46 HUNTING AND FISHING IN FLORIDA. 
mile before taking to a tree. When Davis came up he saw the 
panther about twenty feet from the ground, standing upon a small 
limb, hardly large enough to support it, and looking about in an un- 
easy manner. Just above the panther was a larger limb where she 
could rest secure if she would take the trouble to mount a few feet 
higher, but instead of domg this she continued looking anxiously 
about, and as Davis approached was evidently making up her mind 
to leave the tree. Davis, knowing that I was particularly anxious 
to obtain a photograph of a panther, and as the tree was in an exposed 
and sunny place, immediately conceived the idea that 1f he should 
wound the hind legs of the animal with a small shot the panther 
would probably go higher up the tree and sun herself there until I 
should arrive. The result of this experiment was not a grand suc- 
cess, for upon receiving the charge of shot in her hind feet the panther 
immediately sprang (according to Davis’ statement) at least forty 
feet from the tree and ran with all the dogs after her into the 
cypress swamp, where she turned and attacked the dogs savagely, 
uttering in the meantime the loudest roars for an animal of its size 
that Davis had ever heard. The place where the panther concealed 
itself was about two hundred yards into the thick cypress swamp, 
where the ground was soft and wet. So, leaving Gale to follow with 
the dogs if the panther made a fresh start, Davis came back for 
me. 
When I reached the spot and saw the place in which the animal 
had concealed herself, I was satisfied it was useless to attempt to try 
to photograph this one, so, leaving the camera with Davis, I took my 
rifle and pushed my way slowly into the swamp where I could hear 
the dogs barking furiously, and Doc’s voice was soon added to the 
chorus. As I neared them I heard the panther snarling and growl- 
ing savagely, occasionally making short rushes through the under- 
brush, evidently charging a dog. Suddenly she started off and ran 
perhaps one hundred or one hundred and fifty yards still further into 
the swamp, where the ground was more marshy and the undergrowth 
still more dense. It was impossible to see more than ten or fifteen 
yards in any direction through the thick undergrowth, and in some 
