1 86 Wild Beasts 



paws, its ears straight, its body immovable. . . . The 

 animal's eyes, like two disks of pure gold, followed with 

 inexorable greed the motions of a poor lemantin which was 

 occupied in crunching the stalks of false maize and water- 

 plantains that grew on the spot. Suddenly, as the leman- 

 tin raised its ill-shaped head above the water, the jaguar 

 sprang on it, and burying the claws of his left paw in the 

 neck, weighed down the muzzle with those of the right, 

 and held it under water to prevent its breathing. The 

 lemantin, finding itself nearly choked, made a desperate 

 effort to break loose from its adversary, but he had no 

 baby to deal with. The tiger was now pulled under and 

 now lifted out of the water, according to the direction of 

 the violent somersaults of his victim, yet still retained 

 his deadly hold. This unequal struggle lasted some min- 

 utes, and then the convulsive movements of the lemantin 

 began to relax, and finally ceased altogether — the poor 

 creature was dead. Then the jaguar left the water back- 

 wards, and resting on his hind quarters, with one fore-paw 

 for a prop, he succeeded in dragging the enormous animal 

 up the bank with the other paw. The muzzle and neck of 

 the lemantin were torn with gaping wounds. Our atten- 

 tion was so fixed and close — I say our advisedly, for my 

 men admitted that they had never seen a similar spectacle 

 — that the jaguar, which had just given a peculiar cry, as if 

 calling his mate or his cubs, would shortly have disappeared 

 with his capture, had not one of the rowers broken the 

 charm by bending his bow and sending an arrow after the 

 cat, which, however, missed its mark and planted itself in 

 a neighboring tree. Surprised at this aggression, the ani- 



