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CHAPTER 39
Gay life at Monterey - Mexican horsemen - A bold dragoon - Use of the lasso - Vaqueros Noosing a bear Fight between a bull and a bear - Departure from Monterey -Indian horse stealers - Outrages committed by the travellers Indignation of Captain Bonneville
THE WANDERING BAND of trappers was well received at Monterey, the
inhabitants were desirous of retaining them among them, and
offered extravagant wages to such as were acquainted with any
mechanic art. When they went into the country, too, they were
kindly treated by the priests at the missions; who are always
hospitable to strangers, whatever may be their rank or religion.
They had no lack of provisions; being permitted to kill as many
as they pleased of the vast herds of cattle that graze the
country, on condition, merely, of rendering the hides to the
owners. They attended bull-fights and horseraces; forgot all the
purposes of their expedition; squandered away, freely, the
property that did not belong to them; and, in a word, revelled in
a perfect fool's paradise.
What especially delighted them was the equestrian skill of the
Californians. The vast number and the cheapness of the horses in
this country makes every one a cavalier. The Mexicans and
halfbreeds of California spend the greater part of their time in
the saddle. They are fearless riders; and their daring feats upon
unbroken colts and wild horses, astonished our trappers; though
accustomed to the bold riders of the prairies.
A Mexican horseman has much resemblance, in many points, to the
equestrians of Old Spain; and especially to the vain-glorious
caballero of Andalusia. A Mexican dragoon, for instance, is
represented as arrayed in a round blue jacket, with red cuffs and
collar; blue velvet breeches, unbuttoned at the knees to show his
white stockings; bottinas of deer skin; a round-crowned
Andalusian hat, and his hair cued. On the pommel of his saddle,
he carries balanced a long musket, with fox skin round the lock.
He is cased in a cuirass of double-fold deer skin, and carries a
bull's hide shield; he is forked in a Moorish saddle, high before
and behind; his feet are thrust into wooden box stirrups, of
Moorish fashion, and a tremendous pair of iron spurs, fastened by
chains, jingle at his heels. Thus equipped, and suitably mounted,
he considers himself the glory of California, and the terror of
the universe.
The Californian horsemen seldom ride out without the laso [sic];
that is to say, a long coil of cord, with a slip noose; with
which they are expert, almost to a miracle. The laso, now almost
entirely confined to Spanish America, is said to be of great
antiquity; and to have come, originally, from the East. It was
used, we are told, by a pastoral people of Persian descent; of
whom eight thousand accompanied the army of Xerxes. By the
Spanish Americans, it is used for a variety of purposes; and
among others, for hauling wood. Without dismounting, they cast
the noose around a log, and thus drag it to their houses. The
vaqueros, or Indian cattle drivers, have also learned the use of
the laso from the Spaniards; and employ it to catch the half-wild
cattle by throwing it round their horns.
The laso is also of great use in furnishing the public with a
favorite, though barbarous sport; the combat between a bear and a
wild bull. For this purpose, three or four horsemen sally forth
to some wood, frequented by bears, and, depositing the carcass of
a bullock, hide themselves in the vicinity. The bears are soon
attracted by the bait. As soon as one, fit for their purpose,
makes his appearance, they run out, and with the laso,
dexterously noose him by either leg. After dragging him at full
speed until he is fatigued, they secure him more effectually; and
tying him on the carcass of the bullock, draw him in triumph to
the scene of action. By this time, he is exasperated to such
frenzy, that they are sometimes obliged to throw cold water on
him, to moderate his fury; and dangerous would it be, for horse
and rider, were he, while in this paroxysm, to break his bonds.
A wild bull, of the fiercest kind, which has been caught and
exasperated in the same manner, is now produced; and both animals
are turned loose in the arena of a small amphitheatre. The mortal
fight begins instantly; and always, at first, to the disadvantage
of Bruin; fatigued, as he is, by his previous rough riding.
Roused, at length, by the repeated goring of the bull, he seizes
his muzzle with his sharp claws, and clinging to this most
sensitive part, causes him to bellow with rage and agony. In his
heat and fury, the bull lolls out his tongue; this is instantly
clutched by the bear; with a desperate effort he overturns his
huge antagonist; and then dispatches him without difficulty.
Beside this diversion, the travellers were likewise regaled with
bull-fights, in the genuine style of Old Spain; the Californians
being considered the best bull-fighters in the Mexican dominions.
After a considerable sojourn at Monterey, spent in these very
edifying, but not very profitable amusements, the leader of this
vagabond party set out with his comrades, on his return journey.
Instead of retracing their steps through the mountains, they
passed round their southern extremity, and, crossing a range of
low hills, found themselves in the sandy plains south of Ogden's
River; in traversing which, they again suffered, grievously, for
want of water.
In the course of their journey, they encountered a party of
Mexicans in pursuit of a gang of natives, who had been stealing
horses. The savages of this part of California are represented as
extremely poor, and armed only with stone-pointed arrows; it
being the wise policy of the Spaniards not to furnish them with
firearms. As they find it difficult, with their blunt shafts, to
kill the wild game of the mountains, they occasionally supply
themselves with food, by entrapping the Spanish horses. Driving
them stealthily into fastnesses and ravines, they slaughter them
without difficulty, and dry their flesh for provisions. Some they
carry off to trade with distant tribes; and in this way, the
Spanish horses pass from hand to hand among the Indians, until
they even find their way across the Rocky Mountains.
The Mexicans are continually on the alert, to intercept these
marauders; but the Indians are apt to outwit them, and force them
to make long and wild expeditions in pursuit of their stolen
horses.
Two of the Mexican party just mentioned joined the band of
trappers, and proved themselves worthy companions. In the course
of their journey through the country frequented by the poor Root
Diggers, there seems to have been an emulation between them,
which could inflict the greatest outrages upon the natives. The
trappers still considered them in the light of dangerous foes;
and the Mexicans, very probably, charged them with the sin of
horse-stealing; we have no other mode of accounting for the
infamous barbarities of which, according to their own story, they
were guilty; hunting the poor Indians like wild beasts, and
killing them without mercy. The Mexicans excelled at this savage
sport; chasing their unfortunate victims at full speed; noosing
them round the neck with their lasos, and then dragging them to
death!
Such are the scanty details of this most disgraceful expedition;
at least, such are all that Captain Bonneville had the patience
to collect; for he was so deeply grieved by the failure of his
plans, and so indignant at the atrocities related to him, that he
turned, with disgust and horror, from the narrators. Had he
exerted a little of the Lynch law of the wilderness, and hanged
those dexterous horsemen in their own lasos, it would but have
been a well-merited and salutary act of retributive justice. The
failure of this expedition was a blow to his pride, and a still
greater blow to his purse. The Great Salt Lake still remained
unexplored; at the same time, the means which had been furnished
so liberally to fit out this favorite expedition, had all been
squandered at Monterey; and the peltries, also, which had been
collected on the way. He would have but scanty returns,
therefore, to make this year, to his associates in the United
States; and there was great danger of their becoming
disheartened, and abandoning the enterprise.
Content of CHAPTER 39 [Washington Irving's book: The Adventures of Captain Bonneville]
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