128 RIO PAEAN A. [CHAP. VH. 



they chiefly live on fish; this account I have heard repeated. 

 On the Parana they have killed many wood- cutters, and have 

 even entered vessels at night. There is a man now living in the 

 Bajada, who, coming up from below when it was dark, was seized 

 on the deck ; he escaped, however, with the loss of the use of one 

 arm. When the floods drive these animals from the islands, they 

 are most dangerous. I was told that a few years since a very large 

 one found its way into a church at St. Fe : two padres entering 

 one after the other were killed, and a third, who came to see what 

 was the matter, escaped with difficulty. The beast was destroyed 

 by being shot from a corner of the building which was unroofed. 

 They commit also at these times great ravages among cattle and 

 horses. It is said that they kill their prey by breaking their 

 necks. If driven from the carcass, they seldom return to it. The 

 Gauchos say that the jaguar, when wandering about at night, is 

 much tormented by the foxes yelping as they follow him. This is 

 a curious coincidence with the fact which is generally affirmed of 

 the jackals accompanying, in a similarly officious manner, the 

 East Indian tiger. The jaguar is a noisy animal, roaring much by 

 night, and especially before bad weather. 



One day, when hunting on the banks of the Uruguay, I was 

 shown certain trees, to which these animals constantly recur for 

 the purpose, as it is said, of sharpening their claws. I saw three 

 well-known trees ; in front, the bark was worn smooth, as if by the 

 breast of the animal, and on each side there were deep scratches, 

 or rather grooves, extending in an oblique line, nearly a yard in 

 length. The scars were of different ages. A common method of 

 ascertaining whether a jaguar is in the neighbourhood is to 

 examine these trees. I imagine this habit of the jaguar is exactly 

 similar to one which may any day be seen in the common cat, as 

 with outstretched legs and exserted claws it scrapes the leg of a 

 chair; and I have heard of young fruit-trees in an orchard in 

 England having been thus much injured. Some such habit must 

 also be common to the puma, for on the bare hard soil of Patagonia 

 I have frequently seen scores so deep that no other animal could 

 have made them. The object of this practice is, I believe, to tear off 

 the ragged points of their claws, and not, as the Gauchos think, to 

 sharpen them. The jaguar is killed, without much difficulty, by 

 the aid of dogs baying and driving him up a tree, where he is 

 despatched with bullets. 



