New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1860-04-02
Netu OrIeaas 4aiIp Gtestsid.
the Northern Panther.

.S..-----.
From the "HemIoek Sketches II porterss
Spirit of the Times. we extract the following:
We quench our thirst, and, seeking sze sunnisst
and Hl0ssest spot smoke and while &wAy the t5ndes
listess and careless as If we were IndiaHs and fs
were not the hunting season and the ot]lnmitet
who has learned that painter, IN backwo0ds par
lance. means panther, surnises that de rock may
have taken its name fram the fact khzt specimens
Of that interesting and amiable fsifne~ has been
slain heTcabouts. He need not guess Hgain. He
is at this moment lounging within reach Of the
spot where, ten years ago, Old ckocker' shots
the nuzzle Of his rifle burned paseh of the PAN
theirs skull; to use his own words, 4zs bi9ssA
BuDgtoWn "copper" Grocker was 6no N the fews
solitary or "lone'f hunters have COMFY To knSW
in the last twenty hunting seasons+ species -
the genus homo somewhat fattercd Nn4 miRepfe-
scented, by such writers as have undertaken to De-
scribe them and, for the most part, npt pleasant
OF reliable men to foregathcr with, either ia -
forest Of clearings. Crocker came 10 taese parts
from. nobody knows where, built his shGnty, and
commenced hunting some fifteen years aimee. H.
only instances in which he eyerreyerted 70 hispat
history were when telling hunting yaxnss and t1sse
he never placed, merely relating Incidents and
leaving his auditors to locate them to their GWn
liking. TWAS shreWdly suspected that there MeEe
dark spots in his past life that might Affect hts lib
erty, or life even, If known. One hing was err
tain, he was keen hunter, s<llfuI tzzpper, hnd
although he used 3 fintiock and despised peFtm-
sion, q sharp shot, eithsr standing Or running.
S0fue GWekY6 on l0NEESeM E00H % AAx8 ~
Of the rock, there used TO be (and ssil ~ n0te1
deerpath runway and here, one November aftsF-
noon, stood 0rocker on the wHtch for shot. DsH
did not seem to be stirring much, md be ~
watched until about discouraged, when be cau8kt
sight of what be tack for doc, corning along A. \
creeping pace, difecfiys0n the runway tn - ~
slant, the old stonelock WAS on dHfys nd - ~
flIed,'' the ball sped to its work, and, kitcut IN
other lock, the pan WAS down, powder e running
loose I into the muzzle, followed by loose bali
tie. ball without patch; and the next Instant NJ
the second crack Of the old rife. for Cfockef hs6
| seen, 4 Jest as the gun took fire = that be wss
| holdin onto painter = and with true huntefsS
| presence of mind, had bent all his skill to loading
%aac nj aoss IT, asn ~ M .
an awkward affair og ~ 1.-THE panther--a very
large nemeasnring over ten feet from tip to tip,
fen dead Ct the very feet Of the old hunter, wke
always insisted that the painter waa sctuated By
no beligerent motive in making for tSs rock, but
was kinder crazed Y by the frat shes which Nm
through the lungs, and quite enough 10 hase a.
ished him in five minutes without the second hxIi.
Most probably the old man was right, Tor IL wa =
thing of common occurrence to have an animal.
which has been wounded while On thetun or walk
change its direction and, being startled and con-
fused, make directly for the hunter passing 70
closely as almost to brush against, without seeing
him. SEg sss 4ss5 III $Sss
The panther Is by no means the bloodfhirsty, r.
r9ioq !. animal mall that many people spgoss him
| nal than most persons think him and no living
dog il capable Of making any sneh light with +
full grown panther as Cooper descTibeg ia one DE-
his novels one fair wipe from pansherss paw be-
ing quite sufficient to put the largest masfT h0rS
du combat Some feur years ago there was found
a panther's track few miles from this place, and
the Cracked Creek I, hunters. hssing had TIE
luck to gat the track, went after him with WILL
In panther hunting, the true mode il 10 keep all The
dogs in until fresh start can be had, which, In this
case, took nearly two days. When finally reused.
three sharp dogs were laid on his track and aftef
run Of o mile. |" put him up = giant henlock,
where he sat at his ease contemplating the rayiRg
hounds ia mild, pleasant manner, and apparently
quite puzzled to know what the deuce Ill the fase
was about. When wounded by shot In the nose,
he evinced no pngnacity. but showed adesire to
escape his enemies by getting ON the opposite side
Of the tree, and he was finally killed without hav-
ing shown the least resistance. He measured,
from tip to tip ten feet three inches nd from his
nose to the roots of the tail, seven feet three
inches.
His wrist, just at the smallest part. ~ nine and
three-eighth inches In circumference, md his paw,
. held naturally spread, larger than mans hand.
When sitting erect, he would loom foot taller
than the Benicia Boy and had he been 40 disposed,
might have knocked his enemies out of time dous
and all, at the first round. The panther is q goa
, up more slenderly In proportion q his thickness
. than any other variety Of the feline tribe with
/ which am acquainted, being propdrtoned more
like weasel or ferret than cat, vet his strength
. ia immense tis but few years since one killed
!, a buck in the g marsh woodsp and chose to take
}, it to a laurel brake for eating; as there was
| tracking snow Oh some Six lncneS, anu TWO good
hunters on his track at the time he cahght his buck
! there was capital chance afforded for studying
! his mode of operation. He had first climbed
e large hemlock, from which he had leaped to fhl
i body of another, twenty two feet distant, thence
to the trunk of aallen pine, nearly as much farther
Here he lay in wait for his prey, on which he had
darted sixteen feet distance evidently striking Il
to the ground at the first dash the der had risen
again, however and struggled furiotlAly 10 escape
he had carried his feline tormenOr soma forty yards
with the deadly claws working at his ytals and the
blood streaming out from dozen wounds, before
finally snbsidng, and from this place the panther
, IL was plainly to be seen that no dragging work
!. had been done the deer had been swung over the
pantheris shoulder, and carried as afox carries
: goose, and although he had gone of pm lope, 2
. only the occasional dip Of Q horn OF hoof showed
= that he was carrying weight. On killing large
ANIMAL the panther first tears the throat and drinks
50 long as blood can be had; next, 10 looks for .
70 secluded place to hide his quarry from all probable
observation; if such place is not at hand he will
: carry or drag large deer over mile Of difficult
:, ground rather than hide il in open woods.
d Having got his quarry to q thiCEet, the nexl
thing is hiding this he performs BY covering ii q
= considerable depth with leaEm0ld, leaves, stick
/, and rotten wood, leaving not sestige Of lit b
). sight, and then he proceeds to make from two n
e five more similar heaps about the 6rst one, fol
i some reason best known to himself, after which
! he makes himself comfortable lsEr in dens.
thieket or tree-top, and ia ready to commence onl
feline bender. He viii not go from here 80 long q
from there to the nearest water, thence to his lai
again-that Is TO be his regular ronnd 80 long as b
n IL not disturbed, and succnlent bone remains %
his game. This trait it is that makes him an cas-,
prey to the hunter; 1t ia only necessary to get O.
/, his track with any dog that will follow It and ca
a. be kept in without leash to secure him. proyidin
Or always, that the dog gives good tongue. de
as coming on O panther in silence, wduld hardly b
~ apt to repeat the experiment, while any yeIpin
,r cur that will bark fast and run the track at fai
q pace, would be almost certain to tree him in ru
y of half a mile and once fairly treed the rest
as simple, and much more easy than squirrel
- shooting. From the best information that cal
collect, am led to conclude that there IL radca
difference between the panther of pur mountain,
and the same animal in the West and South. 8
have seldom heard of one being killed in those sec
tiOns measuring over five feet from the end of thi
nose to the root of the tail, eight feetfrom tip
tip whereas ten feet is an averagefor those tina
have been killed in the country about here and on
| or two have been killed that measured twelve liz
in length. Out of more than twenty, only tw
showed fight; one turning on the dog. which
instantly killed with a blow of his paw and th
other attacking and killing the man who waunde
him, in this same forest, and about three nliIt
southeast Of :" Painter Rock.n
- ss48s
10 MAcAuLAY.--An amusing aneedpte Of Mr.. Ma
4 caulay is making the tour Of the papers. Accord
=. ing to an unknown storyteller, Mr. Macaulay, be
y ing DESTROYS OF obtaining information respectin