THE START 29 



by white men for a century, and which was rarely visited 

 even by Indians. One morning, just before sunrise, he 

 left his camp by the south shore of the lake, to make a 

 topographical sketch of the lake. He was unarmed, but 

 carried a prismatic compass in a leather case with a strap. 

 It was cold, and he wrapped his poncho of guanaco-hide 

 round his neck and head. He had walked a few hundred 

 yards, when a puma, a female, sprang on him from behind 

 and knocked him down. As she sprang on him she tried 

 to seize his head with one paw, striking him on the shoul- 

 der with the other. She lacerated his mouth and also his 

 back, but tumbled over with him, and in the scuffle they 

 separated before she could bite him. He sprang to his 

 feet, and, as he said, was forced to think quickly. She 

 had recovered herself, and sat on her haunches like a cat, 

 looking at him, and then crouched to spring again; where- 

 upon he whipped off his poncho, and as she sprang at him 

 he opened it, and at the same moment hit her head with 

 the prismatic compass in its case which he held by the 

 strap. She struck the poncho and was evidently puzzled 

 by it, for, turning, she slunk off to one side, under a bush, 

 and then proceeded to try to get round behind him. He 

 faced her, keeping his eyes upon her, and backed off. She 

 followed him for three or four hundred yards. At least 

 twice she came up to attack him, but each time he opened 

 his poncho and yelled, and at the last moment she shrank 

 back. She continually, however, tried, by taking advan- 

 tage of cover, to sneak up to one side, or behind, to at- 

 tack him. Finally, when he got near camp, she abandoned 

 the pursuit and went into a small patch of bushes. He 

 raised the alarm; an Indian rode up and set fire to the 



