He had a period of extravagant elation.

He took off his cap and saluted his island.

He made little speeches of glowing compliment to it, he called it the pearl of its kind, the choicest gem of the Gulf or the Caribbean, and, if pirates came again while he was there, he would drive them away once more with the aid of the good spirits.
He rowed back, hid his boat in the old covert among the bushes at the edge of the creek, and, rifle on shoulder, started through the forest toward his peak of observation.

On the way, he passed the lake and saw the herd of wild cattle grazing there, the old bull at its head.

The big fellow, assured now by use and long immunity, cocked his head on one side and regarded him with a friendly eye.