ANIMALS OF THE 



furnish so few wild animals of all kinds as our 

 own. Cultivation and agriculture are sure to 



" At the first appearance of any person, they set off at full speed, and 

 gallop to a considerable distance ; when they make a wheel round and come 

 boldly up again, tossing their heads in a menacing manner. On a sudden 

 they make a full stop, at the distance of forty or fifty yards, looking wildly 

 at the object of their surprise, but, upon the least motion being made, they 

 again turn round, and gallop off with equal speed ; but, forming a shorter 

 circle, and returning with a bolder and more threatening aspect, they ap* 

 proach much nearer, when they make another stand, and again gallop off. 

 This they do several times, shortening their distance, and advancing nearer, 

 till they come within a few yards, when most people think it prudent to leave 

 them. 



" The mode of killing them was, perhaps, the only modern remains of the 

 grandeur of ancient hunting. On notice being given that a wild bull would 

 be killed upon a certain day, the inhabitants of the neighbourhood came, in 

 great numbers, both horse and foot The horsemen rode off the bull from 

 the rest of the herd, until he stood at bay, when a marksman dismounted 

 and shot. At some of these huntings, twenty or thirty shots have been fired 

 before he was subdued. On such occasions, the bleeding victim grew des- 

 perately furious, from the smarting of his wounds, and the shoutings of 

 savage joy that were echoing from every side. From the number of acci- 

 dents that happened, this dangerous mode has been seldom practised of late 

 years ; the park-keeper alone generally shooting them with a rifled gun, 

 at one shot. 



" When the cows calve, they hide their calves, for a week or ten days, in 

 some sequestered situation, and go and suckle them two or three times 

 a-day. If any person come near the calves, they clap their heads close to 

 the ground, and lie like a hare in form, to hide themselves. This is a proof 

 of their native wildness ; and is corroborated by a circumstance that happen- 

 ed to the writer of this narrative, (Dr Tuller), who found a hidden calf, two 

 days old, very lean, and very weak. On stroking its head it got up, pawed 

 two or three times like an old bull, bellowed very loud, retired a few steps, 

 and bolted at his legs with all its force. It then began to paw again, bellow- 

 ed, stepped back, and bolted as before ; but knowing its intention, and 

 stepping aside, it missed me, fell, and was so very weak that it could not 

 rise, though it made several efforts : But it had done enough ; the whole 

 herd were alarmed, and coming to its rescue, obliged me to retire : for the 

 dams will allow no person to touch their calves, without attacking them with 

 impetuous ferocity. 



" When any one happens to be wounded, or grown weak and feeble 

 through age and sickness, the rest of the herd set upon it, and gore it to 

 death."] 



