324 Information respecting Botanical Travellers, 



Vieth described to me appears identical with Wilson's Felis Far- 

 dalis. 



There is a variety of that species which the Indians call the Aguri 

 or Aguti-cat ; it is of the same colour as the foregoing^ but the spots 

 are small, and very thickly spread over the whole body. They are 

 somewhat larger than a domestic cat, and are equally destructive 

 to the feathered stock as the former. They frequent the plantations, 

 as the sugar-cane fields afford them always a safe retreat. They 

 have received their name from the Aguti (JDasyprocta Aguti). It 

 forms no doubt one of the varieties of Felis pardalis. 



The following two spotted species are considerably smaller than 

 the foregoing, and are named by colonists * tiger cats.' The Rat- 

 tiger of the Arawak Indians is beautifully marked. The ground 

 colour gf the skin is of a fawn colour, marked with black oblong 

 spots on the head and shoulder, and with circular patches, which 

 surround spots of a redder colour along the back and sides ; the 

 thighs are surrounded with black bands, assuming a lighter tint in- 

 side : the tail is alternately ringed white and black. They are not so 

 large as the former species, and vary from 2 feet to 2 feet 4 inches, 

 of which the tail alone measures from 8 to 9 inches. I think it may 

 be identified with Linna&us's Felis tigrina. 



The second variety is less than a domestic cat, and has large spots 

 on a bright yellow ground ; its fore paws are remarkably strong in 

 proportion to its size, and it frequents chiefly thick woods, where it 

 preys upon birds. 



I shall now give a short description of the spotless cats which in- 

 habit Guiana, of which the first that engages our attention is the 

 black cat (Felis nigra ?) or tiger as it is called par excellence by the 

 Brazilian of the Rio Negro. During our expedition in the interior 

 of Guiana, we were not so fortunate as to fall in with a specimen of 

 this cat ; although we were told by the Indians that it existed in 

 British Guiana, and frequently committed great ravages among the 

 herds of wild cattle in the savannahs of the rivers Takutu and Branco, 

 and was not unfrequent on the Upper Orinoco and the Rio Negro. 

 Its geographical distribution extends therefore from the coast regions 

 of Guiana beyond the equator. Mr. Vieth had been told by the 

 Waccawais, that they had killed specimens from time to time above 

 the great cataract of the Demerara river ; and there can be no doubt 

 of it, as those tribes who inhabit Guiana possess names for it. They 

 are called Maipuri-tiger, either from their colour, which resembles 

 that animal (Tapir americanus) ,wad perhaps, and more likely, from their 

 preying on the Tapir, as it is a common custom among the Arawaks, 



