Accordingly they did so, excepting five of them, who, by cutting down some large boughs of a tree, had got into a little thicket close to the water, and which they so fortified with the boughs of the trees, that they thought themselves secure within; and there they posted themselves, resolving to wait the coming of the cattle, and take their hazard.
When the creatures came to land, it was wonderful to observe how they lowed and roared, as it were to bid one another welcome on shore; and spreading themselves upon the neighbouring plain, immediately lay down, and rolling and stretching themselves, gave our people notice, that, in short, they had swam a great way and were very much tired.
Our fellows soon laid about them, and the five who had fixed themselves in the thicket had the fairest opportunity, for they killed eleven or twelve of them as soon as they set their foot on shore, and lamed as many.
And now they had a trial of skill, for as they killed as many as they knew what to do with, and had their choice of beef, if they killed a bull they let him lie, as having no use for him, but chose the cows, as what they thought was only fit for eating.
But, I say, now they had a trial of skill, namely, to see if they could maim some of the bulls so as not to kill them, and might bring them to carry their luggage. This was a kind of a fruitless attempt, as we afterwards told them, to make a baggage-horse of a wild bull.
However, they brought it so far to pass, that, having wounded several young bulls very much, after they had run roaring about with the hurt, they lay down and bled so, as that it was likely they would bleed to death, as several of them really did; but the surgeon observing two of them to be low enough that he might go to them, and do what he would with them, he soon stopped the bleeding, and in a word, healed the wounds. All the while they were under cure he caused grass and boughs of trees to be brought to them for food, and in four or five days the creatures were very well; then he caused them to be hampered with ropes, and tied together, so that they could neither fight with their heads, or run away with their heels; and having thus brought them to a place just by their tent, he caused them to be kept so hungry, and almost starved, that, when meat was carried them, they were so tame and thankful, that at last, they would eat out of his hand, and stretch out their heads for it, and when they were let a little looser, would follow him about for a handful of grass, like a dog for a bone.
When he had brought them thus to hand, he, by degrees, loaded them, and taught them to carry; and if they were unruly, as they were at first, he would load them with more than they could well carry, and make them stand under that load two or three hours, and then come himself and bring them meat, and take the load off; and thus in a few days they knew him so well, that they would let him do anything with them.
When our people came to decamp, they tied them both together, with such ropes as they had, and made them carry a very great weight. They tried the same experiment with two more, but they failed; one died, and the other proved untractable, sullen, and outrageous.
The men had now lain here twelve days, having plenty of provision, in which time, the weather proving fair, the land waters ran off, and the rivers came to their old channels, clear and calm. The men would gladly have gone back to the sands and flat shore of the lake, or to some other part, to look for gold; but that was impracticable now, so they marched on, and in about two days they found the first river seemed to turn so much to the south, that they thought it would carry them too far out of their way, for their orders were to keep about the latitude of 40 to 50° as is said before, so they resolved to get over the first river as soon as they could; they had not gone far, but they found the river so shallow, that they easily forded it, bulls and all, and, being safely landed, they travelled across the country to the great river, which they found also very low, though not like to be forded as the other was.
Now they thought they were in the way of their business, and here they resolved to see if a tree or two might be found, big enough to make a large canoe to carry them down this river, which, as it seemed large, so the current seemed to be less rapid and furious, the channel being deep and full.