302 



ANIMALS OF 



attack and ravage the flocks and herds of the 

 inhabitants. In the beginning, they were a 

 terrible scourge to the infant colony ; but, by 

 degrees, they were repulsed and destroyed, 

 and are now seen no longer at that piace. 

 They are found in Brazil, in Paraguay, in the 

 country of the Amazons, and in several other 

 parts of South America. They often climb 

 trees in quest of prey, or to avoid their pur- 

 suers. They are deterred by tire, like all 

 other animals of the cat kind ; or more pro- 

 perly speaking, they seldom venture near 

 those places where they see it kindled, as they 

 are always sure of their enemies being near, 

 and their nocturnal eyes are dazzled by the 

 brightness of the blaze. From the descrip- 

 tion of this animal, one would be hardly led 

 to suppose, that its flesh was good lor food ; 

 and yet we have several accounts which al- 

 lege the fact, some asserting it to be superior 

 even to mutton: however, what Monsieur Des 

 Marchais observes, is most likely to be true; 

 namely, That the most valuable part of this 

 animal is its skin, and that its flesh is but in- 

 different eating, being generally lean, and usu- 

 ally having a strong fumet. 



THE PANTHER AND THE LEOPARD. 



WE have hitherto found no great difficulty 

 in distinguishing one animal from another, 

 each carrying its own peculiar marks, which, 

 in some measure, serve to separate it from all 

 the rest. But it is otherwise, when we come 

 to these of the cat kind, that fill up the chasm 

 between the tiger and the cat. The spots 

 with which their skins are diversified, are so 

 various, and their size so equivocal, that it is 

 no easy matter to distinguish the species, par- 

 ticularly as we have little else but the spots 

 and the size to guide us in making the distinc- 

 tion. If we regard the figure and diversity 

 of the spots, we shall find many varieties not 

 taken notice of by any naturalist: if we are 

 led by the size, we shall find an impercepti- 

 ble gradation from the cat to the tiger. It 

 would be vain, therefore, to make as many 

 varieties in these animals as we seedifferences 

 in spots or stature ; it will be sufficient to seize 

 the most general distinctions, and leave the 



rest to such as are fond of more minute dis- 

 quisitions. 



Of all this tribe, whose skins are so beauti- 

 I fully spotted, and whose natures are so mis- 

 j chievous, the panther may be considered as 

 the foremost. This animal has been by many 

 naturalists mistaken for the tiger, and in fact, 

 it approaches next to it in size, fierceness, and 

 beauty. It is distinguished, however, by one 

 obvious and leading character; that of being 

 spotted, not streaked ; for, in this particular, 

 the tiger differs from the panther, the leopard, 

 and almost all the inferior ranks of this mis- 

 chievous family. 



This animal, which Mr. BufTon calls simply 

 the panther, Linnasus the pard, Gesner the par- 

 dalis, and the modern Latins the Icopardus; this 

 animal, I say, which goes by too many names, 

 and which the English have indiscriminately 

 called by the name of the panther or the leo- 

 pard, may be considered as the largest of the 

 kind, and is spotted in a manner somewhat 

 different from thosethat aresmaller. Asthose 

 spots, however, make the principal difference 

 between it and the lesser animals, which it 

 otherwise resembles inshape,size,disposition, 

 and beauty, I will first show these slight dis- 

 tinctions, and mention the names each animal 

 has received in consequence thereof; and then 

 proceed to give their history together, still 

 marking any peculiarity observable in one 

 of the species, which is not found in the 

 rest. 



Next to the great panther, already mention- 

 ed, is the animal which Mr Puffbn calls the 

 LEOPARD, a name which he acknowledges to 

 be given arbitrarily, for the sake of distinc- 

 tion. Other naturalists have not much at- 

 tended to the slight differences between this 

 and the great panther, nor have they consider- 

 ed its discriminations as sufficient to entitle 

 it to another name. It has hitherto, therefore, 

 gone under the name of the LEOPARD, or PAN- 

 THER of Senegal, where it is chiefly found. 

 The differences between this animal and the 

 former are these : the large panther is often 

 found to be six feet long, from the tip of the 

 nose to the insertion of the tail; the panther 

 of Senegal is not above four. The large pan- 

 ther is marked with spots in the manner of a 

 rose, that is. five or six make a kind of circle, 

 and there is generally a large one in the mid- 



