At last, we mounted a craggy
height, to obtain a wide view of the country. Prom this place, we
beheld three cattle quietly browsing in a green opening of a wood
below; the trees shutting them in all round.
A general re-examination of the muskets now took place, followed by a
hasty lunch from the calabashes: we then started. As we descended the
mountainside the cattle were in plain sight until we entered the
forest, when we lost sight of them for a moment; but only to see them
again, as we crept close up to the spot where they grazed.
They were a bull, a cow, and a calf. The cow was lying down in the
shade, by the edge of the wood; the calf, sprawling out before her in
the grass, licking her lips; while old Taurus himself stood close by,
casting a paternal glance at this domestic little scene, and
conjugally elevating his nose in the air.
"Now then," said Zeke, in a whisper, "let's take the poor creeturs while
they are huddled together. Crawl along, b'ys; crawl along. Fire
together, mind; and not till I say the word."
We crept up to the very edge of the open ground, and knelt behind a
clump of bushes; resting our levelled barrels among the branches. The
slight rustling was heard. Taurus turned round, dropped his head to
the ground, and sent forth a low, sullen bellow; then snuffed the
air. The cow rose on her foreknees, pitched forward alannedly, and
stood upon her legs; while the calf, with ears pricked, got right
underneath her. All three were now grouped, and in an instant would be
off.
"I take the bull," cried our leader; "fire!"
The calf fell like a clod; its dam uttered a cry, and thrust her head
into the thicket; but she turned, and came moaning up to the lifeless
calf, going round and round it, snuffing fiercely with her bleeding
nostrils. A crashing in the wood, and a loud roar, announced the
flying bull.
Soon, another shot was fired, and the cow fell. Leaving some of the
natives to look after the dead cattle, the rest of us hurried on
after the bull; his dreadful bellowing guiding us to the spot where
he lay. Wounded in the shoulder, in his fright and agony he had
bounded into the wood; but when we came up to him, he had sunk to the
earth in a green hollow, thrusting his black muzzle into a pool of his
own blood, and tossing it over his hide in clots.
The Yankee brought his piece to a rest; and, the next instant, the
wild brute sprang into the air, and with his forelegs crouching under
him, fell dead.
