IN THE FAR WEST. 87 



lie saw, on another occasion, a fight between a cougar and 

 a wolf, and, according to his statement, it was one worth behold- 

 ing, as they tumbled over and over each other, and caused the 

 leaves to fly about as wildly as if two moose were engaged in a 

 deadly contest. Knowing which one would win, he loaded 

 his gun with buckshot, and approaching them to within a 

 distance of thirty yards, he fired both barrels at their heads in 

 rapid succession, and killed them in their tracks. Both were 

 full-grown, heavy animals, and that they were possessed of 

 strength was proved by the number of wounds on their bodies, 

 and the manner in which the ground was torn up. 



A proof that the cougar is no mean foe to encounter may be 

 illustrated by the following anecdote : 



A farmer in Oregon was returning home one day from 

 market at a rather late hour, but he had not proceeded half a 

 mile from town before he met a large cougar on the road. 

 Being unarmed, he did not care to assail it, and as he did not 

 want to retreat or take the trouble of Hanking it by cutting 

 across fields, he picked up a stone and fired at it, to drive it 

 away; but, instead of complying with his desires, it crouched 

 on the ground, as if preparing for a spring. Not liking its ac- 

 tions by any means, he gave a fierce shout, but instead of fleeing, 

 as it generally does, from the human voice, it bounded at him, 

 and striking him full on the breast, knocked him down. Then 

 commenced a fierce struggle between man and beast. The latter 

 caught the former by the upper part of the arm, and fastened 

 its claws in his breast ; but he being of a powerful frame, seized 

 his foe by the throat and held it in a vice-like grip until it let go 

 its hold. lie held it in that position until he got on his feet, 

 when he flung it away from him, and attempted to escape ; but 

 the brute was not to be baulked, and before he ran three paces 

 it sprang upon him once more, and again a desperate struggle 

 commenced, in which the man was getting the worst of it, as 

 he was severely bitten in the arms., and his sides and chest 

 were torn by its long, hooked, and iron-like claws. Seeing that 

 his strength would soon be exhausted unless he could kill the 

 animal, the man made a desperate effort to choke it, but he was 

 so weak from the contest and the loss of blood that his eH'orh- 



