THE PANTHER. 
155 
South America seems to be quite a paradise 
for pumas, according to Dr. Darwin ; and 
they abound in many parts to such a 
degree that hundreds are killed in a year. 
The great herds of peccaries and capybaras 
in the uninhabited parts, and the young 
lamas and cattle upon the pampas, furnish 
him with such an abundance of food that 
he is not much dreaded by the natives,— 
though this does not prevent him from kill¬ 
ing a man now and then. His usual mode 
of killing his prey is by springing upon its 
shoulders and then with one twist of his 
powerful paws turning the head round till 
the neck breaks. The flesh is there con¬ 
sidered excellent eating and is said to taste 
exactly like veal.” 
“I think I should take it on trust,” said 
Kate. “ I should not care to eat panther.” 
“All prejudice, my dear,” replied her 
father. “ Remember how long you held 
out about the eels ; and yet you liked them 
very well, after all. But it is a little singu¬ 
lar, considering the entirely flesh diet of th 
puma, that it should be good eating. The 
flesh of carnivorous animals is usually ex¬ 
tremely rank, and even unwholesome.” 
