The sun., 1899-02-12
A JAGUAR ON THE RANGE.
FED mrs FAMILY ON ZEAL AND
sTAMPEDED A BTG HERD.
Marks on n Cowboys Arm Left ns n Me-
mento of His Last FiEht-NiRht Alarm


Among Cattle and Measures of Defence
ofthe Cows-A JaEuar Hunt to the Death.
Travelling by rail between Albuquerque,
N. NJ. and Fl Paso. last MONTH tourist saw
handsome, spotted skin. large in size and un-
usual In its markings. which fellow passenger
carried as a travelling rug. After the travellers
had formed an acquaintance in the easy West
ern fashion the tourist asked tho owner. the
foreman OF Texas ranch. what manner OF
animal the skin had been taken from.
1T was jaguar-a Mexican leopard" said
the Texan whose name was Landor-Dick
Lnndor. as he announced t.
"Indeodl You must value the skin as SOU
venir Of your life in Mexico" said the tourist.
No; of Texas. l carry another souvenir
which goes with the skin" And rolling up his
sleeve the Texan showed the scars OF several
deen scratches. furrows. rather. extending from
the shoulder to the elbow. These are marks
OF tho jaguar's claws. II was on the Rainbolt
ranch on the Rio Grande. below the Pecos, nine
years ago. that the thing happened" continued
the Texan, after the tourist had urged him to
tell the story of the skin. II was working for
Rainbolt as n cowboy. It was midsummer and
the boys had been rounding up herd Of cows
and calves to drive over into New Mexico. We
had got the cattle. q couple OF thousand Of
them. all together in the valley OF little stream
them there ready to take the trail when the old
man should give the word The calves did not
hold up to the tally Some OF them. It was fair
to reckon. had been sneaked from the mothers
at weaving time by thieves. who branded or
rebranded them with their own marks but
besides these there had been an unusual num-
ber killed this season by wild animals. wolves
or panthers. II was most likely to suppose. but
some thought that IL might be partly the work
OF a jaRuar foraging from the timber In the Rio
Grande bottoms.
"Of course we Ind to night herd the cattle,
and the six OF us that were TO take them to
New Mexico divided the time up into turns OF
four hours each. On this night Charley Maui
mann and came In at 10 o'clock. The cattle
were quiet, the sky was clear. and everything
looked well for a peaceable time In riding our
rounds. but In the course OF an hour the
cattle began to grow uneasy and some Of them
got up. They were punched for the night on
piece OF level prairie stretching away from the
bank OF the creek. and half a mile above was
cottonwood grove Cows with calves are
notional creatures. and are apt to fuss
over nothing. we didn't think much
OF their getting restless until more OF
them got up. and we saw that those on their
feet were all facing toward the grove. Texas
range COW has a scent as fine as a deer's and
beginning to below and shake their horns we
knew that something they smelled was alarm
ing them. 1t was pounds OF flesh off from
every COW In the herd to be stirred up and
fretted in this way. so waited for Charley to
come up with me. and then said to him:
There's something up the creek that the
cattle are afraid of. If you'll hold the herd to-
gether while I'm gone I'll ride up as far as the
cottonwoods and try to stampede it,
All right he snid. and I rode up toward
the grove. Half way there my horses ears
were pointed straight ahead. and he was sniff
fing and siding. Thinking OF nothing worse
than wolf or panther. that would sneak away
before got 80 much as a chance to see him.
put my horse ahead until. half pistol shot
from the timber. he stopped short and |
couldn't get him any further. BY using my
quirt and spurs pretty freely I managed to keep
him where he was. but the moment I let up on
these and gave him his head he whired and
took the bit In his teeth. and we came back to
the herd at pace that made Charley laugh at
me for running away.
Looks like you were the one that's stam-
peded.' he said. What did you find or what
found you?
go The devil l reckon I said little huffy
for saw that was bound to be laughed at in
camp when Charley told the story. Steel and
rawhide couldn't make my horse go into that
timber. Perhaps you'd like to try 1t with
yours
81 will when come round again. he said.
MY horse is young one and may not see so
much to be frightened about as yours, and he
rode away, laughing. TO make his turn Of the
herd
But the cows hadn't lain down again or
stopped their believing. Those that were not
already on their feet wero getting up and to
help the racket the calves were blcatng had
dismounted to tighten my cinch for looked
for trouble to come. and had Just got back
into the saddle, when great rumpus broke
out among the cattle on the side OF the
herd nearest the creek bank. | Just had
time to see in the moonlight that n calf was
down. struggling under some large animal
that had seized it. and then, quicker than
trained soldiers could have got into line, a half
circle OF cows had formed about the pair and
shut them from my view. Some of the cows
were crowdng behind those in front. others
were running after thcir calves, and there was
an upronr generally that woke the boys in
the other side OF the herd Charley Naumann's
horse was dancing on his hind legs. and. with
saddle and laughed till cred to see his m horse rs
get the bit at last and cnrry him away from the
cattle at = faster clip than my horse had made
You'll have something to talk about to-
morrow hGSides my running awav.' I said to
and rode round the flank Of the herd between
the cattle and the creek. meaning to mix In the
ruction myself il could get near enough, The
herd already had drawn together after the |
fashion OF range cows when an animal startlns
them-thc cows facing out all around and the |
calves behind them-and there was n clear
space Of thirty Yards between them and the |
travel whern | wanted to go. Now that he was
back among the cattle where he felt his bust
ness was, M horse was acting all right again
he was nervous and quivered all over. hut i |
knew that he would go anywhere that | chose
to put him.
miles to witness. the sight before me when ! |
got to where had seen tho calf on tho ground |
II was iaguar that had pulled it down and
now was RI Irving to drag the body toward ths
their heads lowered and horns ali pointed
toward him, we're pressing ahead. threatening |
away, was growing and snariing, and every
few seconds would drop the calf and start |
townrl the COWS 10 keen them back. He was
too busy watching the COWS to pay any atten-
tion to me. and twenty yards away i gave him
inir body shot with my revolver
Then before could fire again as IL the report |
Of my pistol had been signal, the cows closed
in ON the Jagnar with n rush that carried them
to he bank OF the creek. The whole line OF |