One
thousand pounds would not have purchased him in England.
Next, the lordly buffaloes, the swift wild-goat, the deer, the antelope,
the elk, the prairie dogs, the hare, and the rabbits. The carnivorous
are the red panther, or puma[31], the spotted leopard, the ounce, the
jaguar, the grizzly black and brown bear, the wolf, black, white and
grey; the blue, red, and black fox, the badger, the porcupine, the
hedgehog, and the coati (an animal peculiar to the Shoshone territory,
and Upper California), a kind of mixture of the fox and wolf breed,
fierce little animals with bushy tails and large heads, and a quick,
sharp bark.
[Footnote 31: The puma, or red panther, is also called "American lion,
cougar," and in the western States, "catamount." It was once spread all
over the continent of America, and is even now found, although very
rarely, as far north as Hudson's Bay. No matter under what latitude, the
puma is a sanguinary animal; but his strength, size, and thirst of
blood, vary with the clime.
I have killed this animal in California, in the Rocky Mountains, in
Texas, and in Missouri; in each of these places it presented quite a
different character. In Chili it has the breadth and limbs approaching
to those of the African lion; to the far north, it falls away in bulk,
until it is as thin and agile as the hunting leopard.
Pages:
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600