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.
Our island friends were now in high spirits; all courage and alacrity.
Old Tonoi thought nothing of taking poor Taurus himself by the horns,
and peering into his glazed eyes.
Our ship knives were at once in request; and, skinning the cattle, we
hung them high up by cords of bark from the boughs of a tree.
Withdrawing into a covert, we there waited for the wild hogs; which,
according to Zeke, would soon make their appearance, lured by the
smell of blood.
