IN THE FAR WEST. 103 



calves, foals, and even the dogs of the farm. It is very destruc- 

 tive on such occasions, as it kills a great many more animals 

 than it can eat, and frequently leaves the carcasses on the ground 

 after it has extracted all the blood through the orifice which 

 it cuts in the neck. It kills in fact for the sake of killing, 

 even when gorged with food, and this propensity causes it to 

 be thoroughly hated and feared by the settlers. Sheep-raisers 

 who take their flocks to the mountains during the summer, 

 wage war to the knife upon it with rifle and strychnine, and 

 the result is that it is disappearing as fast as the grizzly bear 

 in some sections of the country. 



During one of my rambles along the coast region in Wash- 

 ington Territory, I had an excellent opportunity of seeing how 

 destructive it was to the farm, what great strength it possessed, 

 and I also had the pleasure of killing one which had proved a 

 perfect Thug to the denizens of the farm. \\ hile stopping at 

 a lonely cabin that was buried in the forest, some seven or 

 eight miles from any other dwelling, a cougar was so frequent 

 a visitor to the sheep-pen that it killed eight lambs and seven 

 ewes in less than a fortnight. Their owner becoming enraged 

 at length, concluded to start out in quest of it, intending, if he 

 could not kill it, to drive it some distance away at least by 

 chasing it with dogs, or send it to visit some other neighbour 

 whose hospitality it had not experienced. With these purposes 

 in view we armed ourselves one day, and taking four dogs with 

 us, which were taught to run mute when held in leash, we com- 

 menced scouring the woods, taking our course direct from 

 the enclosure in which the pigs and sheep were usually kept at 

 night during the winter. The dogs had scarcely entered the 

 forest before they got on the trail of a thief that had been 

 dining oft' young mutton the previous night, and following 

 this up as rapidly as we could, we were soon forcing our way 

 through dense shrubbery or scurrying over open ground. The 

 dogs worked the trail admirably, and without giving a single 

 whimper, for a mile or more, but they lost it at the base of a 

 rocky chasm ; nor could they carry it any further, although 

 they were harked back two or three times, and several casts 

 were made in various directions. This induced me to look 



