348 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



followers, but in the year that he cut the trail to his cariboo 

 ground (it took him several days) he had excellent sport, and 

 in Alaska he did so well with bear that next year a friend and 

 myself found that all the skin-hunters in the country were N on 

 Sir Richard's tracks. Of course we went elsewhere. So it is 

 always. On the grounds which you find for yourself you may 

 get excellent sport : on the grounds found for you by other 

 people you have hardly a right to expect it. 



Before dealing then with the game list of North America in 

 detail, let me say to the intending sportsman, Don't be dis- 

 couraged by every evil report : go and see for yourself : if pos- 

 sible get a hint as to where game is likely to be and then look 

 for a country yourself, not slavishly following your predecessors 

 or entirely depending upon men whom perhaps you don't know 

 very well to present a stranger with an accurate chart of the best 

 hunting grounds they are acquainted with, the way to which 

 they have discovered by their own hard work. 



As in everything else in life, so it is in sport : if you want 

 to get anything worth having, you have got to earn it yourself 

 in one way or another. 



There is no royal road to success in the mountains, but there 

 is the old road still for the self-reliant and adventurous who 

 don't stick to old trails and the railroad, and there is still plenty 

 of game, for those who know how to seek it, in Colorado, British 

 Columbia, Washington Territory, Ontario, Alaska, and even in 

 parts of the province of Quebec. So much I dare personally 

 guarantee. 



I. PANTHER (Felts concolor) 



The American Panther (Fells concolor) is a beast of many 

 aliases but of few virtues. He is the 'painter/ 'catamount,' 

 ' mountain lion,' ' cougar,' ' Californian lion,' or ' puma ' of early 

 American legends ; but, in spite of his many high-sounding 

 titles, he is a mean, sneaking beast, hiding in dense timber by 

 day, stealing or destroying more sheep in one night than he 

 can eat in six months, affording no sport to anyone, and very 



