138 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



enjoying the freedom of nature, but if cornered up, and unable to escape, no 

 doubt would defend itself to the last. 



Mr. Z. F. Durkee, of Mafralloway, killed one of these animals in the Rich- 

 ardson farm liouee, some years ago, in this wise : — The cat was in the wood- 

 shed and Mr. Durkee went into the house through the shed and the cat ran 

 in ahead of him in hopes of escaping, but he cornered it in the dining room 

 and the creature jumped up against the window and before it could recover, 

 he struck it down with a club he had in his hand. 



Mr. A. P. Gould, of Boston has had several hand to hand fights with this 

 animal, and in every instance, I think, has succeeded in conquering the beast ; 

 although, at one time, he nearly surrendered to an old male, which had the 

 advantage of position, and had it not been for his knowledge of the manner 

 of the animal's attack, and his own superior skill with the knife, he would 

 certainly liave been overcome. 1 am not at liberty to give the full details 

 now, of this encounter. 



Mr. Robert Torrey, of Cambrideport, Mass., came near being attacked by 

 one of these animals in the summer of 1858, in an old barn between the 

 Mollychunkemunk and Mooseluckmaguntic lakes, where he and a few friends 

 composing his party ^ere camping for the night. The cat appeared to have 

 been concealed somewht-re on the beams of the building, and was not noticed 

 by our party until we had got quietly stowed away for the night among the 

 old refuse hay on the upper floor. The animal then descended to where we 

 lay, not with a bound and a growl, but softly, as if to make sure that we 

 were fit for immediate use without cooking. He commenced his operations 

 creeping along the floor near our feet, and making a rustling noise in the old 

 hay, that set poor Torrey in high dudgeon, and he immediately drew his dirk 

 knife and prepared for a close combat; but owing to the darkness, and the 

 proximity of our bodies, he did not commence offensive operations, and the 

 cat escaped. 



The hunter who taught me to hunt when I first came to this country ( Wm. 

 H. Leverett, who has since removed to Marquette County, Wisconsin,) fre- 

 quently accompanied me to my traps, and I remember at one time, when we 

 were following along on our line of traps many miles from human habitaiion, 

 we heard one of these animals screech, and knew by the peculiar sound what 

 it was, and this being the second one I had caught, I was highly excited and 

 elated. Leverett, on the contrary, was perfectly cool and collected, and told 

 me while we were hurrying along to where the trap was set, that he would 

 show me how to kill a Lucivee, (as we called them.) When we came up, 

 behold we had a large specimen of the Lynx in a trap ! Leverett immedi- 

 ately broke him a stick of dry alder and said : " It takes but a small stick to 

 kill one of these creatures." But, said I, "do take a sound stick, foT the one 

 you have there is rotten." Said he, " it is sound enough." So he walked 

 directly up to the cat and struck him over the head, and his stick broke in 

 two, and the cat leaped toward him and he jumped backward and at the same 

 time caught his foot in gome bushes and fell flat on his back, when the cat 

 leaped upon him, trap and all, and but for my assistance with the axe, he 

 would at least have been badly scratched, if not entirely done up. 



1 think it very foolish for hunters and others to dally with these and other 

 wild animals, because they have them in traps and security. 1 have known 

 many instances of hunters losing their game in this way, and even getting 

 into bad scrapes. 1 have lost bear and moose and some other game by not 

 immediately killing them at the first opportunity. 



I will leave this animal by relating my first adventure with one, the first 

 one I ever saw. I had been hunting but a few days when I came one evening 

 just at sunset, to where I had set a trap a few days before — this was in town- 

 ship No. 4, Range 2d. My trap was gone and I followed on the trail by the 

 marks in the moss the traps had made. I followed on at a rapid pace for it 

 was nearly night and I could but just see the signs in the thick woods. I had 



