proached,
and seized the horse with his teeth, dragged it some sixty paces to the
water side, plunged in with it, swam across the river, pulled it out
upon the other side, and carried it into a neighbouring wood.

Such an animal could not but be a formidable foe to any one who had the
misfortune to be unarmed when attacked, as many an early settler in the
Western States of America found to his cost. Among such experiences, the
following story of a night of horror told by Mrs. Bowdich stands out as
a tale of terror scarcely likely to be surpassed.

Two of the early settlers in the Western States of America, a man and
his wife, once closed their wooden hut, and went to pay a visit at a
distance, leaving a freshly-killed piece of venison hanging inside. The
gable end of this house was not boarded up as high as the roof, but a
large aperture was left for light and air. By taking an enormous leap, a
hungry jaguar, attracted by the smell of the venison, had entered the
hut and devoured part of it. He was disturbed by the return of the
owners, and took his departure. The venison was removed. The husband
went away the night after to a distance, and left his wife alone in the
hut. She had not been long in bed before she heard the jaguar leap in at
the open gable. There was no door between her room and that in which he
had entered, and she knew not how to protect herself. She, however,
screamed as loudly as she could, and made all the violent noises she
could think of, which served to frighten him away at that time; but she
knew he would come again, and she must be prepared for him. She tried to
make a large fire, but the wood was expended. She thought of rolling
herself up in the bed-clothes, but these would be torn off. The idea of
getting under the low bedstead suggested itself, but she felt sure a paw
would be stretched forth which would drag her out. Her husband had taken
all their firearms. At last, as she heard the jaguar this time
scrambling up the end of the house, she in despair got into a large
store chest, the lid of which closed with a spring. Scarcely was she
within it, and had dragged the lid down, inserting her fingers between
it and the side of the chest, when the jaguar discovered where she was.
He smelt round the chest, tried to get his head in through the crack,
but fortunately he could not raise the lid. He found her fingers and
began to lick them; she felt them bleed, but did not dare to move them
for fear