GO THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. iv. 



coat from his back. Mr. Mackenzie turned round at 

 once, and caught the cat by the throat with one hand, 

 and with the other he drew his knife ; but as he made a 

 lunge they both rolled over together, and he received 

 some very severe scratches. Still holding on firmly to the 

 throat of the animal, he was not bitten, although he was 

 in danger of having his bowels torn out by the hind feet 

 of the cat, who was making a vigorous resistance. A 

 second lunge with the knife was fatal ; it passed through 

 the animal's heart, but it left Mr. Mackenzie exhausted 

 and bleeding on the snow. He soon recovered, and 

 carried his booty in triumph to the Post. 



Mr. Peter Mackenzie is the brother of the late 

 Mr. Mackenzie, of Pembina, whose melancholy death 

 I have described in the narrative of the Canadian Ex- 

 ploring Expeditions in the North- West. 



The lynx is passionately fond of perfumes, among 

 which the odour of castoreum is its chief delight. Trap- 

 pers frequently employ castoreum in order to capture this 

 animal. 



The lynx formerly played an important part in Mon- 

 taguais mythology. They supposed that the world was 

 created by Atahocam, and that a deity named Messou 

 repaired it when it was old. One day Messou was 

 hunting with lynxes instead of dogs ; his savage com- 

 panions swam into a great lake, and were lost. Messou 

 searched for them everywhere without success, when a 

 bird told him that he would find them in the middle of 

 the lake. He entered the lake to bring back his lynxes, 

 but the lake began to overflow its banks, and finally 

 deluged the world. Messou, astonished, sent a crow to 



