ALL ABOUT FENCES. 335 



against the fence ; down it topples, and over they all go, 

 rejoicing. 



The third way is to place their breasts against the rails, 

 and by dint of bending their hind legs and pushing with 

 all their might, over goes the fence, stake, rider and all. 

 The stake and rider stops the first method, but is no hin- 

 drance to the second and third. 



After this, let no one say that the native Florida cow is 

 not intelligent. Our belief is, if she were sent to college, 

 she would graduate at the head of her class with honors. 

 She is brought up like the city street gamin, and, like the 

 gamin, soon becomes pre ternatu rally cunning in learning 

 to take care of herself. 



Oxen, too, soon learn the same lesson. A saw-mill, lo- 

 cated near our dwelling at the time of our settlement, em- 

 ployed four of these patient, much-enduring animals ; all 

 day long they hauled heavy logs, but at night they were 

 turned loose to wander at will and forage for themselves 

 where they could, a large bell that discoursed any thing 

 rather than "sweet music" being secured around their 

 necks to give their owners notice of their whereabouts. 

 ^ Not alone their owners, however, as we soon learned to 

 our sorrow ; night after night for long, weary weeks, we 

 were compelled to rise from our beds, sometimes three or 

 four times in one night, to drive away from beneath our 

 windows these same oxen, of whose presence there, in the 

 midst of our corn and cow-peas, the clashing bells gave 

 warning. 



It was impossible to raise the fence high enough or build 

 it strong enough to resist their determined assaults; there 

 was no remedy. Not only had we no wish to incur the 

 enmity of their owners by shooting the trespassers, but 

 humanity forbade us to injure the innocent animals who 

 were unconscious of wrong-doing ; only for this latter con-. 



