144 THE NATURALIST IN NICARAGUA. [Ch. VIII. 



lower ground, the footmarks of the tapir are very 

 frequent, especially along the small paths, where I have 

 sometimes traced them for more than a mile. They are 

 harmless beasts. One of our men came across one near 

 Pena Blanca, and attacked and killed it with his knife. 

 He brought in the head to me. It was as large as that 

 of a bullock. I often tried to track them, but never suc- 

 ceeded in seeing one. One day in my eagerness to get 

 near what I believed to be one, I rushed into rather un- 

 pleasant proximity with a jaguar, the " tigre ' of the 

 natives. I had just received a fresh supply of cartridge 

 cases for my breech-loader, and wishing to get some 

 specimens of the small birds that attend the armies of 

 the foraging ants, I made up three or four small charges 

 of No. 8 shot, putting in only a quarter of an ounce of 

 shot into each charge, so as not to destroy their 

 plumage. I went back into the forest along a path 

 where I had often seen the great footmarks of the 

 tapir. After riding about a couple of miles, I heard 

 the notes of some birds, and, dismounting, tied up my 

 mule, and pushed through the bushes. The birds were 

 shy, and in following them I had got about fifty yards 

 from the path, to a part where the big trees were more 

 clear of brushwood, when I heard a loud hough in a 

 thicket towards the left. It was something between a 

 cough and a growl, but very loud, and could only have 

 been produced by a very large animal. Never having 

 seen or heard a jaguar before in the woods, and 

 having often seen the footprints of the tapir, I thought 

 it was the latter, and thinking I would have to get very 

 close up to it to do it any damage with my little charge 

 of small shot. I ran along towards the sound, which 



