t full speed until he is fatigued, they secure him more
effectually; and tying him on the carcass of the bullock, draw him in
triumph to the scene of action. By this time, he is exasperated to such
frenzy, that they are sometimes obliged to throw cold water on him, to
moderate his fury; and dangerous would it be, for horse and rider, were
he, while in this paroxysm, to break his bonds.

A wild bull, of the fiercest kind, which has been caught and exasperated
in the same manner, is now produced; and both animals are turned loose
in the arena of a small amphitheatre. The mortal fight begins instantly;
and always, at first, to the disadvantage of Bruin; fatigued, as he is,
by his previous rough riding. Roused, at length, by the repeated goring
of the bull, he seizes his muzzle with his sharp claws, and clinging to
this most sensitive part, causes him to bellow with rage and agony.
In his heat and fury, the bull lolls out his tongue; this is instantly
clutched by the bear; with a desperate effort he overturns his huge
antagonist; and then dispatches him without difficulty.

Beside this diversion, the travellers were likewise regaled with
bull-fights, in the genuine style of Old Spain; the Californians being
considered the best bull-fighters in the Mexican dominions.

After a considerable sojourn at Monterey, spent in these very edifying,
but not very profitable amusements, the leader of this vagabond party
set out with his comrades, on his return journey. Instead of retracing
their steps through the mountains, they passed round their southern
extremity, and, crossing a range of low hills, found themselves in the
sandy plains south of Ogden's River; in traversing which, they again
suffered, grievously, for want of water.

In the course of their journey, they encountered a party of Mexicans in
pursuit of a gang of natives, who had been stealing horses. The savages
of this part of California are represented as extremely poor, and
armed only with stone-pointed arrows; it being the wise policy of the
Spaniards not to furnish them with firearms. As they find it difficult,
with their blunt shafts, to kill the wild game of the mountains, they
occasionally supply themselves with food, by entrapping the Spanish
horses. Driving them stealthily into fastnesses and ravines, they
slaughter them without difficulty, and dry their flesh for provisions.
Some they carry off to trade with distant tribes; and in this way, the
Spanish horses