328 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Sept. 13, 1913. 
Pressed down as he was, he could not open his 
mouth, the upper jaw of which only moves, and 
his neck was so stiff that he could not turn his 
head short round. The amphibious beast fetched 
a scream in despair, but being a warrior "by 
flood and by field," he was not yet entirely over¬ 
come. 
Writhing his tail about in agony, he hap¬ 
pened to strike it against a small tree that stood 
next the bayou. Aided by this purchase, he 
made a convulsive flounder, which precipitated 
himself and bruin, locked together into the river. 
The bank from which they fell was four 
feet high, and the water below seven feet deep. 
The tranquil stream received the combatants with 
a loud splash, then closed over them in silence. 
A volley of ascending bubbles announced their 
arrival at the bottom, where the battle ended. 
Presently bruin rose again, scrambled up the 
bank, cast a hasty glance back at the river, and 
made off, dripping, to the canebrake. 
I never saw the alligator afterward to know 
him. No doubt he escaped in the water, which 
he certainly could not have done if he had re¬ 
mained a few minutes longer on land. Bruin 
was forced by nature to let go his grip under 
water to save his own life. I therefore think he 
is entitled to the credit of the victory; besides 
by implied consent the parties were bound to 
finish the fight on land where it began, and so 
bruin understood it. 
On the day following the encounter between 
the alligator and bruin, my companion and self 
made an exploration into an extensive swamp, 
situated at the mouth of a creek known by the 
name of Vanconnah, and partly inundated by the 
swelling of 'several large bayous, the principal 
of which, crossing the swamp in its whole ex¬ 
tent, discharges its waters not far from the 
Yazoo River. 
While rambling about we chanced to meet 
with a squatter’s cabin on the banks of the Cold 
Water River, which we entered and opened con¬ 
versation with its inmate. He told us he thought 
it the very place we ought to visit, and pointed 
to some bear and deer skins which he had shot 
there. On asking if he would accompany us 
through the great morass, he cordially assented 
to my proposals. 
We then sat down to supper of homely but 
wholesome fare, and at its conclusion I asked 
my host what had induced him to remove to 
this wild and solitary spot. “The people are 
growing too numerous now to thrive in New 
England" was his answer. After conversing-for 
some time, we laid ourselves down on pallets of 
bear skins and reposed on the floor of the only 
apartment of which the hut consisted. 
Day dawned and the squatter’s call to his 
hogs, which, being almost in a wild state, were 
suffered to seek the greater portion of their food 
in the woods, awakened me. My companion and 
self being ready dressed were not long in join¬ 
ing him. The hogs and their young came grunt¬ 
ing at the well-known call of their owner, who 
threw them a few ears of corn, and counted 
them, but told me that for some weeks their 
number had been greatly diminished by the rav¬ 
ages committed upon them by a large panther, 
and that the ravenous animal did not content 
himself with the flesh of his pigs, but now and 
then carried off one of his calves, notwithstand¬ 
ing many attempts he had made to shoot it. 
The panther had on several occasions robbed 
him of a dead deer, and to those exploits the 
squatter added several feats of audacity which 
it had performed. Delighted by the description, 
1 offered to assist him in destroying the enemy, 
at which he was highly pleased, but assured me 
that unless some of his neighbors should assist 
us with their dogs and his own, the attempt 
would prove fruitless. Soon after mounting a 
horse, he went off to his neighbors, several of 
whom lived at a distance of some miles, and 
appointed a day of meeting. 
The hunters made their appearance one fine 
morning at the door of the cabin, just as the 
sun was emerging from beneath the horizon. 
They were five in number, and fully equipped 
for the chase, being mounted on horses which 
in strength, speed and bottom are better fitted 
for pursuing a cougar or bear through woods 
and morasses than any in the country. The 
squatter, my companion and self were mounted 
on the three best horses. 
Few words w'ere uttered by the party till 
we had reached the edge of the swamp, where 
it was agreed that all should disperse and seek 
for the fresh track of the panther, it being previ¬ 
ously settled that the discoverer should blow his 
horn and remain on the spot until the rest should 
join him. 
In less than an hour the sound of the horn 
was clearly heard, and sticking close to the 
trapper, off we went through the thick woods, 
guided only by the repeated call of the distant 
huntsman. We soon reached the spot, and in a 
short time the rest of the party came up. The 
best dogs were sent forward to track the cougar, 
and in a few moments the whole pack were ob¬ 
served diligently trailing and bearing in their 
course for the interior of the swamp. The rifles 
were immediately put in trim, and the party fol¬ 
lowed the dogs at separate distances, but in 
sight of each other, determined to shoot at no 
other game than the panther. 
The dogs soon began to mouth, and sud¬ 
denly quickened their pace. My companion con¬ 
cluded that the beast was on the ground, and 
putting our horses to a gallop, we followed the 
dogs, guided by their voices. The noise in¬ 
creased, when all of a sudden their mode of 
barking altered, and the squatter urged me to 
push on and told me the beast was treed, by 
which he meant he had got upon some low 
branch of a tree to rest, and that should we not 
succeed in shooting him, we might expect a long 
chase of it. As we approached the spot, we all 
united in a body, but on seeing the dogs at the 
foot of a large tree, separated again and gal¬ 
loped off to surround it. 
Each hunter now moved with caution, hold¬ 
ing his rifle ready, and allowing the bridle to 
dangle on the neck of the horse as we advanced 
slowly toward the dogs. A shot from one of 
the party was heard, on which the cougar was 
seen to leap to the ground, and bound off with 
such velocity as to show that he was unwilling 
to stand our fire longer. The dogs set off in 
pursuit with great eagerness, and a deafening 
cry. The hunter who had fired came up and 
said that his ball had hit the monster, and had 
probably broken one of his fore legs near fhe 
shoulder, the only place at which he could aim. 
A slight trail of blood was discovered on 
the ground, but the dogs proceeded at such a 
rate that we merely noticed this, and put spurs 
to our horses which galloped on toward the cen¬ 
ter of the swamp. One bayou was crossed, then 
another still larger and more muddy, but the 
dogs were brushing forward, and as the horses 
began to pant at a furious rate, we judged it 
best to leave them and advance on foot. These 
determined hunters knew that the cougar being 
wounded would shortly ascend another tree, 
where he would remain for a considerable time, 
and that it would be easy to follow the track. 
We dismounted, took off the saddles, got the 
bells attached to the horses’ necks at liberty to 
jingle, hobbled the animals, and left them to 
shift for themselves. 
After marching for a couple of hours, we 
again heard the dogs. Each of us pressing for¬ 
ward, elated at the thought of terminating the 
career of the cougar. Some of the dogs were 
heard whining, although the greater number 
barked vehemently. We felt assured that the 
cougar was treed. As we came up to the dogs 
we discovered the ferocious animal lying across 
a large branch close to the trunk of a cotton¬ 
wood tree, his broad breast lying toward us, 
his eyes bent on us, and again on the dogs be¬ 
neath him. One of his fore legs hung closely 
by his side, and he lay crouched with his ears 
close to his head, as if he thought he might re¬ 
main undiscovered. Three balls were fired at 
him at a given signal, on which he sprang a few 
feet from the branch and tumbled headlong to 
the ground. 
Attacked on all sides by the enraged dogs, 
the infuriated cougar fought desperately, but the 
squatter advancing in front of the party and al¬ 
most in the midst of the dogs, shot him immedi¬ 
ately behind and beneath the left shoulder. The 
cougar wreathed for a moment in agony and in 
another lay dead. 
The sun was now sinking in the west. Two 
of the hunters separated from the rest to pro¬ 
cure venison, while the rest of the party agreed 
to camp on the spot. While preparing the camp, 
we heard the report of a gun, and soon after 
one of the hunters returned with a small deer. 
A fire was lighted and each hunter displayed 
his pone bread along with a flask of whiskey, 
“nature's sweet restorer,” composed of corn and 
rye. 
These materials afforded us an excellent 
meal, and as the night grew darker, stories and 
songs went round, until my companions, fatigued, 
laid themselves down close under the smoke of 
the fire and soon fell asleep. 
I walked for some minutes round the camp 
to contemplate the beauties of that nature from 
which I have certainly derived my greatest pleas¬ 
ures. I thought of the occurrences of the day, 
and glancing my eye around, remarked the singu¬ 
lar effect produced by the phosphorescent quali¬ 
ties of the large decayed trunks which lay in 
all directions around me. How easy, I thought, 
would it be for the confused and agitated mind 
of a person bewildered in a swamp like this to 
imagine in each of these luminous mosses some 
wondrous and fearful being, the very sight of 
which might make the hair stand erect on the 
head. The thought of being myself placed in 
such a predicament burst over my mind, and I 
hastened to join my companions, beside whom 
I laid me down to sleep, assured that no enemy 
could approach us without first warning the dogs, 
which were growling in fierce dispute over the 
remains of the cougar. 
[to be continued.] 
