It was necessary to explore the land one day for the march of the next,
and the camp for the day was sometimes regulated by the distance to be
traveled to the next place where water, fuel, and pastures could be had.
The distance made was from two to four leagues[18], and the command
rested every four days, more or less, according to the fatigue caused
by the roughness of the road, the toil of the pioneers, the wandering
off of the beasts, or the necessities of the sick. Costanso says that
one of their greatest difficulties was in the control of their caballada
(horse-herd), without which the journey could not be made. In a country
they do not know, horses frighten themselves by night in the most
incredible manner. To stampede them, it is enough for them to discover a
coyote or fox. The flight of a bird, the dust flung by the wind-any of
these are capable of terrifying them and causing them to run many
leagues, precipitating themselves over barrancas and precipices, without
any human effort availing to restrain them. Afterwards it costs immense
toil to gather them again, and those that are not killed or crippled,
remain of no service for some time.
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