28 THE OX TRIBE. 



to fight very near me. In their fury they were totally 

 unconscious of my presence, and came rushing towards 

 me with such violence, that in some alarm for my safety, 

 I took refuge in one of those holes which are so frequent 

 where those animals abound, and which they themselves 

 dig to wallow in. Here I found they were pressing 

 directly upon me, and I was compelled to fire to disperse 

 them, in which I did not succeed until I had killed four 

 of them. By this firing the cows were so frightened, 

 that I perceived I should not be able to kill any in this 

 quarter; so regaining my horse, I rode to a distant part 

 of the herd, where the Indians had succeeded in killing 

 a fat cow. But from this cow, as is usual in similar cases, 

 the herd had all moved off, except one bull, who, when I 

 came up, still kept the Indians at bay. ' You are warriors/ 

 said I, as I rode up, ' going far from your own country, 

 to seek an enemy, but you cannot take his wife from that 

 old bull, who has nothing in his hands/ So saying, I 

 passed them directly towards the bull, then standing some- 

 thing more than two hundred yards distant. He no 

 sooner saw me approach, than he came plunging towards 

 me with such impetuosity, that, knowing the danger to 

 my horse and myself, I turned and fled. The Indians 

 laughed heartily at my repulse, but they did not give over 

 their attempts to get at the cow. By dividing the atten- 

 tion of the bull, and creeping up to him on different sides, 

 they at length shot him down. While we were cutting 

 up the cow, the herd were at no great distance; and an 

 old cow, which the Indians supposed to be the mother of 

 the one we had killed, taking the scent of the blood, came 

 running with great violence towards us. The Indians 

 were alarmed and fled, many of them not having their 



