The Puma, or Lion of America. a7 
preferred not to import into their writings matter 
which has so great a likeness to fable, and might 
have the effect of imperilling their reputation for 
sober-mindedness. 
It is, however, possible that the singular instinct 
of the southern puma, which is unique among 
animals in a state of nature, is not possessed by the 
entire species, ranging as it does over a hundred 
degrees of latitude, from British North America to 
Tierra del Fuego. The widely different conditions 
of life in the various regions it inhabits must 
necessarily have caused some divergence. Con- 
cerning its habits in the dense forests of the Ama- 
zonian region, where it must have developed special 
instincts suited to its semi-arboreal life, scarcely 
anything has been recorded. Everyone is, however, 
familiar with the dreaded cougar, catamount, or 
panther—sometimes called “ painter”—of North 
American literature, thrilling descriptions of en- 
counters with this imaginary man-eating monster 
being freely scattered through the backwoods or 
border romances, many of them written by authors 
who have the reputation of being true to nature. 
It may be true that this cougar of a cold climate 
did occasionally attack man, or, as it is often 
stated, follow him in the forest with the intention 
of springing on him unawares; but on this point 
nothing definite will ever be known, as the pioneers 
and hunters of the past were only anxious to shoot 
the cougar and not to study its instinct and dis- 
position. It is now many years since Audubon 
and Bachman wrote, ‘This animal, which has ex- 
cited so much terror in the minds of the ignorant 
