THE COUGAR. 421 



my astonishment, some fine bark fell on my head and before 

 my face. I turned, and on looking up into an overhanging 

 ash-tree, there, crouched on a limb, not twenty feet away, 

 was the female Cougar. Her hair was all standing, like 

 that of a mad cat, and her tail was vibrating from side to 

 side. 



"I could not r,un, because the brush and logs were too 

 thick. My trusty rifle was empty. I fixed my eyes on the 

 maddened brute, raised my powder-horn to my mouth (this 

 was before the breech-loading rifles came into general use), 

 pulled out the stopper with my teeth, felt for the muzzle of 

 the gun, and poured the powder in. When I thought I had 

 plenty, I dropped the horn, got a bullet from my pouch, 

 and ran it down unpatched. Taking a cap from my vest- 

 pocket, I placed it on the nipple. As I raised the gun, she 

 doubled over the limb. I fired immediately. As the gun 

 cracked, I jumped back, and the animal bounded through 

 the air toward me, brushing my shoulder as she went past. 

 A man will do a great deal of thinking, under such circum- 

 stances, in a very short time. I thought, from the way she 

 sprung, that I had missed her; but she fell on the ground, 

 and did not attempt to rise again. I was glad to see her 

 lying dead, for I must confess that I was a little bit yes, a 

 great deal frightened. I had my hunting-knife in my 

 hand, and I was fully determined, had it come to a hand-to- 

 hand encounter, to sell my life as dearly as possible. ' ' 



Mr. John Davis, of Snohomish, was awakened one night 

 by his hounds barking furiously. From the noise they 

 made, he knew that something unusual was in the vicinity; 

 so, taking his gun, he ran out, not even stopping to dress 

 himself. As soon as the dogs saw him, they made a rush 

 at some large animal, which immediately jumped over the 

 fence and ran up the hill into the woods. Mr. Davis fol- 

 lowed swiftly after, and was soon delighted to hear the 

 dogs barking steadily in one place, as this indicated that 

 the game had treed. Hurrying along as fast as the darkness 

 and the nature of the ground would permit, he soon reached 



