Warnings of Danger. 65 



certain points, and he quotes Azara as having seen 

 the carcasses of a thousand wild horses in one place. 



Darwin noticed that several of the small streams 

 of the pampas appeared to be paved with a breccia of 

 bones. " What," he asks, " would be the opinion of 

 a geologist, viewing such an enormous collection of 

 bones, of all kinds of animals and of all ages, thus 

 embedded in one thick earthy mass? Would he not 

 attribute it to a flood having swept over the surface 

 of the land, rather than to the common order of 

 things ? " 



His discerning eye immediately connected these 

 modern fatalities with those that had occurred ages 

 in the past, and saw a possible explanation of the 

 great deposits of fossil bones found to-day mingled 

 in such an inexplicable confusion. 



In coming down the Parana, our young naturalist, 

 who was inclined to wander ashore and visit the 

 many islands which abounded, was warned to be on 

 his guard against the jaguar, which was common 

 here. The canebrakes of the river were the favourite 

 haunts of the American tiger, and its tracks were 

 found everywhere. When their natural food is 

 scarce they do not hesitate to attack man. A sailor 

 fought with one on the deck of a vessel, losing his 

 arm in the contest ; while a few years previous to 

 Darwin's visit, a " man-eater " found its way into the 

 church at Santa Fe and killed two padres^ one after 

 the other, as they entered, and badly wounding a 

 third. The naturalist was shown certain trees which 

 had been scratched by the tiger, the marks being so 

 frequent that the natives were in the habit of look- 

 5 



