212 < ANECDOTE OF A JAGUAR. 



The missionary related a striking instance of the 

 familiarity of these animals : " Two Indian chil- 

 dren, a boy and girl, eight or nine years of age, were 

 sitting among the grass near the village of Atures, 

 in the midst of a savanna. It was two in the after- 

 noon when a jaguar issued from the forest and ap- 

 proached the children, gamboling around them ; some- 

 times concealing itself among the long grass, and 

 again springing forward, with his back curved and 

 his head lowered, as is usual with our cats. The 

 little boy was unaware of the danger in which he 

 was placed, and became sensible of it only when the 

 jaguar struck him on the head with one of his paws. 

 The blows thus inflicted were at first slight, but 

 gradually became ruder. The claws of the jaguar 

 wounded the child, and blood flowed with violence. 

 The little girl then took up a branch of a tree and 

 struck the animal, which fled before her. The In- 

 dians, hearing the cries of the children, ran up and 

 saw the jaguar, which bounded off without showing 

 any disposition to defend itself." " What," asks 

 Humboldt, " meant this fit of playfulness in an ani- 

 mal which, although not difficult to be tamed in our 

 menageries, is always so ferocious and cruel in the 

 state of freedom ? If we choose to admit that, being 

 sure of its prey, it played with the young Indian 

 as the domestic cat plays with a bird, the wings of 

 which have been clipped, how can we account for 

 the forbearance of a large jaguar when pursued by 

 a little girl? If the jaguar was not pressed by hun- 

 ger, why should it have gone up to the children 1 

 There are mysteries in the affections and hatreds 

 of animals. We have seen lions kill three or four 

 dogs which were put into their cage, and instantly 

 caress another which had the courage to seize the 

 royal beast by the mane. Man is ignorant of the 

 sources of these instincts. It would seem that 

 weakness inspires more interest the more confiding 

 it is." 



