Rensselaer Republican, Volume 20, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 August 1888 — HUN.ING FOR PANTHER. [ARTICLE]

HUN.ING FOR PANTHER.

A Day's Exciting Sport in the Fastnesses of Bald Mountain. Aah ville, N. C- Letter to Baltimore Amerii an; A large party left the hotel for Bald Jffouptain the other afternoon in search of panther. Their path lay through several thick ravines and along several dangerous precipices. Once or twice the hind wheels of the provision wagop slid off the track, and buL for a convenient rock must have gone down into the valley, nearly 1,000 feet below. The steep, up hill traveling prevented us from gaining the top of the peak until nearly five o’clock. Then we had to hustle to get our camp in order before nightfall. As the darkness came bn we built a huge fire directly in front of the camp to keep off unwelcome visitors. Each one took a turn at guard duty, this being thought necessary, as the panthers»at this season are painfully thin, and fire will not always keep them off. Their peculiar screech was heard all night, and to the uninitiated it is something awful, but the hunters were not disturbed. One of the party, a clever young physician, cooked breakfast next morning, which, to put it mildly, was eaten with a rgvenous appetite. All had on buckskin suits, and each carried a Winchester rifle of the newest design. Everything being in readiriess by eight o’clock, the hunt began, the camp and horses being left in the charge of a servant armed with a rifle. It took some little while to strike a trail, which was found to lead to a bank of rocks in the densest part of the mountain. Between two of the largest boulders was seen an opening probably t hree feet in diameter. The earth aboilt the entrance to the cave was fairly covered with panther tracks. *

We waited awhile, hardly knowing what to do, when suddenly a head appeared in the entrance to the cave—a head, which resembled a tiger or leopard’s head. It belonged to a panther. The eyes flashed fire and a low growl made us all tremble. It may be said right here that it’s no fun for a man who has lived all his life in a big city like Baltimore to be placed in such a position. But /is he was in such a position he had to make the most of it. The clever young physician ordered the dogs to attack the enemy, but they, of course, refused. Then he leveled his rifle and fired, but the panther bacxed into his lair just as the trigger was pulled. There was no fun in firing into the cave; means had to be devised to get the beast out. First, a piece oL raw meat was placed in front of the opening; but this failed to fetch him; Next a few stones were thrown inside to aggravate him, or rather her, as it happened to be the mother of three cubs. One of the stones must have struck the cubs, as the old one came bounding out and stood defiantly in the entrance. One of the dog 3, more courageous than the rest, advanced cautiously toward the beast. In an instant the panther had him in her claws. The idea of the hunters was to provoke the beast to a fight, but now that the dog was in danger we were all ordered to fire, and at the sametime cautioned not to hit the dog. This was easy enough as the poor dog lay under the panther, whose body almost covered him. Of the four shots fired only one, that of the doctor, took effect. The bail entered just behind one of the ears, and the beast fell dead. The dog was little the worse from the encounter, and soon became himself again. Whether the mate of the beast just killed was inside the cave was a question wq discussed for a short time. We wanted the cubs, but how to get them was a puzzle. No one would volunteer so crawl into the cave, and the dogs could not be gotten within ten .feet of the rocks.

Finally it was decided to prod the cave with a long pole. A young pine near by was soon leveled and stripped of its foliaige. Just as it w r as gotten ready a rustling of some dead leaves to the right of the ca\ e was heard,and the next instant a head was seen protruding from the thicket. It was the mate. Without orders our rifles were leveled, and bang! bang! resounded through the woods. Such shooting! Not one of us had hit it. He disappeared in the thicket, and in a few moments afterward was seen scampering over the clearing near the top of the mountain. It was useless to give chase, as he could slip us in a hundred different ways. Assured that the cubs were unprotected, one of the party (not the writer) was induced to approach the entrance to the cave and try to prod out the pubs, if there were really any in there. He first used a good sized branch, but finding this not long enough, he tried a young sapling with more success. The pole just reached to the back of the cave, and there the little devils, three in number, were huddled together. One by one tbtfey were gotten out, dragged rather than walked, as they could not •have been ovgr a few weeks old. As ; there were only three cubs and four hunters we drew lots to see who should get them. The young physician, the -best huntCTtßTßeparty,thn man who done the most to get the cubs, lost. » Kronch pfpotriciaw twys hp will woon--be able to produce a thunder-storm whenever demanded and in the district desired. We are obliged now to depend upon the Sunday-school picnic and the circus to produce our thunder-storms* They seldom fail, but too often they are not on hand when wanted.