^6 HUNTING ANT) FISHING IN FLORIDA. 



mile before taking to a tree. When Davis came up he saw the 

 panther about twenty feet from the ground, standing upon a small 

 limb, hardlv large enough to support it, and looking about in an un- 

 easy manner. Just above the panther was a larger limb where she 

 could rest secure if she would take the trouble to mount a few feet 

 higher, but instead of doing this she continued looking anxiously 

 about, and as Davis approached was evidently making up her mind 

 to leave the tree. Davis, knowing that I was particularly anxious 

 to obtain a photograph of a panther, and as the tree was in an exposed 

 and sunny place, immediately conceived the idea that if he should 

 wound the hind legs of the animal with a small shot the panther 

 w^ould probably go higher up the tree and sun herself there until I 

 should arrive. The result of this experiment was not a grand suc- 

 cess, for upon receiving the charge of shot in her hind feet the panther 

 immediatelv sprang (according to Davis' statement) at least forty 

 feet from the tree and ran w^ith all the dogs after her into the 

 cypress swamp, where she turned and attacked the dogs savagely, 

 uttering in the meantime the loudest roars for an animal of its size 

 that Davis had ever heard. The place where the panther concealed 

 itself was about two hundred yards into the thick cypress swamp, 

 where the ^^round was soft and wet. So, leaving Gale to follow with 

 the dogs if the panther made a fresh start, Davis came back for 

 me. 



When I reached the spot and saw the place in which the animal 

 had concealed herself, I was satisfied it was useless to attempt to try 

 to photograph this one, so, leaving the camera with Davis, I took my 

 rifle and pushed my way slowly into the swamp where I could hear 

 the dogs barking furiously, and Doc's voice was soon added to the 

 chorus. As I neared them I heard the panther snarling and growl- 

 ing savagely, occasionally making short rushes through the under- 

 brush, evidently charging a dog. Suddenly she started off and ran 

 perhaps one hundred or one hundred and tifty yards still further into 

 the swamp, w^iere the ground was more marshy and the undergrowth 

 still more dense. It was impossible to see more than ten or flfteen 

 yards in any direction through the thick undergrowth, and in some 



