125 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE PUMA. PERILOUS ESCAPE. — THE TIGER-CAT. 



CAPTURE. 



T^HE Puma, or, as he is called in Central 

 and South America, the Leon, is a far 

 less dangerous adversary than the panther ; 

 he is smaller and not near so bold, even when 

 hard pressed ; indeed, when pressed, he still 

 almost always tries to escape, which the pan- 

 ther never does when once he is at bay, and 

 that is the reason that for one leon that is 

 killed in the course of a year, at least a 

 dozen panthers are destroyed. There is one 

 peculiarity, however, in their habits that dis- 

 tinguishes them very remarkably : — the pan- 

 ther, as remarked before, never follows the 

 footsteps of man ; if he meets him by chance 

 he will fight or escape, but he never pursues 

 him ; but the puma will, and almost always 

 does, follow the trail of man, especially near 

 sunset ; should the man stop, the puma will 

 stop : should the man advance towards him, 

 he will retire ; but when the traveller con- 

 tinues his journey he will hang on to his foot- 



