278 FOllTY-FOUR YEARS 0*' 



that she might clamber on them. That was the last placB 

 I could see, on which she could go without coming to the 

 ground. But on looking down the hill, I observed, about 

 twenty feet below, a leaning birch, which was so crooked 

 that the top came within ten or fifteen feet, while the mid- 

 dle of it was perhaps twenty feet, from the ground. It 

 had been so long crooked, that two or three sprouts, about 

 as thick as my thigh, had grown up on the main trunk ; 

 and between two of these limbs, or rather sprouts, there 

 lay the panther lengthwise on the tree, with her long tail 

 passed around one sprout, and crooked so as to lay on 

 the trunk beyond the sprout next to her. I had passed 

 directly under her, in circling round to find her tracks, 

 and she was not more than fifteen or twenty feet over my 

 head. 



When I got my eyes on her, she was looking me in the 

 face, and distant not more than five steps. I took a care- 

 ful aim between her eyes, let her have the whole load in 

 her brains, and down she dropped, without scarcely making 

 a struggle. I skinned and scalped her as soon as possible, 

 and returned to the thicket again, to look for the other 

 young one ; but it had hid so securely, that neither the 

 dog nor myself could find it. As it was, I had killed 

 three out of four of the family, and I went home satisfied 

 with my success. 



Having disposed of this family of panthers, I set my 

 trap again for wolves ; and in the course of a month or 

 two, I again visited my friend Little, for the purpose of 

 looking after my trap. He had an orphan boy living with 

 him, who, having been out shooting pheasants, had found 

 in the snow what he took to be a wolf's track, and told 

 Mr. Little of it ; but there was no notice taken of it, as 

 it was a common thing to see the tracks of wolves. When 

 I came over, the boy told me about the large track he had 

 seen ; so I went out to look at my trap, and when I came 



