402 THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



It is a general belief among the Indians and the white in- 

 habitants of Bengal that the jaguar has the power of fascination. 

 Many accounts are given to prove this ; among others, a person 

 informed Mr. Wallace that he had seen a jaguar standing at 

 the foot of a high tree looking up into it. On the top was a 

 howling monkey looking down at the jaguar, and jumping 

 about from side to side, crying piteously. The jaguar stood 

 still, the monkey continued descending lower and lower on the 

 branches, still uttering its cries, till at length it fell down at 

 the very feet of the jaguar, who seized and devoured it. 



There is a black variety of the jaguar, on whose dark skin the 

 ring-formed spots are still visible, and which is said to surpass 

 the common species in size and ferocity. 



The Couguar, or the Puma, as he is called by the Indians, is 

 far inferior to the jaguar in courage, and consequently far less 

 dangerous to man. On account of his brownish-red colour and 

 great size, being the largest felis of the new world, he has also 

 been named the American lion, but he has neither the mane 

 nor the noble bearing of the ' king of animals.' In spite of his 

 strength he is of so cowardly a disposition that he invariably 

 takes to flight at the approach of man, and consequently in- 

 spires no fear on being met with in the wilderness ; while 

 even the boldest hunter instinctively starts back when, winding 

 through the forest, he suddenly sees the sparkling eye of the 

 jaguar intently fixed upon him. 



The puma has a much wider range than the jaguar, for while 

 the latter reaches in South America only to the forty-fifth degree 

 of latitude, and does not rove northwards beyond Sonora and 

 New Mexico, the former roams from the Straits of Magellan to 

 the Canadian lakes. The jaguar seldom ascends the mountains 

 to a greater height than 3,000 feet, while in the warmer lateral 

 valleys of the Andes the puma frequently lies in ambush for the 

 vicunas at an elevation of 10,000 feet above the level of the 

 sea. He can climb trees with great facility, ascending even 

 vertical trunks, and, like the lynx, will watch the opportunity 

 of springing on such animals as happen to pass beneath. No 

 less cruel than cowardly, he will destroy without necessity 

 forty or fifty sheep when the occasion offers, and content 

 himself with licking the blood of his victims. When caught 

 3^oung, he is easily tamed, and, like the common cat, shows his 



