38 The Naturalist in La Plata. 



and timid, has been nearly exterminated in all 

 the Atlantic States, and we do not recollect a 

 single well- authenticated instance where any hunter's 

 life fell a sacrifice in a cougar hunt." It might be 

 added, I believe, that no authentic instance has been 

 recorded of the puma making an unprovoked attack 

 on any human being. In South America also the 

 traveller in the wilderness is sometimes followed by 

 a puma ; but he would certainly be very much 

 surprised if told that it follows with the intention 

 of springing on him unawares and devouring his 

 flesh. 



I have spoken of the comparative ease with 

 which the puma overcomes even large animals, 

 comparing it in this respect with the peregrine 

 falcon ; but all predacious species are liable to fre- 

 quent failures, sometimes to fatal mishaps, and even 

 the cunning, swift-killing puma is no exception. Its 

 attacks are successfully resisted by the ass, which 

 does not, like the horse, lose his presence of mind, 

 but when assaulted thrusts his head well down be- 

 tween its fore-legs and kicks violently until the 

 enemy is thrown or driven off. Pigs, when in 

 large herds, also safely defy the puma, massing 

 themselves together for defence in their well-known 

 manner, and presenting a serried line of tusks to 

 'the aggressor. During my stay in Patagonia a 

 puma met its fate in a manner so singular that the 

 incident caused considerable sensation among the 

 settlers on the Rio Negro at the time. A man 

 named Linares, the chief of the tame Indians settled 

 in the neighbourhood of El Carmen, while riding 

 near the river had his curiosity aroused by the 



