Cundltion of' Slaves at the Cape 103 



lows of this construction that allusion is made in Schiller's play 

 of the Robbers, in which somebody says, ' Maurice, beware of 

 the beast that has got three legs."* " 



(To be continued.) 



Hunting the Cougar, or American Lion ; and Deer Hunting. 

 By John James Audubon, F.R.SS. L. & E. M.W.S., &c *. 



1. The Cougar, or American Lion f. 

 JL HERE is an extensive swamp in the section of the state of 

 Mississippi which lies partly in the Choctaw territory. It com- 

 mences at the borders of the Mississippi, at no great distance 

 from a Chicasaw village, situated near the mouth of a creek, 

 known by the name of Vanconnah, and partly inundated by the 

 swellings of several large bayous, the principal of which, crossing 

 the swamp in its whole extent, discharges its waters not far from 

 the mouth of the Yazoo River. This famous bayou is called 

 False River. The swamp of which I am speaking follows the 

 windings of the Yazoo, until the latter branches off to the north 

 east, and at this point forms the stream named Cold Water 

 River, below which the Yazoo receives the draining of another 

 bayou, inclining towards the north-west, and intersecting that 

 known by the name of False River, at a short distance from the 

 place where the latter receives the waters of the Mississippi. 

 This tedious account of the situation of the swamp is given 

 with the view of pointing it out to all students of nature who 

 may chance to go that way, and whom I would earnestly urge 

 to visit its interior, as it abounds in rare and interesting produc- 

 tions, birds, quadrupeds, and reptiles, as well as moluscous ani- 

 mals, many of which, I am persuaded, have never been de- 

 scribed. 



In the course of one of my rambles I chanced to meet with 

 a squatter's cabin on the banks of the Cold Water River. In 



* It having been remarked, and rather sjjarply, that in our article on 

 " Audubon's Ornithological Biography," we have overrated that gentleman's 

 talents, we, in our own vindication, and as proofs of Audubon's descriptive 

 powers, submit to the judgment of our readers the above sketches, taken at 

 random from hi.i woik. 



t la the Felis concolor of Liniiicus ; the Felis puma of Trail, in voL 4th 

 of M'erneriaii Memoirs. 



