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Waka Maori, Volume 11, Issue 12, 22 June 1875, Page 145

Fight with a Panther.—A correspondent of a paper in Reading, Pennsylvania, gives an account of a desperate struggle with a catamount in the Blue Mountains. Three hunters had started out in search of the animal, taking different paths, and agreeing to meet at a certain point, marked by a tall tree. One of them, Anson by name, when about 100 yards from the point of meeting, determined to pass up through a small ravine, whose sides were overhung with dense undergrowth of shrubs. "When directly under a small crag, and walking along with his head bent to the ground and his form doubled in, creeping under a low vine, lie suddenly heard a crash overhead, and the next minute felt the claws of an animal sinking into his neck and flesh, accompanied with fierce growls. By a quick movement, Anson swung around his arms, grasped the animal by the neck with both hands, and held it in a vice-like grip. He then struggled back to the clearing, when the animal shook off the hunter's grasp, and made an effort to bite his neck. The huntsman grasped a knife in his belt, swung it round, and sunk it deep into the animal's side. The brute gave a long, low howl, and amidst the excitement man and beast rolled over on the ground, and as they did so the former received three severe bites on the shoulder. The growls of the animal attracted the attention of the remaining two

hunters, who came through the bush towards the spot where the hunter and the brute were tussling on the ground. The struggle did not last long. Anson plunged his knife the second time into the animal's body, and in a few minutes it rolled over and died. The hunters then examined it, and found it to be a species of panther, and which was found to be a catamount of the mammoth species. It weighed over 146 lb., and measured 4 ft. 5£ in. in length, not counting the length of the tail, which was 2 ft. 1 in. It stood 2 ft. 8 in. high, and was powerfully knit and very compactly built. Upon one large sheep station in Southland no fewer than 7,000 rabbits were killed during the last four months of 1874, and no fewer than 10,000 upon the adjoining station during the same period. It is estimated that the number of rabbits consumed yearly in the United Kingdom is, at the least, 30,000,000. Parliament is further prorogued to the 20th July, on which date members are summoned for the despatch of business.