near the edge of the herd,
with a quick jump of his horse he tries to drive her beyond the
boundaries. But commonly she detects his purpose, her gregarious
instinct rebels, and with a quicker jump she is back again among her
friends in the midst of the herd.

Then follows a hard chase around among the frightened cattle. Fifteen or
twenty riders are soon in hot pursuit of their several brands. The whole
herd is in commotion, with a general wheeling movement like a slow
Maelstrom. The cattle are "ginning around," they say. The din of a
thousand bellowing voices grows more thunderous as the herd grows more
uneasy. To watch this tossing sea of animal life is exciting in the
highest degree. The horses, trained by long experience in the work, dash
into it with the fire of a war-horse going to battle. They take evident
pleasure in their superiority over the inferior intelligence of the
cattle. The showy, barbaric costumes of the cow-boys, the exquisite
feats of horsemanship, the excitement of the horses warming to their
work, the occasional dexterous use of the lasso in subduing some animal
at bay, all the rush and tumult, the roar and shouting, the grace of
muscular men and animals in swift motion, make up a spectacle so
stirring and picturesque that all other exhibitions of equestrian skill
seem tame in comparison.

As the cattle one by one are "cut out," they are taken in charge by the
outside riders and driven away to swell the herd of those already
gathered, which is grazing less than a mile away. After two hours of
work, while the commotion seems still as violent as ever, the captain
suddenly shouts the order, "Turn 'em loose!" The cry passes along, the
guards draw to one side, the liberated cattle move quickly away, first
in a body, then in a long scattering line, and the stillness of the
desert succeeds the uproar. In the mean time, the camp has been broken
up and the train of wagons has moved up the river eight or ten miles to
fix a centre for the next day's work. There is little difference between
one day and another. The same operation of "circling in" and "cutting
out" will be repeated till every acre of ground in the allotted district
has been traversed. In the "general round-ups" of the spring each
district contains several thousand square miles, and the work continues
for six weeks or more. In this way a belt of country equal in length to
the distance from Portland to Savannah is swept over by the "round-ups"