PANTHERS, AND OUR OTHER CATS. 423 



The sun -was now sinking in the west. Two of the hunters 

 separated from the rest, to procure venison, whilst the 

 squatter's sons were ordered to make the best of their way 

 home, to be ready to feed the hogs in the morning. The 

 rest of the party agreed to camp on the spot. The cougar 

 was despoiled of its skin, and its carcass left to the hungry 

 dogs. Whilst engaged in preparing our camp, we heard the 

 report of a gun, and soon after one of our hunters returned 

 with a small deer. A fire was lighted, and each hunter 

 displayed his fone of bread, along with a flask of whisky. 

 The deer was skinned in a trice, and slices placed on sticks 

 before the fire. These materials afforded us an excellent 

 meal, and as the night grew darker, stories and songs went 

 round, until my companions, fatigued, laid themselves down, 

 close under the smoke of the fire, and soon fell asleep. 



I walked for some minutes round the camp, to contemplate 

 the beauties of that nature from which I have certainly 

 derived my greatest pleasures. I thought of the occui-rences 

 of the day, and glancing my eye around, remarked the 

 singular effects produced by the phosphorescent qualities 

 of the large decayed trunks which lay in all directions 

 around me. How easy, I thought, would it be for the 

 confused and agitated mind of a person bewildered in a 

 swamp like this, to imagine in each of these luminous masses 

 some wondrous and fearful being, the very sight of which 

 might make the hair stand erect on his head. The thought 

 of being myself placed in such a predicament burst over my 

 mind, and I hastened to join my companions, beside whom 

 I laid me down and slept, assured that no enemy could 

 approach us without first rousing the dogs, which were 

 growling in fierce dispute over the remains of the cougar. 



At daybreak we left our camp, the squatter bearing on 

 his shoulder the skin of the late destroyer of his stock, and 

 retraced our steps until we found our horses, which had not 

 strayed far from the place where we had left them. These 



