Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1892-03-17
A CATTLE FUNERAL.
How THE WILD HEARDs OF
THE PRAIRIEs MOURN
"A DEATH-A LEADER sNIFFs A DE-
cAYINa CARCASS FRcM.AFAR.

a DEATH-A LEADER SHIFTS A De-.
cAYING CARCASS FRcM.AFAR.
A cattle funeral may seem an
odd thing to write about, says a
writer in the San Francisco
Chronicle, but it is ten times more
sad to witness. IF the observer
happens to be on foot in the
vicinity of the scene Of the cere-
mony, however, he is apt to find
j. anything but odd, unless there
bea tree or some other place of
refuge convenient, or the curious
onlooker be unusually aeetof foot.
But doubtless the average reader
does not know what cattle
funeral is like, and perhaps is not
inclined to give credit to the
possible existence Of such q thing.
If he has never lived in a locality
where cattle of more or less
nntamed disposition are wont to
range, he will certainly never have
had an opportunity to learn by
observation any of the peculiar
and notable facts connected with
this remarkable phenomenon of
the range.
A cattle funeral, then, is moth.
ing more or less than exactly what
the words seem to indicate
ceremony Of mourning over the un-
! timely fate of departed herdmate,
pa which every individual member
e band that is within long
earsor nose shot is bound to
s I'm detail this cere-
!. NOM iiS sonsiatssof a sort of walk
around sssonn eanisA With the most
aoisful, ear piercing and heart
rsadsing ,noans, II Ks ',sa bel
ioWsags aad varied BY peaaereus
pagings IN ths ground and the
. most siag,lssly dextssel;s fling:
ings of the resultant aa&s upon
Ssssae osSss11sss OF ttfse fos,r footed
20 sbsesve eigate in a
g theS sarious
sassssEd % cut s:pon the range,
: sis some spos which is open
and ebstru uction to the
view i and an fFo nichsno !" "critter''
is in sight.
Having selected such spot, let
one Of the g critters be brought
quietly and secretly from adistance
and without undue ostentation, as
becomes poachers upon another
mans range, let him be done to
death. Let the offal be secreted
where even the. coyotes cannot find
it, and let the hide and flesh be
carried carefully away. Then let
earth be thrown on the blood stains
to hide all traces of disturbance,
and let this all be done SO well
that even the human eye can detect
nothing that would reveal what
had been done.
THE LEADER sNIFFs THE WIND.
Then let the twenty-four hours,
or even less, pass, unless indeed
there be- cattle within a mile or
less at the time of the slaughter.
But for the purpose of illustration
suppose that twenty-tour hours
have elapsed.
Then suppose a lotof one or two
hundred iheadof cattle come drift
ing down over the range to the
leeward of the spot where the
slaughter OF the day previous oc-
Cured. TIE leader; of the herd
may be two or three miles, perhaps
farther, from the scene of blood.
Sud ddenlyshe commences to show
signs Of uneasiness. Though the
grass be deep and luxuriant he only
feeds a few moments continuously,
lifting his head and tossing his
horns as if an enemy was
near.
Suddenly, there is a strong puff
of wind, and as the nostrils of
the leader inhale the air a trans
formation occurs Ike aeHashS of
lightning. he halts, throws his
muzzle into the air and then emita
amost unearthly, prolonged, weird
moaning shrek or below. It If
like none Of the various noises made
upon other occasions, but has 9
tone that is all its own and which
is evidently we'll understood BY
the entire herd.
With another shrek, which car
be heard for a mile and even
~ ~ II 4 80 .ctp 81