20 NOVEMBER 1897, Page 31

THE FRIENDLY PUMA.

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR"] can corroborate to some extent the views on the puma of South America referred to in the Spectator of November 6th. During my residence in Argentina it was not uncommon for some of the more courageous gauchos to kill a puma with their knives, as they prize the skin for saddle-cloths and other purposes. So far from treating the puma as a dangerous wild beast, they would dismount when they met with one, wrap their poncho round their left arm, in case the puma should strike in self-defence, and kill it with the knife. This looks as if the animal did not attempt to escape.—I am,