THE BULL AND PANTHER. 109 



ances, had gored so many cattle, that he was 

 lassoed, and his horns were then squared or 

 blunted at the points to prevent him doing 

 further mischief. A few weeks afterwards a 

 panther killed a cow on the savannah ; and 

 from the trampled state of the ground, and 

 the terribly torn condition of the same bull's 

 head and neck, it was very evident that he 

 had done battle for his cow. He was se- 

 cured, his wounds were plastered up, and his 

 horns pared very sharp ; he was then turned 

 again on to the savannah, where the dead 

 cow was still lying, the vultures and wild 

 dogs having been kept away from the carcase 

 during the day. " Well," said my acquaint- 

 ance, " I will bet you, Don Jorge, this valu- 

 able watch," (pulling out an old turniped- 

 fashioned one, worth about fifteen shillings) 

 " against one thousand dollars, that there will 

 be a fight this very night," evidently valuing 

 his watch at one thousand dollars. Of course 

 I declined his bet ; but, sure enough, as was 

 expected, the panther returned to his feast in 

 the night-time. And there must have been a 

 very furious battle between him and the bull 

 with the sharpened horns ; for the next morn- 

 ing a very large tiger was found dead near 

 the carcase of the cow, and pierced through 



