410 BIG GAME OF NORTH AMERICA. 



adventure with a Cougar that she is not likely to forget. I 

 will give the incident in her own words: 



"Let me see/ 1 she said; "yes, it was just six years ago 

 last February when I was so badly frightened by a Cougar. 

 The way it happened was this: One afternoon I started to 

 visit the Musselwhite gills, who live six miles from York, 

 on the Cariboo road. My pony was a swift one, and I was 

 riding along at a fast gallop. I was within two miles of my 

 destination, when something sprung out of the bushes and 

 landed in the road just at the pony's head. He reared, the 

 saddle turned, and I was, of course, flung on the frozen road, 

 so violently that for a moment I was senseless. When 

 I became conscious and opened my eyes, I was horrified to 

 see two great green eyes glaring in my face, to say nothing 

 of a horrid row of teeth; for standing directly over me, with 

 one heavy paw pressing on my breast, was a big Cougar. 



" I lay for a moment terrified; but you know a woman's 

 last resort is to scream, and I did scream, so loudly that it 

 seemed to frighten the Cougar, for it instantly sprung to 

 one side, and I regained my feet as quickly as possible, but 

 I was so terribly frightened that I could not think or move. 

 I stood trembling in the road, bewildered and dazed, while 

 the terrible monster crouched in front of me, trembling with 

 eagerness, its tail lashing from side to side; but it did not 

 attempt to spring upon me. It kept its glaring eyes fixed 

 intently on my face with a cruel, wicked stare. 



" Seeing that it did not attempt to spring, I began to walk 

 slowly backward. The Cougar did not move then, but kept 

 on intently glaring at me. Unluckily, it was between me and 

 Mussel white's. It was only two miles there, while it was 

 four miles home; but I did not dare to attempt to pass it. 

 As it did not move until I was quite a distance from it, I 

 turned quickly, and ran toward home as fast as I could, and 

 ran until I had to pause from exhaustion. But judge of 

 my distress when, looking back, I saw the Cougar crouch- 

 ing just behind me. I turned and looked at it again until 

 I got some distance from it, and until I had recovered my 

 breath; then 1 turned and ran again, but, looking backward, 



