26 THE BIOLOGICAL REVIEW. 



passed near the farm where the hunt took place, about the 

 dawn of day, we were suddenly startled by hearing the most 

 frightful screams in a thick, dark, swampy forest we were 

 passing. I knew in a moment that they proceeded from a 

 Panther, or a beast of the same kind, and we at once came to 

 the conclusion it was the animal that had killed the cow. The 

 cries of the brute were appalling ; anyone that had ever heard 

 the screams of a Panther could not be mistaken when listening 

 to these frightful yells. 



Time passed. Farmers that lived in fear and trembling of a 

 visit from this dangerous fellow began to be less alarmed, when 

 one day a gentleman who lived some five miles east of Cobourg, 

 on the shores of Lake Ontario, came into town and said that he 

 had seen traces of the Panthers again. He said he came upon 

 a ravine on his farm where he particularly noticed their tracks, 

 and at one place where a leap had been made across a distance, 

 by actual measurement, of twenty-three feet. He said his 

 hounds appeared to be frightened, to go about trembling, and 

 cowering at every noise. From these circumstances he was 

 satisfied they were not far off, and he proposed another hunt. 

 While waiting to fix upon a convenient day and collect a party, 

 news arrived that a couple of Panthers had been shot near 

 Grafton, a few miles further on. This settled the question ; 

 there were no more doubts as to the species of animals the 

 marauders belonged to, for there they were, veritable American 

 Panthers. 



I have heard since then many disputes as to the existence of 

 Panthers or catamounts in Canada, but the foregoing is not the 

 only instance of their presence in this country that has come 

 under my notice and observation. It must be remembered that 

 in those days there were dense forests, dismal swamps, and it was 

 not unusual to hear of the visitations of bears, wolves and lynx. 



I give this story for what it is worth ; I merely relate my 

 own experience ; but no one could persuade me that a lynx was 

 powerful enough to drag a large, heavy cow, the long distance 

 from where she was killed, to where we found her afterwards. 

 From what I heard, saw and know, I believe I am correct in 

 every particular. 



