THE JAGUAR. 459 



was beneficial at least to the large felidae of tropical Aroerica, 

 for they first introduced the horse and the ox into the western 

 hemisphere, where these useful animals, finding a new and con- 

 genial home in the boundless savannahs and pampas which ex- 

 tend almost^ uninterruptedly from the Apure to Patagonia, have 

 multiplied to an incredible extent. Since then the jaguar no 

 longer considers the deer of the woods, the graceful agouti, or 

 the slow capybara as his chief prey, but rejoices in the blood of 

 the steed or ox, and is much more commonly met with in the 

 herd-teeming savannahs than in the comparatively meagre 

 hunting-grounds of the forest. 



Of all the carnivora of the New World, perhaps with the sole 

 exception of the grisly and the polar bears, the tyrants of the 

 North American solitudes, the Jyguar is the most formidable, 

 resembling the panther "by his spotted skin, but almost equalling 

 the Bengal tiger in size and power. He roams about at all 

 times of the day, swims over broad rivers, and even in the water 

 proves a most dangerous foe, for when driven to extremities he 

 frequently turns against the boat, and forces his assailants to 

 seek their safety by jumping overboard. Many an Indian, 

 while wandering through thinly populated districts, where 

 swampy thickets alternate with open grass plains, has been torn 

 to pieces by the jaguar, and in many a lonely plantation the in- 

 habitants hardly venture to leave their enclosures after sunset, 

 for fear of his attacks. During Tschudi's sojourn in Northern 

 Peru, a jaguar penetrated into the hut of an Englishman who 

 had settled in those parts, and dragging a boy of ten years out 

 of his hammock, tore him to pieces and devoured him. Far 

 from being afraid of man, this ferocious animal springs upon 

 him when alone, and when pressed by hunger will even venture 

 during the daytime into the mountain villages to seek its 

 prey. 



The chase of the jaguar requires great caution, y^t keen 

 sportsmen will venture, single-handed, to seek the jaguar in his 

 lair, armed with a blow-pipe and poisoned arrows, or merely 

 with a long and powerful lance. The praise which is due to 

 the bold adventurers for their courage is, however, too often 

 tarnished by their cruelty. Thus, a famous jaguar-hunter once 

 showed Poppig a large cavity under the tangled roots of a giant 

 bombax-tree, where he had some time back discovered a female 



