202 SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



the numerous skulls that lie about in every direction. The 

 latter are so deceptive that I have more than once mis- 

 taken them at a distance for living animals, and wasted 

 valuable time in carefully stalking them. When this er- 

 ror has been committed a few times, however, a person 

 learns to be more cautious and less enthusiastic, and to be 

 sure that he is not laboring under a mistake before com- 

 mencing his stealthy, crawling, and often fatiguing " still- 

 hunt." 



The wallows, according to Catlin, are made by the 

 strongest bulls for the purpose of enjoying a bath. A 

 veteran with ponderous horns, on reaching a spot where, 

 the earth seems damp, lowers himself on one knee, and 

 plunging his horns, and at last his head, into the ground, 

 makes an excavation into which the water filters from 

 among the grass, forming for him, in a few minutes, a cool 

 and comfortable bath, into which he plunges like a hog 

 in its mire. Throwing himself flat upon his side in this 

 delightful hole, he forces himself violently around, and, 

 ploughing up the ground by his rotary motion, sinks 

 deeper and deeper into the ground. Having cooled his 

 sides, he stands in the pool till inclination induces him to 

 step out, and give place to the next in power ; and in this 

 manner the whole herd pass through in turn, each one 

 swinging its body around in a similar manner. When all 

 have finished their bath, the hole is quite deep, and, once 

 seen, its origin will always be known. It is evident that 

 this excavating propensity must soon destroy the sharp- 

 ness of the horns of the sturdier bulls, especially if the soil 

 is of a stony nature ; so that they have to yield their su- 

 premacy in a short time to the younger bulls, which have 

 appendages with sharper points. It is supposed that the 

 veterans are driven out of a herd by their jealous juniors, 

 when their horns become too blunt to fight to good ad- 

 vantage ; but this I should deduce to be a fallacy, inas- 

 much as the natural characteristic of the animals is to be 

 social and peaceable. The actual reason why these old 

 'hermits quit their companions and seek comfort in soli- 



