about six o'clock before
Any attempt to pass through the herd would have been almost certain death , as these more than half-wild beasts will always take revenge on their master man when they catch him dismounted in the open . As they were coming up from the direction of the river , and were slowly grazing past the wood , I resolved to wait for them to pass on before leaving my concealment . I sat down and tried to be patient , but the brutes were in no hurry , and went on skirting the wood at a snail 's pace . It was about six o'clock before the last stragglers had left , and then I ventured out from my hiding-place , hungry as a wolf and afraid of being overtaken by night before finding any human habitation . I had left the trees half a mile behind me , and was walking hurriedly along towards the valley of the Yí , when , passing over a hillock , I suddenly found myself in sight of a bull resting on the grass and quietly chewing his cud . Unfortunately the brute saw me at the same moment and immediately stood up . He was , I think , about three or four years old , and a bull of that age is even more dangerous than an older one ; for he is quite as truculent as the other and far more active .