AND OTHER HUNTING ADVENTURES. 333 



and large Mexican spurs, making up a tout ensemble 

 that a band of Texan rangers might envy. Their 

 work, their fun, their excitement now begin, for 

 small bunches of cattle are sighted in every direc- 

 tion, which are to be rounded up and driven along, 

 and there is no time to lose. As they dash hither 

 and thither after the fleeing, scurrying creatures, 

 the proverbial good nature, high spirits, and enthu- 

 siasm of these "knights of the plains" find vent in 

 a series of hoots, yells, jokes, "ki-yis," bits of 

 song, and"' grotesque slang expressions, many of 

 which are strikingly expressive when understood, but 

 which would be utterly unintelligible to a fresh ten- 

 derfoot. The majority of these Western cattle are 

 almost as wild as the native buffaloes whose place 

 they have usurped, having never been subjected to 

 the dominion of man, and rarely, in fact, have they 

 ever come face to face with him. At the first 

 approach of the riders, therefore, they throw up 

 their heads and tails, look wild, sniff the air, and 

 then turn and run like a herd of antelopes. But 

 by fast riding and skillful maneuvering they are 

 soon rounded up and herded. It is a bit of the true 

 spice of life for these dare-devil riders to find a 

 vicious, rebellious, "alecky " young critter who con- 

 cludes that he won' t be rounded up; and no sooner has 

 the belligerent shaken his burly head, pawed the 

 earth a few times, turned tail to his pursuers, broken 

 through the skirmish line and sailed away across the 

 prairie, than three, four, or perhaps half a dozen cay- 

 uses, who are also now in their elements, are headed 

 for him. Lariats are loosened from the saddle horn, 

 spurs rattle as they pierce the flanks of the already 



