A YOUNG NATURALIST. 297 



gallop into the stream to join their guide. Although the drove 

 must have consisted of hundreds, in less than a quarter of an hour, 

 there were not left more than five or six on our side, and these 

 seemed afraid to cross. Suddenly a gun was fired, and one of the 

 animals came rushing past our tree with a jet of blood flowing 

 from his chest. Suddenly it stopped, groaned, and sank down 

 upon the ground. I cast a glance at I'Encuerado, who descended 

 to the lowest branch continuing his gymnastic exercises. The 

 young bulls on our side, frightened by the report of the gun, 

 at last made up their minds to cross ; one of them, however, 

 stopping to drink, was seized by a crocodile, and gradually 

 drawn under the water. A second disappeared in the middle 

 of the stream, and a third, after a fearful struggle, reached 

 the bank. The whole drove, goaded on by the horse flies, 

 then resumed their furious course, and were soon lost in the 

 distance. 



These cattle range the prairies in droves of sometimes forty 

 thousand, and were originally imported by the Spaniards. 



•■^(p'' 



