Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1863-05-02
THE LLANEROS.

THE LLANEROS.
The people inhabting the vast region of
| Lanos, although claiming descent from the
old castlian race, once the the rulers of the
land, are, in fact, amalgamation of the vari-
Gus castes composing the present population
of the republic. These are, the whites, or
the descendants of the European settlers of
the country the aboriginals or Indians and
great portion of blacks. In most of the
towns the native whites preponderate over
all Others, and represent the wealth, as well
as the most respectable portion Of the com
munity; in the villages and thinly populat-
ed districts of the plains, a mongrel breed,
resulting from the admXture of these three,
constitute the majority of the inhabitants
These are dispersed over an acre of twenty
seven thousand square miles, making a
proportion of only fourteen individuals, out
! of population of the three hundred and
ninety thousand to every square mile.
NODE OF LIVING.
This race, although vastly inferior to the
! first in mental capacity and moral worth, is
endowed with a physique admirably adapted
to endure the fatigues of a life besct with
dangers and hardships. Cast upon wild
and apparently interminablc plain. the
domain of savage beasts and poisonous
reptiles, their lot has been 10 pass all their
! life in perpetual struggle, not only with
the primitive posscssors of the land, but
with the elements themselves, often rs fierce
as they are grand When it is not the alarm
of the dreaded viper or the spotted iuguar,
it is the sudden inroad of vast foundations,
which spreading with fearful rapidity over
the land, sweep off in one moment their
trail hahtations and their herds. Never
theless, this insecure existence, this contnu-
al struggle between life and death, between
rude intellect and matter has for the Llacero
a sort of fascination, perhaps not so well
understood by people possessing the bless
ings and ideas of civilization but without
which he could not exist, especially if dc
prived of his horse and cast among the
mountain region north of his cherished
plains.
The Modern Centaur of the desoate re-
gions of the New World, the Llancero,
spends his life on horseback all his actions
and cXcrtons must be assisted by his horse
for him the noblest effort of man is. when
gliding swiftly over the boundlcss plain and
bearing over his spirited charger, he over
turns an enemy or masters wild bull The
following lines of Victor Hugo seem as
though copied from this model :-"lle
would not fight but on horseback he forms
but one person with his horse he lives on
horseback ; trades, buys and sells on horse
back; eats. drinks, sleeps and dreams on
horseback" Like the Arab, he considers
his horse the best and most reliable friend
on earth, often depriving himself of rest and
comfort after hard days journey to afford
his faithful companion abundance Of food
and water
TIE NATIVE CHILDREN.
Born in the rude hut, the infant Gaucho
receives little intention, but is left to swing
from the roof in bulock's hide the corners
of which are drawn toward each other by
four strips of hide. In the first year of his
life he crawls about without clothes, and
have me- re than once seen a mother give a
child Of this age sharp knife, foot long,
to play with. AS soon as he walks, his
infantie amusements are those which pre-
pare nim for the occupations OF his future
! life; with dsO made of twine he tries to
catch little birds, or the dogs, as they walk
in and out of the hut. BY the time he is
four years old he is on horseback, and imme-
diately becomes useful by assisting TO drive
the cattle into the corral
When sufficiently strong to cope with a
wild animal, the young Llanero is taken to
the majada or great cattle-pen, and there
hoisted upon the bare back of fierce young
bull. With his face turned toward the ami
mails tail, which he holds in lieu of bride,
and his little legs twisted around the neck
of his antagonist, he is whrled round and
round at furious rate. His position, as
may be imagined, is anything but eques-
trian; yet, the fear of coming in contact
with the bulls horns compels the rider to
hold on until, by IA deXterous twist of the
animals tail while he jumps off his back,
he succeeds in overturning his antagonist.
In proportion as he grows Older and
stronger II more manly amusement is afford
ed him with the breaking in of wild colt.
| This being, however, a more dangerous eX-
pertinent, in which many 'young eagle"
| is rendered "lame duck" he is provided
with the necessary accoutrements to with
stand the terrible struggle with the animal
| firmly seated upon his back and brandishing
overhead touch chaparrO vine for whip,
the apprentice is thus installed in his new
office, from which he must not descend until
the brute is perfectly subdued the coil of
ldso in the hands OF his merciless instructor
would be the least evil awaiting him should
he otherwise escape safe and sound from
the desperate kicks and plunges Of the
horse.
| SCENES AT A FISHERY.
| Four days we remained at San Pablo
making arrangements for the contemplated
expedition to the Apure but the horses
being quartered at considerable distance, we
removed to La Yeguers, small farm within
the estate exclusively devoted to the breed
ing of those animals. Great numbers OF
mules were also ssissd there which scs6s