The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865, 1851-03-28
Burdens Constitution and It's Currene Cr,t

America gises, ia d short eaaecdo,e, an
illustration iothe p,iat:n's Q > ,a,
sDurilgfa botanical excursion To- The
Edislo river, oor attention was attracted
by the barking Of small terrier nt the
foot ofa ,reess On looking 6p, we Of:
servedalwild cat, about tweniy feet from
:he ground, and a, least thee times The
size ofihS dog, Of whom he did not ap.
pear 70 be much afraid lie seemed I'd
have a greater dread gof man However
thaniof this diminulive specimen pfthe
canine race, aid leaped from the tfee
1wlren we dnw nenf." 10 sasZii7 M
oit'yitl, allahel,imidity ,lasqahecdote il
intended To Illustrate, Tho Wild cat, from
its dc s;era'e fighting and cunning, afford,
q veiy exciting sport 10 Tie hunter. -
When ovcrakenoby the dogs, several o.
thcmrare'fTequeinly s.iiicd by il, and Mr.
Audubon gives some anecdotes of iti
sdLIletyineludmg pursuit, which would
do credit TO Roynard himself. One o.
them is, that he ,nakesfpr some half dried
swamp or pond, aud runs n:o Ihc most
sticky clay, seeming 10 be aware that ihc
s'ockipgs with which his legs would be
defended when he came out, would pre-,
sei, ,tihe sc,niYbeing deposited frm bis
feet, an9 dull the trail! A shrewd con
lecture that! but not as ! think particular.
lly plausible, lW in y n few bounds the
mire would be rubbed of the soles Of
his feet and leave him as badly If as
| ever. 5,.,.,W E,s ,7r4.,.,sq
Bnt know Of hundreds Of we'll an
lhcn,ica,cG instances, in which The. cou-
gar or panther attacked the early hunters
-springipg upon them, as readily from
ambush, as they would, have done upon
a deer. ,,,l M, ,.sse,,,,f,e ae,, 7,1 @''
should not feel authorized 10 mention
at second hand any incident Of the many
| could c;,".mand, as entitled to stand
among The facts Of na,uTa! history, but
TINT il my own personal experience |,
have So frequently Witnessed such, tia,
1 am compelled 10 allow some Of these
a'weigl; propor.ioned 10 their authority.
In a perlons ,xcursion t'ward the Rocky
mountains, havs met p!l our most for.
On dable animals, under ,be most varied
circumstances q, sudden collisions. On
illis expedition we W several skins and
two specimens in the flesh or lie puma,
which Is ye, unrecogmsed by any Amer!
ican Naturatist. II is evidently u a,,ransit.
ienal genus, par.aking OF The, characters
6fbbththe non ana lie c,.u AZ. Il fias
clearly the rudinental name, and ,ufied
tail, which characierizes the former,
While it's habits approximate those Of The
latter. ] once, while hunting around a
camp on one 81 the head slieams Of the
Red River, encounttfedha puma, in a
ina nner understanding the instance Of
the, wild cat given above. a4' !!6 9'i !"
| Ihad gone out in the early morning
10 hun, with comarade, and we were
carelessly walking Through lie thick
| woods 10 Indian Gle, when J., who was
behind, suddenly observed a creature
which supposed to be panther, and in
the ac, Of spinging from the low limb
ofa bending liee on my acompani"n-
who was few feet in advance of6me.--
shouted in w,r,ing TO him, when be
sprang forward, and l fired. The ball
struck the creature "on ihe leap" just
between tie eyes, andii icll al my feet
The eyes we're burstifrom their sockets,
and i,s ,yells and dyins struggles were
terrific. On firing anoil,cr load into il
|aAese struggles had ceased. After o,i'
surprise h,d subsided, | examined itcoolly
and foand il 10 DO entirely distinct from
the cougar, both insize, which was con.
siderable greater, Il y,oak no measure-
men,) and csilor, which instead of tawny,
wss ;a'light roam, or mingled red and
dull White .aoL hts 4riitli Il '1nt''a
Then the bead was of greater size ia
| proportion 10 the body, and the ludiinents
Of a name and tufiedaailtwer sufficient
iy Distinctive. ] regret tia, | was moi
more careful a, the time, for my measure
men,s nigh, have snbsian,iatcd q new
species. Another oi our hunters shot one
on a tree, the warm skin Of which l saw
but VIVA, is more in point, we saw sever
al skins og these creatures, which ha,'
been killed near San Antonio de Brxar,
in Texas, which is a very old Spanish
|,own--yet on the most careful enquiry,
we learned from the hun'ers, that they
are quite as cowardiy, aud ayelse 10 at.
,ackingr man rs the cougars, which yet
|liupef in the, swamps Of. Misssippi, the
Limo woods Of the Carolinas, or along the
courses Of our Western rivers aye known
10 be. .aaBj! js.l gbl hsat sHp |
| The secret of This is. that the creature
we me-, Oh, the remote waters Of the Red
iRiver, where The hunier's r,flIe bad prob
ably been never heard, were in fact l,v-
Ing in 'enIire ucconsciousness OF lis for
midable representations and accompan-
linens
,i,I had also an adventure once with the
!oceolot, which fully Illustrates the pro-
press this sori Of f,in,imidalion has made
in altering sonr relations 10 such creatures
1.-The oceulot-a- which is ncxtlt0 the com.