'STHE^LOWING HERD" 91 



something of the individuahties of his herds, and will 

 tell how fat beasts form friendships, and how they pine 

 when separated. Then will he register his personal 

 regrets, counting in the measure for fat, for, refusing 

 food, the animals fall away in condition, so that the 

 sorrows of two fat bullocks due to parting, enforced 

 by determined men on horseback, cracking whips and 

 using violent and threatening language, come home to 

 the owner in terms of pounds, shillings, and pence. 



Here are few sordid considerations, for does not the 

 full-fed and contented herd supply generously milk 

 and cream with no apprehensions of the butcher ? 

 Perhaps on that account the sentiments of the sleek 

 cows are more tender. At least it has been noticed 

 that when the time comes for the flash young bulls to 

 be banished, and they are transported, the mother's 

 grief is loud-voiced and prolonged. Under stress of 

 departure and all the novel excitement of a first experi- 

 ence of the motion of the sea, the fat calf, which has 

 rollicked in all that makes for good temper and ease 

 and comfort, becomes mute. Tears trickle from big, 

 affrighted eyes, and the head is turned wistfully when 

 terms of comfort are uttered. He is of the make of man 

 and will not whimper. But the mother, on the dis- 

 covery of her bereavement, arouses the echoes of the 

 hills with her calls. 



Accustomed to the voices of the individuals of your 

 herd, your ears are also attuned to the significant tones 

 of each — the low warning hum of the mother to her 

 safely hidden new-born, the imperative command to 

 obedience, the note of inquiry when the wandering 

 offspring is out of sight, the anxious call when it is 

 absent from her side unaccountably, the angry bellow 

 when she thinks injury is being done. 



The other day a lusty young bull which had been 



