94 I N A G U A 



and their midnight fights kept any but the sturdiest sleepers 

 awake. Vague rustlings and creepings surrounded one every- 

 where; inside it sounded as though a vast army of prowlers 

 were marching on the house. 



But the greatest annoyance of the evenings was the herds of 

 wild donkeys and cattle. During the day they disappeared into 

 the bushes, into quiet retreats in the interior. But at night they 

 came down to the water's edge and prowled about the beach. 

 I did not mind them at first but finally they became so numer- 

 ous I could not go out after dark without being charged by an 

 angry cow. I determined to get rid of them once and for all. 

 Among my equipment was a .410 gauge shotgun and a num- 

 ber of cartridges. I emptied a shell of its shot and replaced it 

 with crystals of salt that I gathered from the rocks by the shore. 



The next evening the cows were on hand as usual. Fully 

 a dozen of them. They prowled about the yard, kicking over 

 specimen cages and uprooting the piled tin cans. Quietly I 

 opened a crack in the door and thrust out the muzzle. Not ten 

 feet away was a big steer. I aimed for its rump. There was a 

 frightful roar, a sudden blaze of powder, and a moment's 

 silence followed by the most prolonged moo I have ever heard. 

 The moo was followed by a whole series of snorts as the herd 

 got into action. The yard became a melee of milling bawling 

 forms. That is, all except one. Tlie big steer had lit out at 

 express train speed for the interior. With a mighty bellow 

 it plunged through a wall of bristly cacti making a neat hole 

 through a stone fence and over a wall six feet high, which it 

 cleared by a foot. I had no idea a steer could jump so high. For 

 almost fifteen minutes I could hear the animal tearing down 

 trees and rooting up bushes in its path. 



The next night, however, the cows were back as usual ac- 

 companied by a half dozen wild donkeys. This time I rigged up 

 something different in the way of entertainment. From the 



