1833. 



HUNTING DANGERS. 



281 



rifles, assisted only by a good dog, their adventures were indi- 

 vidually rather than generally interesting. They used to land 

 in unfrequented harbours, very near herds of wild cattle or 

 horses, creep quietly along behind tussac or bushes, till they 

 got within rifle-shot, take good aim at the fattest, and after 

 firing, do their best to kill the animal, in general only wounded 

 by a first shot. They had an excellent dog, who always seized 

 the creatures by the lower lip, and diverted their attention from 

 Mr. Johnson or Low, who otherwise might have lost their 

 lives, on more than two occasions. 



The report of a gun usually alarmed the whole herd of cows, 

 and off" they went at a gallop ; but the lordly bulls were not 

 to be hurried, they would stand and face their enemies, often 

 charge them; when a precipitate retreat behind a rock, or to the 

 boat, or across a boggy place, which the bull would not try, 

 was the only resource, if their hardy dog was not by, to seize 

 the angry animal, and give time for a well-directed shot. In 

 those excursions, also, while ashore at night in small tents, 

 the foxes used to plague them continually, poking their un- 

 pleasant heads into the opening of the tent (while the man on 

 watch was by the fire), stealing their provisions, and breaking 

 their rest, after a fatiguing day's work. What with the foxes, 

 the wild bulls, and the wild horses, it is thoroughly unsafe 

 for a person to walk alone about the unfrequented parts 

 of the Falkland Islands — even with the best weapons for 

 self-defence against either man or beast. Several unfortunate 

 people have been missed there, who waixdered away from their 

 parties. 



April 6. — Having embarked M. le Dilly, with some of his 

 officers and crew, and lumbered our little ship with the spars 

 and stores purchased from him, we sailed from the Falklands. 

 Our passage to within sight of the river Negro was short, 

 though stormy, a south-east gale driving us before it, under a 

 close-reefed fore-topsail. As the sea ran high, it might have 

 been more prudent to have ' hove-to ;"' but time was precious, 

 and our vessel's qualities as a sea- boat, scudding as well as 'by 

 the wind,"* were well known. 



