mss142-vasilevShishmarev-i4-025
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– 134 –
because his other leg is already entangled in the lasso of
the second Spaniard. Then, one of them, going in a semicircle,
joins his comrade and together they drag the unfortunate animal,
which tries to seize any convenient object with its front
paws. But all is in vain. If they see that it is impossible
to drag it farther, they loosen the lasso, and the bear, letting
loose of the object he had seized, is pulled farther once
again. Everything described herein serves not only for the
acquisition of furs or food, but also for amusement, because
this hunt is seldom fraught with danger.
The Spaniards show the same skill and fearlessness in
catching a fugitive from one of the missions, or one of the
natives, despite the fact that here the danger may be incomparably
greater. Armed, as has been described, one Spaniard,
or at the most, two on horseback attack a whole crowd of
savages, who shower them with a whole cloud of arrows steeped
in poison, but the Spaniard, protected by his leather armor,
does not pay any attention to it. He rides up closely, entangles
the neck of the one nearest him with his lasso, and
pulls him along. If he wants only a fugitive, he rides some
distance away, stops, and begins negotiations for the purpose
of exchanging the fugitive for the one caught. But the Indians
seldom return the fugitives, and the ill-fated victim must
go to the mission in place of the other. If they get the
fugitive, then they immediately release the captured one to
maintain the confidence [of the Indians].
Here is a description of the local cavalry. About the
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