108 Mr Audubon on Hunting the Cougar or 



the left shoulder. The cougar writhed for a moment in agony, 

 and in another lay dead. 



The sun was now sinking in the west. Two of the hunters 

 separated from the rest, to procure venison, whilst the squatter's 

 sons were ordered to make the best of their way home, to be 

 ready to feed the hogs in the morning. The rest of the party 

 agreed to camp on the spot. The cougar was despoiled of its 

 skin, and its carcass left to the hungry dogs. Whilst enwao-ed 

 in preparing our camp, we heard the report of a gun, and soon 

 after one of our hunters returned with a small deer. A fire was 

 lighted, and each hunter displayed his pone of bread, along with 

 a flask of whisky. The deer was skinned in a trice, and slices 

 placed on sticks before the fire. These materials afforded us an 

 excellent meal, and as the night grew darker, stories and songs 

 went round, until my companions, fatigued, laid themselves 

 down, close under the smoke of the fire, and soon fell asleep. 



I walked for some minutes round the camp, to contemplate 

 the beauties of that nature, from which I have certainly derived 

 my greatest pleasures. I thought of the occurrences of the day, 

 and glancing my eye around, remarked the singular effects pro- 

 duced by the phosphorescent qualities of the large decayed 

 trunks which lay in all directions around me. How easy, I 

 thought, would it be for the confused and agitated mind of a 

 person bewildered in a swamp like this, to miagine in each of 

 these luminous masses some wondrous and fearful being, the 

 very sight of which might make the hair stand erect on his head. 

 The thought of being myself placed in such a predicament, 

 burst over my mind, and I hastened to join my companions, be- 

 side whom I laid me down and slept, assured that no enemy 

 could approach us without first rousing the dogs, which were 

 growling in fierce dispute over the remains of the cougar. 



At day-break we left our camp, the squatter bearing on his 

 shoulder the skin of the late destroyer of his stock, and retraced 

 our steps until we found our horses, which had not strayed far 

 from the place where we had left them. These we soon saddled, 

 and jogging along, in a direct course, guided by the sun, con- 

 gratulating each other on the destruction of so formidable a 

 neighbour as the panther had been, we soon arrived at my host's 

 cabin. The five neighbours partook of such refreshment as the 



