Blackwoods Edinburgh Magazine | Page 3

certain number of settlers into Texas
within a given time and without any expense to the Mexican
government. On the other hand, the Mexican government had engaged
to furnish land to these emigrants at the rate of five square leagues to
every hundred families; but to this agreement one condition was
attached, and it was, that all settlers should be, or become, Roman
Catholics. Failing this, the validity of their claims to the land was not
recognised, and they were liable to be turned out any day at the point of
the bayonet.
This information threw us into no small perplexity. It was clear that we
had been duped, completely bubbled, by the rascally Land Company;
that, as heretics, the Mexican government would have nothing to say to
us; and that, unless we chose to become converts to the Romish Church,
we might whistle for our acres, and light our pipes with the certificate.
Our Yankee friends at Brazoria, however, laughed at our dilemma, and
told us that we were only in the same plight as hundreds of our
countrymen, who had come to Texas in total ignorance of this
condition, but who had not the less taken possession of their land and
settled there; that they themselves were amongst the number, and that,
although it was just as likely they would turn negroes as Roman
Catholics, they had no idea of being turned out of their houses and
plantations; that, at any rate, if the Mexicans tried it, they had their
rifles with them, and should be apt, they reckoned, to burn powder
before they allowed themselves to be kicked off such an almighty fine
piece of soil. So, after a while, we began to think, that as we had paid
our money and come so far, we might do as others had done before
us--occupy our land and wait the course of events. The next day we
each bought a horse, or mustang, as they call them there, which animals
were selling at Brazoria for next to nothing, and rode out into the

prairie to look for a convenient spot to settle.
These mustangs are small horses, rarely above fourteen hands high, and
are descended from the Spanish breed introduced by the original
conquerors of the country. During the three centuries that have elapsed
since the conquest of Mexico, they have increased and multiplied to an
extraordinary extent, and are to be found in vast droves in the Texian
prairies, although they are now beginning to become somewhat scarcer.
They are taken with the lasso, concerning which instrument or weapon
I will here say a word or two, notwithstanding that it has been often
described.
The lasso is usually from twenty to thirty feet long, very flexible, and
composed of strips of twisted ox hide. One end is fastened to the saddle,
and the other, which forms a running noose, held in the hand of the
hunter, who, thus equipped, rides out into the prairie. When he
discovers a troop of wild horses, he manoeuvres to get to windward of
them, and then to approach as near them as possible. If he is an
experienced hand, the horses seldom or never escape him, and as soon
as he finds himself within twenty or thirty feet of them, he throws the
noose with unerring aim over the neck of the one he has selected for his
prey. This done, he turns his own horse sharp round, gives him the spur,
and gallops away, dragging his unfortunate captive after him, breathless,
and with his windpipe so compressed by the noose, that he is unable to
make the smallest resistance, and after a few yards, falls headlong to
the ground, and lies motionless and almost lifeless, sometimes indeed
badly hurt and disabled. From this day forward, the horse which has
been thus caught never forgets the lasso; the mere sight of it makes him
tremble in every limb; and, however wild he may be, it is sufficient to
show it to him, or lay it on his neck, to render him as tame and docile
as a lamb.
The horse taken, next comes the breaking in, which is effected in a no
less brutal manner than his capture. The eyes of the unfortunate animal
are covered with a bandage, and a tremendous bit, a pound weight or
more, clapped into his mouth; the horsebreaker puts on a pair of spurs
six inches long, and with rowels like penknives, and jumping on his

back, urges him to his very utmost speed. If the horse tries to rear, or
turns restive, one pull, and not a very hard one either, at the instrument
of torture they call a bit, is sufficient to tear his mouth to shreds, and
cause the blood to flow in streams.