our enemy, whose bow, lance, and rifle, for the better
management of his lasso, have been left behind, or too firmly tied about
him to be disengaged and used in so short a time. He can only oppose you
with the knife and tomahawk, and if you choose, you may employ your own
lasso; in that case the position is reversed; still the conquest belongs
to the most active of the two.

It often happens, that after having cut the lasso and turned upon his
foe, an Indian, without diminishing the speed of his horse, will pick up
from the ground, where he has dropped it, his rifle or his lance; then,
of course, victory is in his hands. I escaped once from being lassoed in
that way. I was pursued by a Crow Indian; his first throw failed, so did
his second and his third; on the fourth I cut the rope, and wheeling
round upon him, I gave chase, and shot him through the body with one of
my pistols. The noose at every cast formed such an exact circle, and
fell with such precision, the centre above my head, and the
circumference reaching from the neck to the tail of my horse, that if I
had not thrown away my rifle, lance, bow, and quiver, I should
immediately have been dragged to the ground. All the western Indians and
Mexicans are admirably expert in handling this deadly weapon.

Before the arrival of the Prince Seravalle, the Shoshones had bucklers,
but they soon cast them aside as an incumbrance: the skill which was
wasted upon the proper management of this defensive armour being now
applied to the improved use of the lance. I doubt much, whether, in the
tournaments of the days of chivalry, the gallant knights could show to
their ladye-love greater skill than a Shoshone can exhibit when fighting
against an Arrapahoe or a Crow[12].

[Footnote 12: The Crows, our neighbours, who are of the Dacotah race,
are also excellent horsemen, most admirably dressed and fond of show,
but they cannot be compared to the Shoshones; they have not the same
skill, and, moreover, they abuse and change their horses so often that
the poor brutes are never accustomed to their masters.]

But the most wonderful feat of the Shoshone, and also of the Comanche
and Apache, is the facility with which he will hang himself alongside
his horse in a charge upon an enemy, being perfectly invisible to him,
and quite invulnerable, except through the body of his horse. Yet in
that difficult and dangerous position he will use any of his arms with
precision and skill. The way