40 



THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 



A HUNTING EXCURSION. 



In the winter of 1817, (being a resident of Pike coun- 

 ty, in the northern part of Pennsylvania,) I shouldered my 

 rifle, and made a solitary hunting excursion after deer, 

 along the big Buskill, a creek or tributary stream to the 

 river Delaware, about one hundred miles north of Philadel- 

 phia, and remarkable for the rocky, barren country, through 

 which it finds its way. 



At this period, the population was thin and scattered, 

 the nearest settlement, or town, being fifteen miles distant, 

 save the habitation from which I made my egress, and a 

 few other log dwellings in the neighbourhood. The rug- 

 ged and barren soil offered no inducements to the toilsome 

 hand of the pioneer, or agriculturalist. Wild animals 

 were numerous; deer, bears, panthers, and wolves, seemed 

 to be the sole inhabitants of this dreary solitude, while the 

 horrid yell, and devastating howl of the two latter, only 

 broke in upon the dull silence which reigned in this ro- 

 mantic wild. 



The day on which I made the forementioned excursion, 

 was cold, dreary, and threatening rain. I had travelled, per- 

 haps, three miles before I succeeded in killing a deer, 

 although I saw several, but out of range of my trusty rifle; 

 this was a fine buck, and after divesting him of his offals, I 

 as usual, hung him on a snag projecting from the side of a 

 barren oak, until I could procure assistance to carry him 

 home. Being somewhat fatigued, I sat me down to rest on 

 a high, commanding spot, which was a craggy projecture, 

 terminating with a considerable precipice. I remained in 

 a contemplative mood, perhaps for fifteen minutes, when 

 my attention was aroused by a crackling noise on the oppo- 

 site side of the creek. I discovered it to proceed from a 

 panther, of enormous size, that was approaching the place 

 where I was seated, I however, soon lost sight of it, as it 



appeared to go towards the foot of the precipice, immedi- 

 ately under my feet, and as I supposed, with the intention 

 of rising the hill. I seized my rifle, and sheltered myself 

 behind a large tree, and with breathless anxiety awaited 

 the moment, when my antagonist would show his head 

 at the top of the precipice; and, being thus prepared to let 

 fly the messenger of death, I felt but little alarm, from the 

 assurance of my ability to dispatch the monster, so soon as 

 the opportunity offered. 



But, I liad mistaken the course and object of the animal, 

 and the precautionary steps I had taken, proved in the 

 sequel, to have been my guarantee of safety, for I had 

 scarcely adjusted every thing necessary in these cases, 

 when I heard a yell, the most ferocious and terrific that 

 the mind can conceive, and in a moment, the panther 

 made a spring from the bottom of the precipice into a ti-ee, 

 twenty feet from the ground, foaming, yelling, and tearing 

 the bark and branches with her claws, and distant from me 

 about eigliteen or twenty yards. The paroxysms of rage 

 exhibited at this time by the creature, exceeded any thing 

 I had ever before witnessed. I was then unable to account 

 for it, there being no apparent cause to excite such actions, 

 and the courage which I had acquired by long experience, 

 was almost failing me; but, being convinced that my only 

 safety was in the destruction of this terrible creature, I 

 levelled my piece, and fired, but at the instant the trigger 

 obeyed its impulse, the animal moved, and instead of kill- 

 ing, I only added fury to my antagonist. She then sprung 

 from the tree to a large limb of an adjoining black oak, 

 commenced lashing the smaller limbs with her claws, curl- 

 ing her tail, and darting fury from her eyes, sought the 

 object of her anger, on whom she might wreak her ven- 

 geance. 



I found that my security consisted in keeping perfectly 

 quiet, and with much haste and trepidation, I succeeded in 



