Information respecting Botanical Travellers, 32? 



cies. I do not venture to combat his opinion, as I saw only a skin 

 of the Puma of the Orinoco, which was similar to the specimens at 

 the Museum of the Zoological Society, and agrees with Mr. Bennett's 

 description, while the second, and of which I possess a specimen, 

 resembles Wilson's figure of the Felis concolor. 



The WiLLiBissiRi Arowa is likewise un unspotted cat, and is 

 exceedingly rare in Guiana. It is of a light gray colour, approaching 

 to white on the belly ; its snout is of a reddish-brown and has a 

 white spot on the breast ; its tail is of the same thickness through- 

 out, and it does not possess the black tip of the Puma. It is about 

 2 feet 6 inches long, and stands high in proportion to its size, 

 strongly built before with stout neck and small head. Mr. Vieth 

 gave me the following note on this cat : ** I have had two of these 

 animals ; one was killed by a negro at Mr. Patterson's at the Deme- 

 rara river, while in the act of killing a turkey, the other in the same 

 neighbourhood while swimming across a river. I had them both at 

 the same time, and showed them to Mr. Brandes, famed as a great 

 huntsman, and who has killed of almost every species of animal in 

 our colony, but who appeared to be unacquainted with that species 

 of cat. However the Waccawai Indians who inhabit the upper De- 

 merara river, and some of whom I had in my employ, did not seem 

 to think it a rarity, and told me they had seen and killed them from 

 time to time." It has received its Arawak name Willihissiri Arowa, 

 from the smallest species of deer which Guiana possesses, which this 

 cat resembles in colour and on which it preys. I conceive it to be 

 the Felis jaguar ondi, or rather that variety which Dr. Traill describes 

 as Felis unicolor. 



The Hacca Arowa is the last species of cat that I have met with 

 or heard of during my expeditions in Guiana. It resembles the pre- 

 ceding in size and form, but differs in colour ; the adults being of a 

 deep shining black, the belly dark mouse, with a tawny- coloured 

 spot over each eye : the tail is without rings. Although not very 

 common in Guiana, they are by no means rare, and the Indians use 

 the skins for manufacturing caps, shot pouches, &c. They prey 

 upon small animals, as Pacas, Agutis, and are also destructive to the 

 f^eathered game. It appears to agree with Temminck's variety of 

 the Felis jaguar ondi, which he saw in the Paris Museum. 



From the above description it will be observed, that eight spotted, 

 and five spotless cats are named, all of which the Indian distinguishes 

 by different names ; but while the naturalist would hesitate to adopt 

 his distinctions as specific, and considers the greater number mere 

 varieties, we must confess that we know but little how far their 



