I wished to get something more tender.

I wished to send a bullet into a heifer, or one of the young bulls whose horns had not yet begun to curve.

Of these I saw several in the herd.
"Tame as the animals were, I could not manage to get near enough to any of these.

The old bulls at the head always led them beyond my range; and the two, that brought up the rear, seemed to drive them forward as I advanced upon them.
"Well, in this way they beguiled me along for more than a mile; and the excitement of the chase made me quite forget how wrong it was of me to go so far from the camp.

But thinking about the meat, and still hopeful of getting a shot, I kept on.
"At length the hunt led me into ground where there was no longer any bush; but there was good cover, notwithstanding, in the ant-hills, that, like great tents, stood at equal distances from each other scattered over the plain.