52 The Naturalist in La Plata. 
This kind of criticism, which seizes on a slight 
inaccuracy in one passage, and totally ignores an 
importart statement in another—as, for instance, 
that of the *‘ great beast ” seen in the woods—might 
be extended to other portions of the book, and 
Byron’s entire narrative made to appear as purely 
a work of the imagination as Peter Wilkin’s adven- 
tures in those same antarctic seas. 
Mr. J. W. Boddam Whetham, in his work Across 
Central America (1877), gives an anecdote of the 
puma, which he heard at Sacluk, in Guatemala, and 
which strangely resembles some of the stories I 
have heard on the pampas. MHe writes: ‘The 
following event, most extraordinary if true, is said 
to have occurred in this forest to a mahogany-cutter, 
who had been out marking trees. As he was re- 
turning to his hut, he suddenly felt a soft body 
pressing against him, and on looking down saw a 
cougar, which, with tail erect, and purring like a 
cat, twisted itself in and out of his legs, and glided 
round him, turning up its fierce eyes as if with 
laughter. Horror-stricken and with faltering steps 
he kept on, and the terrible animal still circled 
about, now rolling over, and now touching him with 
a paw like a cat playing with a mouse. At last the 
suspense became too great, and with a loud shout 
he struck desperately at the creature with his axe. 
It bounded on one side and crouched snarling and 
showing its teeth. Just as it was about to spring, © 
the man’s companion, who had heard his call, 
appeared in the distance, and with a growl the beast 
vanished into the thick bushes.” 
Now, after allowing for exaggeration, if there is 
