238 ON THE FEONTIEE. 



his tracks. But there were other tracks, too the tracks 

 of an unusually large puma, coming from a neighbouring 

 jungle and returning to it again ; the return tracks being 

 accompanied by a drag on the ground, made by the body 

 of the dead buck. It was a bold thing for a puma to do, in 

 broad daylight ; especially as he had no doubt seen the 

 deer shot, and knew that there was a hunter with a gun 

 close by. We instantly took the trail, and soon found the 

 dead buck's body, dragged under a thick bush and covered 

 over with leaves. Leaving it there, we tried our best to 

 have a shot at the puma ; once catching a glimpse of him, 

 as he bounded across a small opening in the brush ; but his 

 tracks soon disappeared in a jungle which we could not 

 penetrate, and we had to abandon all hopes of getting a 

 robe off him. 



Mention of the above occurrence serves also to give an 

 idea of the great strength of the puma, for the deer that was 

 dragged away by this one was an eight-point buck, in fat 

 condition, and his gross weight could not have been much 

 less than a hundred and fifty pounds. 



I have related such incidents connected with the wintering 

 of myself and party in Wet-mountain Valley as I think 

 likely to interest the general reader, and be appropriate to 

 and within the scope of my somewhat rambling collection 

 of disjointed reminiscences. To enter into an account of our 

 serious business in that valley why we went and what we 

 did there further than what has already been told in the 

 foregoing chapters, would prove interesting to but very few, 

 and certainly be most inappropriate and out of place in these 

 pages. 



