Jaguars in Georgia...

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
There is pretty good evidence that jaguars were present through almost all of the southeast at the time when Europeans first arrived. They called them "tygers," and described them as being bigger and differently colored than the much more common panthers/cougars. John Lawson related seeing one in what is now eastern NC in about 1700. He said the Indians told him that they were fairly rare.
 

Ocmulgee44

Senior Member
Thanks for mentioning John Lawson. I confess I had never heard of him before. Here is a link to the report he wrote. If you can get past the antiquated speech it is a good read.

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1838

Yep, he mentions walking up on a "tyger" and a tense moment or two staring him down! Cat was licking his lips over Lawson's little spaniel dog. If you had ancestors in the area long about that time as many of us did this will be an especially interesting report on the conditions they met with. He was painting a picture he hoped would lure others to settle but one thing is for sure. Those men were way tougher than I am!
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
Thanks for mentioning John Lawson. I confess I had never heard of him before. Here is a link to the report he wrote. If you can get past the antiquated speech it is a good read.

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1838

Yep, he mentions walking up on a "tyger" and a tense moment or two staring him down! Cat was licking his lips over Lawson's little spaniel dog. If you had ancestors in the area long about that time as many of us did this will be an especially interesting report on the conditions they met with. He was painting a picture he hoped would lure others to settle but one thing is for sure. Those men were way tougher than I am!
That is one of my favorite books, it's been on my shelf for twenty years, and I re-read it about once a year. I've always wanted to go retrace his route. And yep, some of my people were over here then too.
 
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