AMERICAN NOTES. 1I3 



of the poor people in that country are said to make 

 [T. I. p. 385] their candles entirely from this wax. 



The Duke of Argyll had some of these bushes planted 

 in his garden, which not only thrive there incomparably 

 well, but had also borne such a quantity of fruit that he 

 caused wax candles to be dipped from the wax which 

 he caused to be boiled from the berries in the above- 

 named manner. 



Villa Oxar. Wild Oxen. 



When the traveller in Virginia has gone some miles 

 from the sea shore up country, or up towards the hills, 

 he often gets to see a multitude of the wild Oxen which 

 are found there. When they become aware of the 

 presence of man, they run away directly without doing 

 any harm ; but if any one shoots at them and they 

 are only wounded by the bullet and not nearly killed, 

 they come rushing at the one who has fired, and are 

 dangerous enough unless one can find a means either 

 to shoot them down directly and kill them, or to slip 

 away. Their principal food is the great Reed (Anmdo), 

 which there grows everywhere in the morasses. The 

 Indians or the wild folk there, shoot them, sometimes 

 eat up the flesh, or throw it away and use the skin, or 

 sell it to the Europeans, who make the same use of it as of 

 any other ox-leather. 



A certain Gentleman of Virginia has caught some of 

 their calves alive and reared them at home, but he has 

 never been able to get them so thoroughly tame that they did 

 not at the same time retain some of their wild and buffalo 

 nature, yxa natur ; for as soon as they have been 

 let loose they have run away to the woods, and no fence 

 or hedge has been so good that they have not broken 

 over it. Such a living calf had also been carried over 

 to England and is the same [T. I. p. 386] which is 



