Blanco y Colorado: Old Days among the Gauchos of UruguayTetley, William C.
History
Blanco y Colorado: Old Days among the Gauchos of Uruguay
Tetley, William C.
Uruguay -- Description and travel; Uruguay -- Social life and customs
A week later we were both on the "azotea" about four o'clock in the
afternoon. A Mr. Fenton, who had formerly stayed a good deal at the
Cerro, had left his "moro," or blue-grey horse behind him when he went
away, attached to one of the tropillas. The horse was not there when I
came, having detached himself, and joined up with the "saino manada," or
troop of mares and foals. We had not been looking round long when I
noticed a horse coming at pretty nearly full speed in the direction of
the Cerro, with two soldiers in full pursuit. "I believe it is Fenton's
'moro,'" I said to Bent, "and what is more those two fellows are going
to have him." Just then the "moro" passed, some three hundred yards
distant, in front of the house. One soldier flung his "boleadores," but
as it happened they fell short. The second thereupon immediately
increased his speed, and flung his with such accuracy that they twisted
themselves round the "moro's" hind legs, and soon brought him to a
standstill. The soldiers then slipped a halter over his head, loosed the
"boleadores" from his hind legs, and led him off with them, riding in
the direction of the Pichinango Pass.
The "boleadores," or "bolas," as they are often called, are a very
effective weapon in the hands of a skilled horseman who is well mounted.
They are chiefly used to capture horses and wild mares in the open camp,
and are a very important part of a "Gaucho's" equipment. They are made
of twisted strands of raw horse-hide. There are three thongs united
together at a common centre, each about a yard in length. At the other
end of each thong is a leaden ball, covered with hide. The horseman
holds one ball in his right hand while he swings the two others quickly
round his head. He then lets go the ball he had in his hand, so that the
three go whirling swiftly forward in a circle, and their weight and
impetus causes the thongs to twist themselves round the hind legs of any
horse at which they may be aimed, which, chiefly owing to the speed at
which it is moving, soon finds itself with its hind legs tied up
together, and so falls helpless to the ground.
Much smaller balls fastened together in the same manner, with quite thin
thongs, are used by the natives to capture the wild ostrich.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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