.J4 AUDACITY OF A JAGUAR, 



we indulged the hope of at length sleeping in a spot that 

 \vas inhabited, and of taking some exercise in herbalizing. 

 This anticipation was, however, disturbed at our last resting- 

 place on the Cassiquiare. Whilst we were sleeping on 

 the edge of the forest, we were warned by the Indians, 

 in the middle of the night, that they heard very near us the 

 cries of a jaguar. These cries, they alleged, came from 

 the top of some neighbouring trees. Such is the thickness 

 of the forests in these regions, that scarcely any animals are 

 to be found there but such as climb trees; as, for instance, 

 the monkeys, animals of the weasel tribe, jaguars, and other 

 upecies of the genus Felis. 



As our fires burnt brightly, we paid little attention to the 

 cries of the jaguars. They had been attracted by the smell 

 and noise of our dog. This animal (which was of the mastiff 

 breed) began at first to bark; and when the tiger drew 

 nearer, to howl, hiding himself below our hammocks. How 

 great was our grief, when in the morning, at the moment of 

 re-embarking, the Indians informed us that the dog had 

 disappeared! There could be no doubt that it had been 

 carried off by the jaguars.* Perhaps, when their cries had 

 ceased, it had wandered from the fires on the side of the 

 beach; and possibly we had not heard its moans, as we were 

 in a profound sleep. We have often heard the inhabitants 

 of the banks of the Orinoco and the Bio Magdalena affirm, 

 that the oldest jaguars will carry off animals from the midst 

 of a halting-place, cunningly grasping them by the neck so as 

 to prevent their cries. We waited part of the morning, in 

 the hope that our dog had only strayed. Three days after 

 we came back to the same place; we heard again the cries of 

 the jaguars, for these animals have a predilection for particu- 

 lar spots ; but all our search was vain. The dog, which had 

 accompanied us from Caracas, and had so often in swimming 

 escaped the pursuit of the crocodiles,f had been devoured in 

 the forest. 



On the 2 1st May, we again entered the bed of the 



Orinoco, three leagues below the mission of Esmeralda. It 



was now a month since we had left that river near the 



mouth of the Guaviare. We had still to proceed seven 



* See Views of Nature, p. 195. t Ibid., p. 198. 



