d with blood. They had
gone upon a cruise against the wolves, and had killed the brutes until
they were tired and had no more strength to use their arms.

The reader, comfortably seated in his elbow-chair, cannot comprehend the
hatred which a prairie traveller nourishes against the wolves. As soon
as we found out what these three champions of the wilderness had been
about, we resolved to encamp there for the night, that we might destroy
as many as we could of these prairie sharks. Broken-down as they were,
there was no danger attending the expedition, and, tightening on our
belts, and securing our pistols, in case of an attack from a recovering
panther, we started upon our butchering expedition. On our way we met
with some fierce-looking jaguars, which we did not think it prudent to
attack, so we let them alone, and soon found occupation enough for our
knives and tomahawks among a close-packed herd of wolves.

How many of these detested brutes we killed I cannot say, but we did not
leave off until our hands had become powerless from exhaustion, and our
tomahawks were so blunted as to be rendered of no use. When we left the
scene of massacre, we had to pass over a pool of blood ankle-deep, and
such was the howling of those who were not quite dead, that the deer and
elk were in every direction struggling to rise and fly[26]. We had been
employed more than four hours in our work of destruction, when we
returned to the camp, tired and hungry. Roche had picked up a bear-cub,
which the doctor skinned and cooked for us while we were taking our
round to see how our _proteges_ were going on. All those that had been
brought up to the water-hole were so far recovered that they were
grazing about, and bounded away as soon as we attempted to near them. My
stag was grazing also, but he allowed me to caress him, just as if we
had been old friends, and he never left the place until the next
morning, when we ourselves started.

[Footnote 26: The prairie wolf is a very different animal from the
common wolf and will be understood by the reader when I give a
description of the animals found in California and Texas.]

The doctor called us for our evening meal, to which we did honour, for,
in addition to his wonderful culinary talents, he knew some plants,
common in the prairies, which can impart even to a bear's chop a most
savoury and aromatic flavour. He was in high glee, as we praised his
skill, and so excited did he become, that he g