IN THE PACIFIC. 105 



cattle, some of which plunged into the thicket, 

 others stopped in the open to take a look at us. 

 I could easily have killed several of them, but 

 did not care to do so, as we should have had 

 some difficulty in getting the meat back to the 

 hut, and we had already as much as we required. 

 We also saw a herd of wild asses, and our guide 

 said there were horses and goats, besides 

 domestic fowls wild on the island, but we 

 worked hard in a drenching rain for several 

 hours, and saw none of them, and we were at 

 length obliged to return to the hut, as we had a 

 long walk to the boat the same afternoon. The 

 colonel told us that the year before our visit 

 there had been a great drought, and that about 

 a thousand head of cattle died; he estimated 

 the remainder at about two thousand. His 

 men usually killed one a week for their own 

 use ; their plan was to wait at the water where 

 they came to drink ; this custom, though a 

 tolerably sure one, is not unattended' with 

 danger, for one of the men had been gored to 

 death by a bull which he had wounded, and 



