90 SPORT IN NORTH AMERICA. 



the dogs, the brute was in an agon}^ of terror, and 

 offered no defence ; so they worried it without any 

 difficult3% When the struggle was over, one of the 

 blacks dragged out the panther, which was only a 

 cub, and threw it by the side of its mother. 



I will conclude this chapter with an adventure 

 which I met with in the backwoods of Florida. 

 One frosty morning, an American and myself were 

 shooting about fourteen miles from St. Augustine, 

 on the banks of the river St. John. Our three dogs 

 had tracked a panther, who had avoided them b}^ 

 swimming to a little island within gunshot of the 

 shore. As the dogs were pursuing him, the creature 

 turned round suddenly, seized the head of the dog 

 nearest him and dragging it under water, managed 

 to drown him. Fortunately, the two other dogs, 



seeing the danger, returned to us. The panther, 



meanwhile, had reached the opposite shore, and as 

 it was quite impossible for us to cross the river St. 

 John, we had no resource but to follow him with 

 our eyes. On getting out of the water, he sprang 

 upon a rock vvhich was on the bank, and then we 

 could see him creeping along a tree and stretching 

 himself upon a branch which was exposed to the 

 sun, where he could lie and allow his splendid fur 

 to dry. 



Presently, however, there appeared to our asto- 

 nished eyes a Carib Indian, creeping along the 

 ground, and then climbing a tree next to that in 



