1 84 Wild Beasts 



stricken one always brought down its companions to the 

 spot, whereupon the jaguar climbed a tree for safety till 

 the storm it had brewed was over, and the pigs left the 

 spot ; then it descended from its perch to feed on the flesh 

 of its victim. . . . 



"In ascending that portion of the Corentyne below 

 Tehmeri rocks, we saw a large jaguar standing on a granite 

 rock close to the river bank, which immediately bolted into 

 the forest as we paddled to the spot. Glancing up at the 

 place where it had disappeared, I saw it sitting down and 

 gazing intently at us, without showing the least sign of 

 fear. I took aim behind the shoulder and fired a charge 

 of large shot, which caused it to bound forward, fall and 

 roll over. But at once regaining its feet it made off into 

 the forest." Although they followed the bloody trail, 

 the animal was not seen again. 



Brown had four other shots at jaguars all of them 

 close and he wounded two, but never succeeded in bag- 

 ging a single one. In every case observed by him there was 

 an entire absence of that behavior which is said to be 

 natural and instinctive. The animals he saw expressed 

 only wonder at the sight and scent of man, as well as at 

 the sound of his voice. 



Father Acosta declares that the jaguar attacks "treason- 

 ably," that is to say, being treacherous like all cats, and one 

 of the laziest of animals besides, he springs upon his prey, 

 as a rule, from an ambush, which may be above the creature 

 seized or on a level with it, according to circumstances. 



Like all large beasts of prey, these brutes kill in a 

 variety of ways as existing conditions and the size and 



