"Wal, strenger, we nev floods hyur in Loozyanny, sich as, I guess, you've never seed the like o' in England. England ai'nt big enough to hev sich floods. One o' 'um ud kiver yur whole country, I hev heern said. I won't say that ar's true, as I ain't acquainted with yur jography. I know, howsomdever, they're mighty big freshets hyur, as I hev sailed a skift more 'n a hundred mile acrosst one o' 'em, whar thar wan't nothin' to be seen but cypress tops peepin' out o' the water. The floods, as ye know, come every year, but them ar big ones only oncest in a while. Wal, about ten yeern ago, I located in the Red River bottom, about fifty mile or tharabout be

hunting, and by such hunters too, did not bring them to that. I might safely affirm, that if the lions of Africa were placed in the same circumstances, a very similar shyness and dread of the upright biped would soon exhibit itself. What all these creatures- bears, cougars, lynxes, wolves, and even alligators — are now, is no criterion of their past. Authentic history proves that their courage, at least so far as regards man, has changed altogether since they first heard the sharp detonation of the deadly rifle. Even contemporaneous history demonstrates this. In many parts of South America, both jaguar and cougar, attack man, and numerous are the deadly encounters there. In Peru, on the eastern de-low Nacketosh, whar I built me a shanty. I hed clivity of the Andes, large settlements and villages have been abandoned solely on account of the perilous proximity of those fierce animals.

In the United States the cougar is hunted by dog and gun. He will run from the hounds because he knows they are backed by the unerring rifle of the hunter; but should one of the yelping pack approach too near, a single blow of the cougar's paw is sufficient to stretch him out. When closely pushed, the cougar takes to a tree, and, halting in one of its forks, he humps his back, bristles his hair, looks downward with gleaming eyes, and utters a sound somewhat like the purring of a cat, though far louder. The crack of the hunter's rifle usually puts an end to these demonstrations, and the cougar drops to the ground either dead or wounded. If only the latter, a desperate fight ensues between him and the dogs, with several of whom he usually leaves a mark that distinguishes them for the rest of their lives.

left my wife an' two young critters in Massissppi state, intendin' to go back for 'em in the spring; so, ye see, I war all alone by meself, exceptin' my ole mar, a Collins's axe, an' of coorse my rifle.

"I hed finished the shanty all but the chinkin' an' the buildin' o' a chimbly, when what shed come on but one o' 'em tarnation floods. It war at night when it begun to make its appearance. I war asleep on the floor o' the shanty, an' the first warnin' I hed o' it war the feel o' water soakin' through my ole blanket. I hed been a-dreamin', an' thort it war rainin' an' then agin I thort that I war bein' drownded in the Massissippi; but I wan't many seconds awuke, till I guessed what war in raality; so I jumped to my feet like a started buck, an' groped my way to the door. A sight that war when I got thar. I hed clurred a piece o' ground around the shanty- -a kupple o' acres or better - I hed left the stumps a good three feet high thar The scream of the cougar is a common phrase. wan't a stump to be seen. My clecrin', stumps It is not very certain that the creature is addic-an' all war under water; an' I could see it shinted to the habit of screaming, although noises of in' among the trees all round the shanty. Of this kind heard in the nocturnal forest have been coorse, my fust thoughts war about my rifle; attributed to him. Hunters, however, have cer- an' I turned back into the shanty an' laid my tainly never heard him, and they believe that the claws upon that quick enough. I next went in scream talked about proceeds from one of the nu- search o' my ole mar. She wan't hard to find; merous species of owls that inhabit the deep for- for if ever a critter made a noise she did. She ests of America. At short intervals, the cougar war tied to a tree clost by the shanty, an' the does make himself heard in a note which some-way she war a-squealin' war a caution to cats. I what resembles a deep-drawn sigh, or as if one found her up to the belly in water, pitchin' an' were to utter with an extremely guttural expres- flounderin' all round the tree. She hed nothin' sion the syllables: "Co-oa," or even "Cougar." on but the rope that she war hitched by. Both Is it from this that he derives his trivial name? saddle an' bridle hed been washed away so I Some years ago, while residing in Louisiana, made the rope into a sort o' halter, an' mountI was told a squatter's story, which I have rea-ed her bare-backed. Jest then I begun to think son to believe to be true in every particular. I whar I war a-goin'. The hul country appeared had it from the squatter himself, and that is my to be under water: an' the nearest neighbor I reason for endorsing its truth, as I knew the nar- hed lived acrosst the parairy ten miles off. I rator, rude creature though he was, to be a man knew that his shanty sot on high ground, but of undoubted veracity. As an incident of hunter life, the story may possess some interest for the general reader; but to the naturalist it will be equally interesting, as illustrating a curious trait in the character of the cougar, as well as other preying animals, when under the influence of fear -- the fear of some common danger. These lose at times all their ferocity, and will not molest even those animals upon which they are accustomed to prey. I have observed this forbearance oftentimes myself, but the story of the squatter will fully illustrate it. I shall give it in the language that fell from his own lips, as nearly as I

can remember it:

how war I to get thar. It war night: I mout lose my way, an' ride chuck into the river. When I thort o' this, I concluded it mout be better to stay by my own shanty till mornin'. I could hitch the mar inside to keep her from bein' floated away; an' for meself, I could climb on the roof. Howsomdever, while I war thinkin' on this, I noticed that the water war a-deepenin', an' it jest kim into my head, that it ud soon be deep enough to drown my ole mar. For meself I wan't frightened. I mout a clomb a tree, an' stayed thar till the flood fell; but I shed a lost the mar, an' that critter war too

valleyble to think o' sich a saeryfize; so I made up my mind to chance crossin' the parairy. Thar wan't no time to be wasted - ne'er a minnit; so I gin the mar a kick or two in the ribs an' started.

her back, an' tuk hold o' the tail, she mout manage a leetle better. So I slipped backwards over her hips, an' grupped the long hair. It did do some good, for she swum higher; but we got mighty slow through the water, an' I had but leetle behopes we should reach land.

"I war towed in this way about a quarter o' a mile, when I spied somethin floatin on the water a leetle ahead. It hed growed considerably darker; but thar war still light enough to show me that the thing war a log. An idee now entered my brain-pan, that I mout save meself by takin' to the log. The mar ud then have a better chance for herself; an' maybe, when eased o' draggin' my carcass, that war a-keepin' her back, she mout make footin' somewhar. So I waited till she got a leetle closter; and then, lettin' go o' her tail, I clasped the log, an' crawled on to it. The mar swum on, apeerintly 'ithout missin' me. I seed her disappear through the darkness; but I didn't as much as say good-by to her, for I war afeard that my voice mout bring her back agin', an' she mout strike the log with her hoofs, and whammel it about. So I lay quiet, and let her hev her own way.

"I found the path out to the edge of the parairy easy enough. I hed blazed it when I fust come to the place; an', as the night war not a very dark one, I could see the blazes as I passed atween the trees. My mar knew the track as well as meself, an' swaltered through at a sharp rate, for she knew too thar wan't no time to be wasted. In five minnites we kim out on the edge o' the parairy, an' jest as I expect ed, the hul thing war kivered with water, an' lookin' like a big pond. I could see it shinin' clur acrosst to the other side o' the openin'. As luck ud hev it, I could jest git a glimp o' the trees on the fur side o' the parairy. Thar war a big clump o' cypress, that I could see plain enough; I knew this war clost to my neighbor's shanty; so I gin my critter the switch, an struck right for it. As I left the timmer, the mar war up to her hips. Of coorse, I expected a good grist o' heavy wadin'; but I hed no idee that the water war a-gwine to git much higher: thar's "I wan't long on the log till I seed it war awhar I made my mistake. I hedn't got more'n driftin', for thar war a current in the water that a kupple o' miles out, when I diskivered that the set tol'uble sharp acrosst the parairy. I hed thing war a risin' rapidly, for I seed the mar war crawled up at one eend, an' got stridelegs; but a-gettin' deeper an' deeper. 'Twan't no use turn-as the log dipped considerable, I war still over in' back now. I ud lose the mar to a dead sar- the hams in the water. I thort I mout be more tinty, if I didn't make the high ground; so I comfortable towards the middle, an' war about to spoke to the critter to do her best, an' kep on. pull the thing more under me, when all at once I The poor becst didn't need any whippin' she seed thar war somethin' clumped up on t'other knew as well's I did meself thar war danger, an' cend o' the log. 'Twan't very clur at the time, she war a-doin' her darndest, an' no mistake. for it had been a-growin' cloudier ever since I Still the water riz, an' kep a-risin' until it come left the shanty, but 'twar clur enough to show me clur up to her shoulders. I begun to git skeart that the thing war a varmint: what sort, I in airnest. We wan't more'n half acrosst, an' I couldn't tell. It mout be a bar, an' it mout not; seed if it riz much more we ud hev to swim for but I had my suspects it war eyther a bar or a it. I wan't far astray about that. The minnit painter. I wan't left long in doubt about the arter it seemed to deepen suddintly, as if thar thing's gender. The log kept makin' circles as war a hollow in the parairy: I heerd the mar it drifted, an' when the varmint kim round into give a loud gouf, an' then go down, till I war a different light, I caught a glimp o' its eyes. I up to the waist. She riz agin the next minnit, knew them eyes to be no bar's eyes: they war but I could tell from the smooth ridin', that painter's eyes, an' no mistake. I reckin, strenshe war off o' the bottom. She war swimmin', ger, I felt very queery jest about then. I didn't an' no mistake. try to go any nearer the middle o' the log; but instead o' that, I wriggled back until I war right plum on the cend of it, an' could git no further. Thar I sot for a good long spell 'ithout movin' hand or foot. I darn't make a motion, as I war afeard it mout tempt the varmint to attack me. I hed no weepun but my knife; I hed let go o' my rifle when I slid from my mar's back, an' it had gone to the bottom long since. I wan't in any condition to stand a tussel with the painter nohow; so I war determined to let him alone as long's he ud me.

"At fust I thort o' headin' her back to the shanty, an' I drew her round with that intent; but turn her which way I would, I found she could no longer touch bottom. I guess, strenger, I war in a quandairy about then. I 'gun to think that both my own an' my mar's time war come in airnest, for I hed no idee that the critter could iver swim to the other side, 'specially with me on her back, an' purticklarly as at that time these hyur ribs had a sight more griskin upon 'em than they hev now. I wan't much under two hundred at the time, an' that ar no light "Wal, we drifted on for a good hour, I guess, weight, I reckin. Wal, I war about reckinin' 'ithout eyther o' us stirrin'. We sot face to face; up. I hed got to thinkin' o' Mary an' the chil-an' now an' then the current ud set the log in a der, and the old shanty in the Massissippi, an' a sort o' up-and-down motion, an' then the painter heap o' things that I hed left unsettled, an' that an' I kep bowin' to each other like a pair o' bobnow come into my mind to trouble me. The sawyers. I could see all the while that the varmar were still plungin' ahead; but I seed she mint's eyes war fixed upon mine, an' I never tuk war sinkin' deeper an' deeper, an' fast losin' her mine from hisn; I know'd 'twar the only way to strength, an' I knew she couldn't hold out much keep him still. longer. I thort at this time that if I got off o'

"I war jest prospectin' what ud be the eendin'

o' the business, when I seed we war a-gettin' "I now looked all round to see what new comcloster to the timmer: 'twan't more than two pany I hed got into. The day war jest breakin', miles off, but 'twar all under water 'ceptin' the an' I could distinguish a leetle better every min tops o' the trees. I war thinkin' that when the nit. The top o' the mound which war above log shed float in among the branches, I mout water wan't over a half an acre in size, an' it slip off, an' git my claws upon a tree, 'ithout war as clur o' timmer as any other part o' the sayin' anythin' to my travellin' companion. Jest parairy, so that I could see every inch o' it, an' at that minnit somethin appeared dead ahead o' everythin' on it as big as a tumble-bug. Ireckin, the log. It war like a island; but what could hev strenger, that you'll hardly believe me when I brought a island thar? Then I recollects that tell you the concatenation o' varmints that war I hed seed a piece o' high ground about that part then an' thar caucused together. I could hardly o' the parairy- -a sort o' mound that hed been believe my own eyes when I seed sich a gather made by Injuns, I s'pose. This, then, that looked in', and I thort I hed got aboard o' Noah's Ark. like a island, war the top o' that mound, sure Thar war- listen, strenger -fust my ole mar enough. The log war a-driftin' in sich a way an' meself, an' I wished both o' us anywhar else, that I seed it must pass within twenty yards o' I reckin-then thar war the painter, yur old acthe mound. I detarmined then, as soon as we quaintance - then thar war four deer, a buck an' shed git alongside to put out for it, 'an leave the three docs. Then kim a catamount; an' arter painter to continue his voyage 'ithout me. him a black bar, a'most as big as a buffalo. Then thar war a 'coon an' a 'possum, an' a kupple o' gray wolves, an' a swamp rabbit, an' darn the

the most dangerous varmint on the groun', but it sartinly war the most disagreeble o the hul lot, for it smelt only as a cussed polecat can smell.

When I fust sighted the island I seed somethin' that I hed tuk for bushes. But ther wan't no bushes on the mound—that I knowd. How-thing! a stinkin' skunk. Perhaps the last wan't somdever, when we got a leetle closter, I diskivered that the bushes were beests. They war deer; for I spied a pair of buck's horns atween me an' the sky. But thar war a somethin' still "I've said, strenger, that I war mightily tuk bigger than a deer. It mout be a horse, or it by surprise when I fust seed this curious clanmout be an opelous or ox, but I thort it war à jamfrey o' critters; but I can tell you I war still horse. I war right about that, for a horse it war, more dumbfounded when I sced thar behaveyur sure enough, or rayther, I shed say, a mar, an' to one another, knowin' thar different naturs as that mar no other than my old critter! Arter I did. Thar war the painter lyin' clost up to the partin' company, she hed turned with the cur-deer- its nat'ral prey; an' thar war the wolves rent; ann' as good-luck ud hev it, hed swum in too; an' thar war the catamount standin' within a bee-line for the island, an' thar she stood look-three feet o' the possum an' the swamp_rabbit; in' as slick as if she had been greased. The log an' thar war the bar an' the cunnin' old coon; hed by this got nigh enough, as I kalklated; an' with as little rumpus as possible, I slipped over the eend an' lot go my hold o' it. I wan't right spread in the water, afore I heerd a plump, an' lookin' round a bit, I seed the painter hed left the log, an' tuk the water too! At first, I thort he war arter me; an' I drawed my knife with one hand, while I swum with the other. But the painter did n't mean fight that time. He made but poor swimmin' himself, an' appeared glad enough to get upon dry groun' 'ithout molestin' me; so we swum on side by side, 'an not a word passed atween us. I did n't want to make a race o' it; so I let him pass me, rayther than that he should fall behind, an' get among my legs. Of coorse, he landed fust; an' I could hear by the stompin' o' hoofs, that his suddint appearance hed kicked up a jolly stampede among the critters upon the island. I could see both deer and mar dancing all over the groun' as if Old Nick himself hed got among 'em. None o' 'em, how- 'Strenger, it ud tire you war I to tell you all somdever, thort o' takin' to the water. They hed the movements that tuk place among these critall hed enough o' that, I guess. I kep a leetle ters durin' that long day an' night. Ne'er a one round, so as not to land near the painter; an' on 'em laid tooth or claw on the other. I war then, touchin' bottom, I climbed quietly up on hungry enough meself, and ud a liked to hev the mound. I hed hardly drawed my drippin' taken a steak from the buttocks o' one o' the carcass out o' the water, when I heern a loud deer, but I darn't do it. I war afeard to break squeal, which I knew to be the whigher o' my the peace, which mout a led to a general shindy. old mar; an' just at that minnit the critter kim When day broke next mornin' arter, I seed that runnin' up, an' rubbed her nose agin my shoul- the flood war a fallin'; and as soon as it war der. I tuk the halter in my hand, an' sidling round a leetle, I jumped upon her back, for I still war in fear o' the painter; an' the mar's back appeared to me the safest place about, an' that wan't very safe, I reckin.

an' thar they all war, no more mindin' one another than if they hed spent all thar days together in the same penn. 'Twar the oddest sight I ever seed; an' it remembered me o' a bit o' Scripter my ole mother hed often read from a book called the Bible, or some sich name- about a lion that war so tame he used to squat down beside a lamb, 'ithout layin' a claw upon the innocent critter. Wall, strenger, as I'm sayin', the hul party behaved in this very way. They all appeared down in the mouth, an' badly skeart about the water; but for all that, I hed my fears that the painter or the bar -I wan't afcard o' any o' the others- mout git over thar fright afore the flood fell; an' therefore I kept as quiet as any one o' them during the hul time I war in thar company, an' stayin' all the time clost by the mar. But neyther bar nor painter shewed any savage sign the hul o' next day, nor the night that follered it.

shallow enough, I led my mar quietly into the water, an' climbin' upon her back, tuk a silent leave o' my companions. The water still tuk my mar up to the flanks, so that I knew none o'

the varmint could follow 'thout swimmin', an' layed out the wolves, an' arter that cooney, and ne'er a one seemed inclined to try a swim. I then we tuk our time about the deer- these last struck direct for my neighbor's shanty, which I an' the bar bein' the only valley'ble things on the could see about three mile off, an' in an hour or island. The skunk we kilt last, as we did n't so, I war at his door. Thar I did n't stay long, wan't the thing to stink us off the place while we but borrowin' an extra gun which he happened war a-skinnin' the deer. Arter killin' the to hev, and takin' him along with his own rifle, skunk we mounted an' left, of coorse loaded with I waded my mar back to the island. our bar meat an' venison. I got my rifle arter "We found the game not exactly as I hed left all. When the flood went down, I found it near it. The fall o' the flood had given the painter, the middle o' the parairy, half buried in the the cat, an' the wolves courage. The swamp sludge.

rabbit an' the 'possum war clean gone- all but "I saw I hed built my shanty in the wrong bits of thar wool-an' one o' the does war bet-place; but I soon looked out a better location, ter 'n half devoured. My neighbor tuk one side, an' put up another. I hed all ready in the an' I the other, an' ridin' clost up, we surrounded spring, when I went back to Massissippi, an' the island. I plugged the painter at the fust brought out Mary and the two young 'uns." shot, an' he did the same for the bar. We next Thus ended the squatter's story.

NATURAL TRAP FOR INSECTS.-Whoever may duous and hopeless struggle.-Country Gentleman have occasion to wander out among the nume- (Albany paper), quoted in Chambers's Journal. rous sphagnous swamps that diversify the sandy plains in the neighborhood of our city, almost at THE FALLACY AS TO LAVISH EXPENDITURE. any time during the month of June, will not fail-We so often meet with individuals of good eduto have his attention directed to some singularly cation and attainments who are unacquainted beautiful clusters of reddish-purple flowers, each with the true philosophy respecting lavish expenone nodding on a solitary footstalk, that ascends diture, that it seems not superfluous to present a from a whorl of far more singularly constituted view of the subject from J. S. Mill's admirable leaves. These flowers are large in size, with the work on Logic:-"The economical workings of petals greatly incurved, while the pale-yellow society afford innumerable cases in which the ef stigina which occupies the centre, expands in fects of a cause consist of two sets of phenomena such a manner as effectually to conceal the more -the one immediate, concentrated, obvious to important organs of fructification from the sight. vulgar eyes, and passing, in common apprehenThe leaves, when mature, are of a fine green sion, for the whole effect; the other, widely dif color, more or less stained with purple, and beau-fused or lying deeper under the surface, and which tifully veined with a tint of a much deeper hue. is exactly contrary to the former. Take, for inIn form and general appearance, they have a stance, the vulgar notion, so plausible at the first striking resemblance to some of the antique glance, of the encouragement given to industry lamps so often met with in the collections of the by lavish expenditure. A, who spends his whole curious. The cavity or reservoir, as it has aptly income, and even his capital, in expensive livbeen termed, which occupies the centre of the ing, is supposed to give great employment to leaf, is at all times partially filled with water, labor. B, who lives upon a small portion, and originating from the dews or rains, into which invests the remainder in the funds. is thought to numerous species of coleoptera and other insects give little or no employment. For everybody are not unfrequently found drowned, which have sees the gains which are made by A's tradesmen, met their death in pursuit of a saccharine concre- servants, and others, while his money is spending. tion that copiously exudes from their internal B's saving, on the contrary, passes into the hands surfaces. By this beautiful provision of nature, of the person whose stock he purchased, who with these plants are not only abundantly supplied with it pays a debt he owed to some banker, who lends moisture when the excessive heats of summer it again to some merchant or manufacturer; and are likely to prevail for any length of time, and the capital, being laid out in hiring spinners and create unusual drought, but they are likewise weavers, or carriers and the crews of merchantthus furnished with the usual amount of animal vessels, not only gives immediate employment to food which they may necessarily require for their as much industry at once as A employs during sustenance. The manner in which these insects the whole of his career, but, coming back with are imprisoned is curious. Immediately below the increase by the sale of the goods which have throat of these cavities, for the space of nearly an been manufactured or imported, forms a fund for inch, the surface is highly polished, while the the employment of the same, and perhaps a lower part of the tube is covered with rigid hairs, greater quantity of labor in perpetuity. But the all pointing downward. When an insect, in the careless observer does not see, and therefore does first instance, is attracted by the secretion of the not consider, what becomes of B's money: he plant, or perhaps even by the water, descends, as does see what is done with A's; he observes the it can easily do along the declining pubescens, it amount of industry which A's profusion feeds; appears incapable of again ascending by its feet he observes not the far greater quantity which it alone, and can escape only by a flight so perpen- prevents from being fed; and thence the prejudicular as to surpass the power of most insects. dice, universal to the time of Adam Smith, and Whenever they touch the bristly sides of the even yet only exploded among persons more than tube, they are precipitated again to the bottom, commonly instructed, that prodigality encourand have to renew their efforts; and many of ages industry, and parsimony is a discouragethem, even of the largest size, perish in this ar- ment to it."

The head that is in it-may soon be o'erthrown; « Great Monarch," he says, "your Sublimity

With the devil to pay, and without any pitch hot! As the music of Jullien's big trombone,