A Panther Hunt. 403 



sisted. Day dawned, and the squatter's call 1 D his hogs, 

 which, being almost in a wild state, were suffered to seek 

 the greater portion of their food in the woods, awakened 

 me. Being ready dressed, I was not long in joining him. 

 The hogs and their young came grunting at the well- 

 known call of their owner, who threw them a few ears of 

 corn, and counted them, but told me that for some weeks 

 their number had been greatly diminished by the ravages 

 committed upon them by a large panther, by which name 

 the cougar is designated in America, and that the raven- 

 ous animal did not content himself with the flesh of his 

 pigs, but now and then carried off one of his calves, not- 

 withstanding the many attempts he had made to shoot it. 

 The ' painter,' as he sometimes called it, had on several 

 occasions robbed him of a dead deer ; and to these ex- 

 ploits, the squatter added several remarkable feats of au- 

 dacity which it had performed, to give me an idea of the 

 formidable character of the beast. Delighted by his de- 

 scription, I offered to assist him in destroying the ene- 

 my ; at which he was highly pleased, but assured me that 

 unless some of his neighbors should join us with their 

 dogs and his own, the attempt would prove fruitless. 

 Soon after, mounting a horse, he went off to his neigh- 

 bors, several of whom lived at a distance of some miles, 

 and appointed a day of meeting. The hunters accord- 

 ingly made their appearance one fine morning at the door 

 of the cabin, just as the sun was emerging from beneath 

 the horizon. They were five in number, and fully equip- 

 ped for the chase, being mounted on horses, which in 

 some parts of Europe might appear sorry nags, but 

 which in strength, speed, and bottom, are better fitted 

 for pursuing a cougar or a bear through woods and mo- 

 rasses than any in their country. A pack of large ugly 

 curs was already engaged in making acquaintance with 

 those of the squatter. He and myself mounted his two 



