THE PUMA, 67

til] daybreak, and then only feeling safe from her enemy,
she went as fast as her strength would let her to her nearest
neighbour’s a distance of two miles, where she procured
help for her wounded fingers, which were long in getting
well. On his return, her husband found a male and female
jaguar with their cubs, in the forest close by, and all were
destroyed.”

The Puma. The Puma, or American lion, is known by
several names. It is sometimes called a panther, or collo-
quially a “painter”, and sometimes a cougar. It resembles
the lioness somewhat in appearance, especially about the
head, though it is smaller and less powerful. Its length
varies from four feet to four feet and a half, and its
colour is that of the fox, graduating in parts to white. Like
the lion it inhabits plains rather than forests;—in the marshy
districts, and on the borders of rivers in the south, and in
the swamps and prairies of the northern districts. It liveson
such wild and domestic animals as come within its reach,
lying at full length upon the lower branches of trees, and
dropping upon its victims as they pass beneath. Deer and
cattle of all kinds it attacks, and, not content with killing
enough for immediate purposes, destroys large numbers, suck-
ing small quantities of blood from each. According to Sir
William Jardine it is exceedingly destructive among sheep
and has been known to kill fifty in one night. The Pumais,-
however, easily tamed and becomes very docile under kindly
treatment. Edward Kean kept a tame one which followed
him about like a dog and was as playful as a kitten.

The Puma’s “Molina and D’Azara say,” says Sir William

Ferocity. Jardine, “that the puma will flee from men, and
that its timidity renders its pursuit generally free from dan-
ger.” The following incident given by Sir William Jardine
and at greater length by Captain Brown, shows that this is
not always the case. According to these accounts, two
hunters visited the Katskills in pursuit of game, each armed