WILD OXEN. 255 



From hearsay they thought the strange 

 tracks were those of moose, and were very much, 

 surprised when the herd was sighted to find 

 they were horned cattle, and at once concluded 

 (and very correctly) that they were the long lost 

 cattle. 



The chief informed me they were so fleet of 

 foot that the five deer were come up with and 

 killed before they overtook the steers, which 

 were rolling fat, sleek of coat and had an under 

 growth of wool such as the deer had, showing 

 that under different circumstances nature had 

 given them this protection against the severity 

 of the climate. 



I hardly think I would have credited their 

 story with the proof, and further, the next sum- 

 mer, when they came in to trade on the coast, 

 they brought me a piece of the thigh skin of 

 each animal. Verily these oxen had a call from 

 the wild and took it and became as one with 

 the denizens of the bush. 



Reading of the dog that fraternized and 

 went off with the wolves brought this to my mind 

 after a lapse of forty-one years. 



