THE COUGAR. 423 



fragments, every hunter in the vicinity claiming a piece as 

 a memento of the strength and courage of a brave man. 



The following account of a Cougar-hunt was related to 

 me by Mr. L. L. Bates, an old-time friend and fellow- 

 hunter, for whose veracity many residents of Seattle and 

 vicinity can vouch: 



" It was in the month of March, 1887," said Mr. Bates, 

 "that I concluded to take a cruise up Charter's Creek, to 

 look for Beaver-signs. I took my rifle and best tree-dog, 

 Spot, thinking I might get some Bears or Fishers while on 

 my cruise. I had just left the spruce timber, on tide-land, 

 and had gained the fir timber, two miles up from Gray's 

 Harbor, when I came to the carcass of an Elk lying in a 

 thicket of salmon-bushes in a bend of the creek. What 

 was left of the Elk was carefully covered up with sticks 

 and grass. 



" 'Cougars, by gum!' I thought, out loud. I wanted 

 time to take in the situation before alarming the varmints; 

 so the first thing was to secure my dog before he gathered 

 scent of the Cougars. I quietly started on my back track 

 to where I had last seen the dog. 



"Ah, here he is! 'Spot, old boy, there's work ahead for 

 you.' As I said this, I quickly slipped a collar on his neck 

 and chained him to a small tree. I took off my coat and 

 threw it near him, for I knew he would stay quiet while he 

 had something of mine to watch. I then retraced my steps, 

 and began a careful examination of the dead Elk and every- 

 thing about it. I soon made up my mind that there were 

 two full-grown Cougars in the scheme, as there were sev 

 eral fresh beds near by, in pairs, and a well-beaten trail 

 from the carcass down to the water, where they had sev- 

 eral times gone to drink. 



" I had two more good dogs at camp, and for a moment 

 I considered whether I had better go back and get them, or 

 whether to try the fight with old Spot alone. It would 

 take me three hours to go for the dogs and get back. While 

 I was gone, the Cougars might come around, get my scent, 



