Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1851-01-24

iucky, showed me the plain scar Of wounds
froml, claws and teeth upon his person. Al
couobOrsthe circumstances which family re-
Ininiscences and the character Of the man for,
nlshcd, lcil Que no hook TO hang a doub, upor
in this case. and lcn me more inclined To be-
leyc the many anecdotes Of The same kind
which are familiar to III Of tie southwest a.
household words. Nor are such relations Il
he thus summarily disposed of, As old wives
tales the heanay and haPhlzarl gossip o
the borders, for they are sound substantial TO
alitcs-just as much historical truths Of thos,
times as the battle of the lIone Shoe, u the
River Rlisin. of the Blue Licks or any oihcr
collision that nigh, be named between III,
white race aud foe quite as savage a. c,cr
| can suppose The mos, ferociuus Of these ami
mails to have been, and like them rapidly dis
appeared before our coming. There can b,
M question TIA, the formidable part OF tie
civilized man. rvcn without the s4vcntiiou'
aid uf the fearful engines he wcids, Is IN II.
self sufficient. when be choose. 20 asscri hi,
God.likc supremacy upon physical world, ia
o,crawc and subduc the most untamcabc
bruics, utterly changing their relations to
himself, by the majesty Of his presence and
hi. will
The Editors of the Quadrupcd, II america
gave ~ a short ancrIo,c, an illustration io the
point,
'Duuny botanical excursions to the Edi,la
river, our attention was attracted BY the bark.
ing Of a small terrier at the loo, of a tree
On looking up, We observed q Wild cat, about
twenty feet from the ground, aud q, least
three time, the sir' of the dog, NJ whom be
did not appear lo be much afraid. H. seemed
to have greater dread of nau however,
than Of this ulmlnuuyr specimen of thc. .anlnc
race, and lcapcd iron the tree When We drew
near"
With all the lmldlly lhIs .ucgduic j. u-
icndcd to illustrate. the Wild cat frum u, d,,-
pcraie fighting aud cunning. affords "a very
exciting sIori To the hunter. When ~eria.
Ken by the dogs, several of them ar frequent.
IL killed by i, aud Nc Audubon give, some
anecdotes oi n, sgblicly Ia GLIDING pursuit.
which would de- credit io Reynard himself
Onc IT them T., that BE- makes ior some ball,
dried swamp or pond, and runs uio lh. most
sticky yci8y, seeming TO be aware thai The sl"cA.
ius, With which hi, lrss would b, dcl,Edcd
Whcn hC cama out, would prevent the sccnt
being deposited from hls feet, and dull the
trail \ .hrewd conjecture that but M, a.
think particularly plausible, Tor IN a lev
hounds lhc mirc would be rubbed or the
,olcs of h, feet, aud leave him badly oft ls
ever.
bot knoW hundred, Of we'll authenticated
instances, in which the cougar OF panther at
',a'ai ,ha. ss,'y h~"'s'. sPrFep'-s -r--
them as readily frum ambush, - lhey would
have done upon a deer.
should no, fccl authorized To monliun a.
secondhand any incident ui the many could
command. a. cntlIlcd To stand among the facts
Of natural history, but that 10 my Own per.
.oual experience ! have ~ frequently wi,nes.
Sod such, that AM compelled To allow sOms
of ,hc,' weight proPoTtIoncd tn their au-
thouty. 10 pculou, excursion iowsrd tie
lock, moGniIns, have met all our mott for
m.daplc animll, under the most varied r.,-
cumslanc,, oi sudden collision. Ga this cN.
pidllion " saw several skins aud lNo spec.-
mcrs ln ,hc fc.h ol the puma, which s yet
unrccogni.eI b, any America Naturalist
Il j, c,idcnlly a transitional gcnss, plriahng
uf the characters of both the lIou aud the
coug-r. ID hls clearly the wd'm.uial name.
and tun,d tail, Nhich charac,crz lhg iOr
mcg, while ~ habit, Approximate thos' of
latter. once, while hunting around a camp
on one OF the head stream, OF Ihg Red River.
cncouul,grd puma, IN a manner much r.-
,cmbling the instance ol the w,ld cat giN,n
above. had gouc out IA tho carIJ morning
to hunt, with 4 cOmradc, ana We ~err care.
lcssy walking through ihc ,hic, wood' IN in-
dian Tile. when |, who vas behind, suddcn,y
ob.er,c,l creature which supposed !" b. a.
panther, and in the ac, uf sPringirg from the
low limb Of bending ,ree on my companion
who was few lee, IN advance ol me-.
shouted in warning to him, when be- srrane
forward. and fired. The ball struck The
creature "on the leap" jus, between the eyes,
and i, fell at my feet The eyes wcrc bursI
from the sockets, and It's yeils aud dying
struggles were terrific. Ga firing another
load into II. these struggles ceased. AiIcr
our surprise had subsidized, examined II cool
ly, and found II IN b. entirely distinct from
the cougar, both IN sizc, which va, consider.
ably greater, Il took no meisuremen) aud
color. wich instead of tawny, was 4 light
ruan. or mingled red and dull whIic.-Ihcn
the head was Of grraicr 'lzc IN proportion :"
tho body, aud the rudlmeuis OF a name and
,ultcd tail were efficiently distinctive. Te-
rrrt tha, was not more careful at the time,
for nav measurement, might have substantial
ted new species. Another Of our hunters
,ho, one ON tree, the warm skin oI which
. / only saw hot what i more IN point We
saw several skins uf these creatures, when
had been killed near San Aut"nIo de BeNlr'
in Texas, which !, vey old Spanish town :
vet on the most careful inquiry, We learned
from the hunters. that they were quite as
cowardly, and a,crsc to attacking man as the
cougars, which yet lngcr IN the swamfs Of
Mississippi, the pine wocds Of llic CarolInas,
or along the courses OF our western r'en.
ar, known to BE-.