86 Charles Darwin. 



think the king would very soon send us out of his 

 country?" 



This conversation, which was repeated to the 

 young English collector, amused him not a little. 

 The Spaniard was evidently much interested in the 

 same work as Darwin, as some time after he collected 

 some caterpillars, which he left in charge of a young 

 girl to feed that he might observe them when they 

 came out. This fact becoming rumoured through the 

 town, the governour and padres met, and concluding 

 that there was something heretical about the unfor- 

 tunate would-be naturalist, he was thrown into jail, 

 which probably put a stop to all enthusiasm in the 

 direction of natural history research. 



Here Darwin had many opportunities to observe 

 and study the habits of the puma. He learned that 

 it ranged over the entire continent, and he saw its 

 foot-prints io,cxx) feet up in the Cordillera of Chili. 

 Its food in La Plata was the ostrich, deer, and 

 various small animals. In Chili it frequently killed 

 horses and cattle, and occasionally man. Its method 

 of attack was to spring upon the shoulders of it prey ; 

 then drawing the head back until the neck of the 

 animal was broken. When its meal was finished the 

 big cat would lie by the body, and thus was often 

 discovered, as the condors flew down to share the 

 feast, and were in turn observed by the hunters, who 

 unloosed their dogs and attacked the big game. 



In the open country the puma was lassoed, and 

 dragged by the horses until it was helpless, while in 

 other cases it was driven into trees and shot. 



The puma was famous here for its cunning in 



