192 A SPORTING PARADISE 



Andubon mentions a case which may be com- 

 pared with my own adventure. 



"A settler on the Yazoo River was riding 

 home alone one night through the woods, when 

 a cougar sprang at him from a fallen log, but 

 owing to his horse making a sudden plunge, 

 only struck the rump of his steed with one paw, 

 and could not maintain his hold. The man 

 was for a moment unable to account for the 

 furious start his horse had made, but presently, 

 turning his head, saw the cougar behind, and put- 

 ting his spurs to his horse, galloped away. On 

 examining the horse, wounds were observed on 

 his rump corresponding with the claws of the 

 cougar's paw, and from their distance apart, 

 the foot must have been spread widely when he 

 struck the animal." 



The cougar is quite abundant in Florida, 

 where it is known both as the panther and wild 

 cat. Ignorance or want of inventive power 

 manifested by America's early colonists caused 

 them to name every quadruped, bird, and fish 

 after species belonging to the Old World, without 

 the slightest regard to resemblance, and gene- 

 rally with a total disregard to propriety. The 

 cougar is as little like the panther as an opossum 



