150 THE HAIRY MAN OF THE WOODS. 



grass near the village of Atures, in the middle of a 

 savannah. At two o'clock in the afternoon, a jaguar 

 issued from the forest, and approached the children, 

 bounding around them ; sometimes he hid himself in the 

 high grass, sometimes he sprang forward, his back bent, 

 his head hung down, in the manner of a cat. The little 

 boy, ignorant of his danger, seemed to be sensible of it 

 only when the jaguar with one of his paws gave him 

 some blows on the head. These blows, at first slight, 

 became ruder and ruder; the claws of the jaguar 

 wounded the child, and the blood flowed freely. The 

 little girl then took a branch of a tree, struck the animal, 

 and it fled from her. The Indians ran up at the cries of 

 the children, and saw the jaguar, which bounded off 

 without making the least show of resistance. 



The little boy, who was brought to the travellers, ap- 

 peared lively and intelligent. The claw of the jaguar 

 had torn away the skin from the lower part of the fore- 

 head, and there was a second scar at the top of the 

 head. 



Among the cataracts of Atures the travellers began to 

 hear of the hairy man of the woods, that carried off 

 women, constructed huts, and sometimes ate human flesL 

 The Tamancas called it achi, and the Maypures vasitri, 

 or " great devil." The natives and the missionaries had 

 no doubt of the existence of this man-shaped monkey, 

 of which they entertained a singular dread. Father Gili 

 .gravely relates the history of a lady in the town of San 

 Carlos, in the Llanos of Venezuela, who much praised 

 the gentle character and attentions of the man of the 

 woods. She is stated to have lived several years with 

 one in great domestic harmony, and only requested some 



