d a stream, which Crockett afterward learned was called the
Navasola River. The whole herd, following an adventurous leader, rushed
pell-mell into the stream and swam to the other side. It was a
beautiful sight to behold these splendid animals, in such a dense
throng, crossing the stream, and then, refreshed by their bath,
sweeping like a whirlwind over the plain beyond.

Crockett's exhausted pony could go no further. He fairly threw himself
upon the ground as if in despair. Crockett took from the exhausted
animal the saddle, and left the poor creature to roll upon the grass
and graze at pleasure. He thought it not possible that the mustang
could wander to any considerable distance. Indeed, he fully expected to
find the utterly exhausted beast, who could no longer stand upon his
legs, dead before morning.

Night was fast closing around him. He began to look around for shelter.
There was a large tree blown down by the side of the stream, its top
branching out very thick and bushy. Crockett thought that with his
knife, in the midst of that dense foliage with its interlacing
branches, he could make himself a snug arbor, where, wrapped in his
blanket, he could enjoy refreshing sleep. He approached the tree, and
began to work among the almost impervious branches, when he heard a low
growl, which he says he interpreted to mean, "Stranger, these
apartments are already taken."

Looking about to see what kind of an animal he had disturbed, and whose
displeasure he had manifestly encountered, he saw the brilliant eyes
glaring through the leaves of a large Mexican cougar, sometimes called
the panther or American lion. This animal, endowed with marvellous
agility and strength, will pounce from his lair on a deer, and even a
buffalo, and easily with tooth and claw tear him to pieces.

"He was not more than five or six paces from me," writes Crockett, "and
was eying me as an epicure surveys the table before he selects his
dish, I have no doubt the cougar looked upon me as the subject of a
future supper. Rays of light darted from his large eyes, he showed his
teeth like a negro in hysterics, and he was crouching on his haunches
ready for a spring; all of which convinced me that unless I was pretty
quick upon the trigger, posterity would know little of the termination
of my eventful career, and it would be far less glorious and useful
than I intend to make it."

The conflict which ensued cannot be more graphically described than i