The daily national Whig. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1847-1849, 1849-01-09
uAIR-oATHrRING FOR RlATAs.

The gathering Of hail to make the riatas
or hair ropes which. are almost exclusively
used here, (hemp being snknown,) Is an
amusing scene, at least to a Yankee boy.
A party Of Indians belongingto Gen. Vale
10 applied one afternoon for the use Of the
coral Of the Quartet, to drive in horses for
this purpose. Permission being given, about
hundred horses were driven in, wild as the
beasts Of the forest, not one Of which had
been disgraced by bride Or burden 1t may
be only mere poetic fancy Of mine, but it
has appeared to me that there is something
more graceful and noble in the movements
Of an untamed horse, that never " felt the
halter draw"--an air of freedom seems to
pervade his muscle and motion & frame, that
the highest melted Of our domestic steeds
never exhibit To proceed: the Indians
bounded into their saddles as with the agili-
ty Of the mountain cat, by an easy and grace
full effort. The nostrls Of their horses ex-
banded to the utmost tension, their long
black names and tails streaming in the wind,
erectis amibus, begun coursing at the top Of
their speed about the coral Presently the
principal boccnia dashes in among them,
fixes his eye upon one with a luxuriant
name and tail, and launches the unerrng
lasso il encircles the horses neck. Nno-
Their baccaria rides up and throws lasso
low that catches him by the hind legs,
and between the two, the poor victim is
dragged to the ground. Two or three other
Indians spring to him, armed with shears,
and (pardon the doggrel,)
Take Off all the hair,
They think he can spare;
and away they go to continue their wild
sport. Three or four horses are generally
sacrafced in the onslaught. This afternoon
a very find mare, with ioal, was killed by
the rude violence with which they handled
her. But wild horse is Of small account to
those who own over two thousand each, as
Gen. V. and many others do. The prices
Of horses here range from ten to fifty dollars,
according to their speed and the care with
which they have been broken. Bottom is
very little thought Of, as the inhabitants al
WAYS ride as fast as the horse can carry
them, until he is exhausted, when they noun,
another, if on long journey. Instead Of
slackening speed and dismounting in civil
and christan like manner, they keep their
utmost speed and when they reach the ter
minus suddenly rein back with all their might,
throw the animal uponits launches, and leap
from the saddle.
They contrast between men and things
here, and our own. Estados Unidos, is strik-
ing enough. A fertile soil, under the soft
influence Of its sunny cline, enables the in
er, unambitious Spanard to live and I" drag
his slow length along" in indolent ease, with
ont any effort Of regular habitual industry
SO necessary to physical, moral and political
health, and with no notions Of substantial
comfort, as understood by US at home. It's,
indeed, a matter Of surprise to see in this
progressive Nineteenth Century, Spanish
gentlemen, not only Of ample means, but Of
great wealth, with costly Partisan furniture
in houses Of sun-dried clay, (adobe,) while
materials for brick are around them, and
pifhou chimney We want the energies
OF the Yankee character TO rouse the people
to action, create newness Of life and spirit,
and prompt them on to improvements. As
il Is here now, il is old Spain in her mummy
hood, in which the pulse Of life is mute, no
blood to circulate, no heart to beat, no soul
to move within her.