about noon
A March day on the Rio Grande with wet clothing is not summer , and the vaqueros hesitated a bit before following the example of Quarternight and myself and dispensing with saddles and boots . Five men were then detailed to hold the herd as compact as possible , and the remainder , twenty-seven all told , cut off about three hundred head and started for the river . I took the lead , for though cattle are less gregarious by nature than other animals , under pressure of excitement they will follow a leader . It was about noon and the herd were thirsty , so when we reached the brush chute , all hands started them on a run for the water . When the cattle were once inside the wing we went rapidly , four vaqueros riding outside the fence to keep the cattle from turning the chute on reaching swimming water . The leaders were crowding me close when Nigger breasted the water , and closely followed by several lead cattle , I struck straight for the American shore . The vaqueros forced every hoof into the river , following and shouting as far as the midstream , when they were swimming so nicely , Quarternight called off the men and all turned their horses back to the Mexican side .