlemen behaved with the greatest politeness, offering me a seat, and entreating me to dance. The guitar was the music, with the usual accompaniments of singing, and snapping the fingers during the dance. On fine evenings a very elegant assemblage attend this fair, which is a promenade for the beauties of the city; but being held so near the equinox, the weather is generally unsettled. In 1822, a tremendous storm took place, one night of the fair, overwhelming booths, flags, and preparations; hundreds took refuge in the church. At the theatre (in which I happened to be during the storm), the dust filled the interior, obscuring the stage. The small stones and dust, rattling against the walls and windows, had the effect of what one might suppose of a shower of small shot. The fair at the Recolator, in 1824, as regarded amusements, was very dull. The promenade, however, was well attended: the _elegantes_, and others of Buenos Ayres, appeared in their best attire; and the dashing mulatto girls, in silk stockings, white dresses, and veils, seemed determined to rival the fair ones of higher birth. As usual, the equinoctial gales vented their spite at this devoted fair.[20] [20] On the second day of the fair, it blew a gale of wind, in which a boat, belonging to H.M. brig of war, _Plover_, was upset, between the inner and outer roads, and five men were drowned. A subscription was opened for their families, in England, and 500 dollars were collected. Mr. Poussett, the vice-consul, generously exerted himself to forward this charitable act.