A YOUNG NATURALIST. 



463 



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 he stopped, groaned, and 

 sank down upon the ground. I cast a glance at l'Encue- 

 rado, who descended to the lowest branch, continuing his 

 gymnastic exercises. The young bulls on our side, fright- 

 ened 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 wa- 

 ter. 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 re- 

 sumed their furious course, and were soon lost in the dis- 

 tance. 



These cattle range the prairies in droves of sometimes 

 forty thousand, and were originally imported by the Span- 

 iards. 



