106 AFLOAT UPON THE LLANOS. 



a pnrt of their daily task as to furnish the household with 

 food ; Avhile their own extremities are to them a source of 

 ceaseless care. 



We were shown at this hacienda a huge jaguar, or 

 tiger, as it is called by the natives, which had been shot 

 upon the day previous. This animal, the Felis onpa of 

 naturalists, is abundant in the Llanos, as well as in most 

 parts of South America. It is nearly equal in size to the 

 royal tiger of the East, and possesses much of the ferocity 

 and daring of that animal, but differs from it in the marking 

 of its skin, which, instead of being striped, is mottled. 

 Another characteristic peculiar to the jaguar is, unlike the 

 Bengal tiger, its ability to clknb trees with ease, however 

 smooth the trunk. It moves with the greatest agility 

 among the branches, making birds and sometimes mon- 

 keys its prey. It is a frequent visitor, at night, to the 

 encampment of the traveller, but is kept at a respectful 

 distance by a fire. Turtles, with their impenetrable cover- 

 ing, often fall a prey to the jaguar, which secures the flesh, 

 asserts Humboldt, by first tui-ning them upon their backs, 

 when, insinuating his paw between the shells, he empties 

 them of their contents. He is also a good fishei*, confining 

 his operations to the margins of streams, hurling his prey 

 upon the land with his paw. Allied to the jaguar is the 

 puma, or South American lion [JPelts concolor), the same 

 as our panther, but much larger, and more predaceous in 

 its habits. It is of a tawny and nearly uniform color, pos- 

 sessing most of the traits of its spotted congener. It is 

 frequently met in the mountains of Venezuela, and is not 

 uncommon upon the lowlands of the interior. Besides 

 the jaguar and jiuma, there is a black tiger, which is larger 

 and jnore ferocious than either of the others, but is not 

 common upon the Llanos, the forests of the Orinoco and 

 Amazons being its more favorite haunts. 



We delayed half a day at Asaiba to procure supplies 



