302 TRESPASSING COWS CHECKED BY A BULL. 



often found asleep on his post ; an offence as 

 unpardonable in a Highland herd as in a senti- 

 nel. The ploughman, provoked at the frequency 

 of this fault, chastised the boy whenever the cat- 

 tle trespassed. The boy, enraged at this, kept a 

 long switch, and with it revenged himself with 

 an unsparing hand, if they exceeded their boundary. 

 The bull seemed to have observed with concern this 

 consequence of their transgression, and acted upon 

 his observation. He had no horns, as is frequently 

 the case with northern cattle ; but then he had a 

 hard and powerful forehead, with which he used 

 to strike the cows, and punish them severely if any 

 one attempted to cross the limit, or in any way 

 trespass. In the mean time, he set them the ex- 

 ample of perfect self-denial, never once entering the 

 forbidden bounds, and placing himself before the 

 cows in a threatening attitude if they presumed to 

 approach it. At length his honesty and vigilance 

 became so obvious, that the boy was employed in 

 weeding and other business, without fear of their 

 misbehaviour in his absence. This fine animal's 

 vigilance could only proceed froixi a desire to keep 

 his companions from punishment, not from any dis- 

 tinction of property. 



With this extraordinary account I close my 

 letter and my correspondence; at the same time. 



