THE JAGUAR. 211 



water, swam across with its prey, and then drew it into a* 

 neighboring wood, in sight the whole time of a person 

 whom D'Azara had left concealed to observe what might 

 happen before his return. Its prey, however, is very vari- 

 ous, and its taste by no means confined to what may be 

 called the finer game of the plain or forest. They take 

 the water very freely, and are said even to fish in the shal- 

 lows, seizing the fish with their paws. I am not sure that 

 we have very gpod authority for this, but as the common 

 domestic cat has been known to be a successful angler. 

 the Jaguar may have similar abilities. We have better 

 authority for their partiality to turtles. Humboldt relates, 

 " We were shown large shells of turtles emptied by the 

 Jaguars. These animals follow the arraus towards the 

 beaches, when the laying of eggs is to take place. They 

 surprise them on the sand ; and in order to devour them 

 at their ease, turn them in such a manner that the under 

 shell is uppermost. In this situation the turtles cannot rise; 

 and as the Jaguar turns many more than he can eat in 

 one night, the Indians avail themselves of his cunning and 

 malignant avidity. When we reflect on the difficulty 

 that the naturalist finds in getting out the body, without 

 separating the upper and under shells, we cannot enough 

 admire the suppleness of the tiger's paw, which empties 

 the double armor of the arraus, as if the adhering paits of 

 the muscles had been cut by a surgical instrument. The. 

 Jaguar pursues the turtle quite into the water, when not 

 very deep. It even digs up the eggs ; and, together with 

 the crocodile, the herons, and the gallinago vulture, is the 

 most cruel enemy of the little turtles recently hatched. 



Like their congeners, they do not attack man when un- 

 annoyed, but are neither very easily scared from their prey, 

 nor do they readily flee from his approach. They will 

 often follow travellers, Humboldt remarks, even when 

 they will not attack them, skirting the road, and appearing 

 only, at intervals among the bushes; and during his long 



