(2.) LASSOS.
(See [page 1197].)
(3.) PATAGONIAN BOLAS.
(See [page 1174].)
leather plait
(4.) SPANISH BIT AND PATAGONIAN FITTINGS.
(See [page 1174].)
The bolas is to the Patagonian what the kris is to the Malay, the boomerang to the Australian, the lasso to the Gaucho, the club to the Fijian, and the bow to the Andamaner. From early childhood upward no Patagonian is without this weapon, which seems to him an absolute necessity of existence. Generally he carries it twisted round his waist, like an officer’s sash of the olden days, the balls dangling at the side like the tassels of the sash.
It is, however, coiled on the body with such consummate skill that it can be cast loose with a turn of the hand, the eye being fixed on the object of attack, and in a moment the Patagonian is fully armed. Putting aside warfare, which in Patagonia is scarcely known, the tribes, or rather the families, not being strong enough to wage real war upon each other, the so-called battles are unworthy of any name except that of skirmishes, which among themselves seem to do no great harm, however formidable they may be to opponents who happen to be unacquainted with the mode of fighting practised by the Patagonians.
For example, a dozen trained riflemen, on foot, who could thoroughly depend on each other, would overmatch ten times their number of mounted Patagonians, who, every whit as brave as themselves, are ignorant of discipline, and fight every man for his own hand.
Let the riflemen once allow the Patagonians to come within thirty yards, and they would be annihilated; but as long as the foe could be kept out of throwing distance, they are comparatively harmless.