Page:Route Across the Rocky Mountains with a Description of Oregon and California.djvu/97



thousand animals; which are kept in bands, and require only the attention of a herdsman. They are always very wild, and can be managed only by force. They are diven into a coral, (a strong enclosure,) once every year, for the purpose of branding, &c. The Spaniards enter these corals on horse back, with the lassoo, which is a rope, made of raw hide, very strong, and formed into a running noose. Holding one end of this rope, coiled in the left hand, they swing the extended noose with the right several times above the head, in order to open it, and to acquire momentum, and then throw it, with almost unerring precision, from thirty to forty feet, about the head of any animal they choose, making fast the end which they retain, around the horn of the saddle, which is made very strong, and bound firmly upon the horse. The horse, as well as the rider, understands the manner or maneuvering, and is able to hold the strongest bullock, taking care to watch closely its movements, when it is disposed to make battle, and avoiding its furious passes, until it becomes exhausted, or assistance is given to the person who has caught the animal. These Spaniards are probably equal, in horsemanship, to any people in the world, the famous Arabs of the Eastern deserts, and the wild Cumanches of the great Western prairies, not excepted. Many of their feats are entirely increditable, to those who ae not well acquainted with their character. We have heard it frequently said, (and it is nearly true,) that the Mexican Spaniard does every thing on horseback and with the lassoo. The Californians like most other Mexican Spaniards, are a lazy, indolent and cowardly people, and have neither enterprise nor spirit of improvement in their disposition, they are only a grade above the aborigines, and like them they will soon be compelled from the very nature of things, to yield to the swelling tide of Anglo-Saxon adventure. Almost every thing which the Californians possess, is of the rudest and simplest construction. Among the better class, however, there are many exceptions to the general rule; but the great majority of the Californians, who are of Spanish descent, will be embraced under it. Their houses, which are constructed of mud and poles, are often, without either floors or chimneys. Within, they are filthy, and destitute of almost all the furniture, most commonly used by civilized people; even chairs, beds, and tables, are wanting. The earthen floor, without any addition, affords them convenient seats, and with the addition of a bullock's hide, it is made to answer the purpose, of both table and bedsteads. Their cooking utensils,