Information respecting Botanical Travellers, 325 



if we except one or two instances, to name those cats generally 

 after the game on which they prey. I have seen a fine skin of that 

 species, the back of which was of a shining black, lightening to a 

 mouse colour on the belly ; the paws were black, and its claws 

 larger than those of the jaguar ; the whiskers strong ; and a tawny- 

 coloured spot above each eye must give to that organ a peculiar ap- 

 pearance when the creature is alive. The tail is longer in propor- 

 tion to the size of the animal, if compared with that of the jaguar ; 

 and in its head and form it resembles much more the Wawula {Felis 

 concolor), than the Arichibana (Felis onca). It is said to be more 

 ferocious than the latter, and attacks man more frequently. The 

 skin measured from the tip of the nose to the insertion of the tail 

 3 feet 7 inches, the tail 16J inches, or the whole skin almost 5 feet; 

 but if the accounts of the BraziUans on the Rio Negro are to be be- 

 lieved, it surpasses in size the largest jaguar. I could not judge 

 whether it was a young or a full-grown animal. The Indians told 

 us, that they subsist upon the Tapir, the Capybara (^Hydrochceruscapy- 

 bara), the Peccaxj {Dicotyles suhniger), the different species of deer 

 which frequent the forest and savannahs, which they surprise by 

 stealth. The Indians appear to have a great dread of them. 



The Indian distinguishes two species of the Puma, the Wawula 

 or Deer Tiger and the Soasoaranna. The latter appears to be more 

 restricted to the open savannahs of the Orinoco, the former frequents 

 as well the coast regions as the savannahs. I have recognised in the 

 two specimens which the Museum of the Zoological Society pos- 

 sesses, the Puma of the Orinoco ; and although they are generally 

 not known in British Guiana, I have seen a skin of one which had 

 been killed above 40 miles up the Demerara river. The head seemed 

 to be small in proportion to its size, the body was long, and the 

 fore feet very stout ; its tail, as far as I can remember, more than 

 half the length of the body, and ending in a tuft of black hair. 



I am enabled to give a more detailed account of the second spe- 

 cies, the Wawula Arowa of the Arawaks, or Deer Tiger of the 

 colonists. In colour they are of a reddish-brown which lightens 

 on the outside of the limbs, and assumes a white colour on the belly. 

 Of a similar colour is the breast, and the reddish-brown which is 

 the prevailing colour of the body is of a lighter tint at the muzzle 

 and chin. It is covered with thick fur, which relates likewise to the 

 tail, which, as in the Puma of the Orinoco, is black on the tips. The 

 eyes are of a brown colour. The head is small ; higher in propor- 

 tion than any of the spotted kinds, strongly built before and light 

 behind. Its proportion will become apparent from the following 



