FIGHT BETWEEN A WILD CAT AND A RATTLESNAKE. 33 



comparison, he says, all the more easily, because one of the 

 negroes who accompanied him in his hunting expedition 

 had killed a rattlesnake, and was carrying it on a carob 

 branch in triumph. 



To the same writer we owe the following anecdote : — 

 " One morning, in South Carolina, on the borders of that 

 immense marsh called the Great Dismal Swamp, I had 

 strayed from the hunt, followed by my dog Black. I 

 endeavoured to retrace my route, and was returning 

 towards the house w^here I spent my holidays, when, on 

 doubling a projecting rock, my dog suddenly started back 

 with bristling hair and tail betw^een his legs, and howling 

 hoarsely to attract my attention. I looked before me, and 

 could not repress a cry of horror. 



" About forty paces distant a wild cat and a rattlesnake 

 were defying each other to the combat; their eyes shot 

 forth flame and fire; one hissed, the other mewed. The 

 serpent moved in folds, marked by grace and suppleness ; 

 the cat, arching his back, appeared to wait for an oppor- 

 tunity of pouncing upon his enemy. Suddenly the serpent 

 made a spring, but the cat anticipated it, and leaped aside ; 

 as he returned to the attack, the rattlesnake bit him in the 

 lip, and though immediately caught in the wild cat's claws, 

 succeeded in twisting its coils round his body, and vio- 

 lently compressing him. I put an end to the agony of 

 both ; my two barrels stretched them on the ground, dead, 

 and incapable thenceforth of doing any injury." 



Leaving the carnivores, we come to the rodents ; among 

 which the Prairie Dogs deserve especial notice. 



(710) 3 



