46 THE FRIEND L Y PUMA 



without spots. Hence the story of the jaguar cross. 

 The main belief appears constantly. A Spanish girl 

 who was tied to a tree by the Spanish Governor of 

 Buenos Ayres for visiting the Indians avowed that a 

 puma had sat by her all night, and driven the other 

 beasts (jaguars) away. This was regarded as a miracle ; 

 but Mr. Hudson declares that it would not now excite 

 surprise. ' It is well known that where the two species 

 inhabit the same district they are at enmity, the puma 

 being the persistent persecutor of the jaguar, following 

 and harassing it as the " tyrant bird " does the eagle, 

 and, when an opportunity occurs, springing upon its 

 back and inflicting terrible wounds with its teeth and 

 claws. Jaguars with scarred backs are frequently killed, 

 and others not long escaped from their tormentors have 

 been found greatly lacerated.' This might have been 

 done by fights with other jaguars, but in support of 

 the general belief of the gauchos, who spend their lives 

 on the pampas where these species are common, two 

 pieces of evidence are quoted. One, that a similar 

 dislike for other carnivora on the part of the puma is 

 current in a far-distant region North California 

 where it is said to attack the grizzly bear. The second 

 was communicated to Mr. Hudson, after a hunt in 

 which one of the very rare instances of a puma trying 

 to defend itself from a man occurred. A gaucho had 

 tried to kill a puma, as if it were a sheep, with his 



