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Butler, Samuel, 1835-1902

"A First Year in Canterbury Settlement"

You saw a mob of cattle feeding quietly about
Madingley on the preceding evening, and they may have joined in with
these; or were they attracted by the fine feed in the neighbourhood of
Cherryhinton? Where shall you go to look for them?
Matters in reality, however, are not so bad as this. A bullock cannot
walk without leaving a track, if the ground he travels on is capable of
receiving one. Again, if he does not know the country in advance of
him, the chances are strong that he has gone back the way he came; he
will travel in a track if he happens to light on one; he finds it easier
going. Animals are cautious in proceeding onwards when they don't know
the ground. They have ever a lion in their path until they know it, and
have found it free from beasts of prey. If, however, they have been
seen heading decidedly in any direction over-night, in that direction
they will most likely be found sooner or later. Bullocks cannot go long
without water. They will travel to a river, then they will eat, drink,
and be merry, and during that period of fatal security they will be
caught.


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