noon
Here and there deep gullies crossed our path , over which we had great difficulty in urging the horses , heavily loaded as they were . At one of these ravines , the animal which conveyed the tent-poles lost his footing , and went scrambling down the edge of the descent , bearing with him a whole avalanche of gravel and shingles . Malcolm and Lacosse went after the brute , and succeeded in forcing it up by a less precipitous path . At noon we halted and dined . During the afternoon , we observed a sort of small jackall , of the kind called Koyott , hovering about the line of march . It only occasionally showed itself amongst the long rank grass and bushes . Bradley , however , got his rifle ready ; but , although he fired several shots , the animal was too nimble or restless for even the practised eye and hand of a Yankee rifleman to be certain of his aim .