118 HABITS OF THE PANTHER. 



a fascinating smil?, white teeth, dark glancing eyes, and 

 rounded shoulders, who overwhelmed us with praises 

 doubly sweet to hear when uttered by rosy lips. 



The panther's skin is highly esteemed by the furriers 

 of the United States, who fabricate it into splendid 

 carpets, trimmed with the black bear's skin. I have 

 seen at Philadelphia a saloon entirely carpeted with pan- 

 thers' skins ; it was a magnificent sight, and of inestimable 

 value. The sofas, the cushions, the chairs, the fauteuils, 

 the consoles, all were covered with this fur as fantastic 

 as a page written in Arabic characters. 



The panther is an animal of very carnivorous habits. 

 He pursues his prey principally at night, qucerens quern 

 devoret ; and, though his walk is slow, he elongates the 

 pace with so much agility, that he will traverse immense 

 distances between sunset and sunrise. If the country be 

 full of game, the panther soon finds his supper. One or 

 two bounds will place in his claws a prey worthy of his 

 appetite. But if the paths are rendered impracticable 

 by deep snow, or a boisterous wind, the panther hides 

 himself in the shadows of a rock, in some locality fre- 

 quented by stags or the smaller animals, and sheltered, 

 perhaps, by a grove of cedars ; and there, patiently await- 

 ing the troop of deer, whose habits he knows by instinct, 

 or the turkeys which plunder at the foot of the trees, or 

 the hares whose burrows open right before his eyes, he 

 will profit by the favourable opportunity, and, taking his 

 spring, he rarely misses his prey. 



Sometimes the panther ventures even on attacking 

 man, but only when hunger has driven him from the 



