His
distinctive costume consists of the _calzones_, or cotton breeches,
reaching a little below the knee, a tunic or smock-frock of the same
material, confined about his waist with a thong of leather, into which
he thrusts his formidable _machete_ or cutlass, and the inevitable
_poncho_, that many-colored blanket which the entire Spanish-American
race has adopted at the hands of the vanquished Indians, and which he
uses as cloak, as pillow, as bed, and sometimes as saddle. Boots he has
none, nor shoes; but perhaps he may fasten strips of raw hide to
his feet by way of sandals,--and a piece of raw hide covers, in all
probability, his head. He cares little for ornament, since there are so
few about him to admire display; and all his pride is concentrated in
the steed that bears him, the lasso that he can throw with such unerring
aim, and the heavy lance that he uses in driving his ferocious cattle,
or as a death-dealing weapon when he is called upon to take part in some
partisan warfare.
Upon his _hato_, perhaps, there are between one and two hundred thousand
head of cattle and horses, guarded here and there by isolated posts of
a nature similar to his own. The animals, savage from their birth, roam
the plain in droves of many hundreds, each herd commanded by two or
three bulls or stallions, whose authority is no less despotic than that
of the colonel of a Russian regiment. They sweep from feeding-ground to
feeding-ground, galloping eight or ten abreast, headed by scouts, and
suffering no human being or strange animal to cross their path.
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