396 Bia GAME OF NORTH AMERICA. 



kill them from the sides of the canon. I began to think 

 that way myself, but my guide was wild to get a shot at 

 them, so we left our Indian and pressed on through the 

 brush; but our progress was slow, as the brush became 

 tliicker. I was in the lead, when all at once my horse 

 stopped and began to snort; then for the first time I real- 

 ized the dangerous ground we were on, for the best time we 

 could make through the brush was a walk. My horse kept 

 snorting, and at last I saw, not more than ten feet from me, 

 a dead Peccary, partially eaten. We rode up a little closer, 

 and discovered that it had just been killed. Getting off my 

 horse, I observed tracks made by the Silver Lion, or Cougar. 



I then knew we were on dangerous ground, as the Lion 

 could not be far off. I got on my horse, and took my rifle in 

 my hand, just as I heard a fierce growl come from the brush 

 directly in front of us. My horse w^as behaving badly, and 

 I could not get sight of the Lion. I told my guide to ride 

 up by my side and take his revolver in his hand, putting 

 his Long Tom in the case. I did the same; then we both 

 rode straight toward where the noise came from. We got a 

 glimpse of the Lion as he ran through the brush, and both 

 fired at him. We could hear him traveling through the 

 brush, and pretty soon saw him spring uj) on a rock about 

 two hundred yards away, and face around to get a good 

 look at us. This was my chance, and taking my Marlin 

 out of the case, I raised the sights, slid off my horse, and 

 fired. My guide said I had not touched him, but I was 

 certain I had; and getting on my horse, we rode up to the 

 rock, and there lay our Lion, shot through the small of the 

 back. It proved to be a small female. We took the skin, 

 and concluded to take the Indian's advice; so we went back 

 and found him in a scrub-pine, and the jack feeding near 

 him. He had heard the shooting and got scared, thinking 

 the Peccaries would be after us. He seemed to be very 

 much afraid, so we started down the canon to find water, 

 where we stopped and ate some lunch. 



After letting our horses graze for an hour, we had just 

 started, when our Indian pointed to the mountain and then 



