Felid.e.- 



-MAMMALIA.- 



-Felid.e. 



115 



dejected and mortified air." The Cheetah seems, 

 therefore, quite capable of domestication. It exhibits 

 a franliness of look, and an openness of manner, totally 

 different from the sneaking distrustfulness of ordinary 

 cats. Any one who has carefully watched the behav- 



iour of the two beautiful specimens at present contained 

 in the Zoological Society's Gardens, Regent's Park, 

 cannot but have been struck with their playful freedom, 

 gentle manners, and elegant attitudes; their habits 

 entirely according with the favourable account given 



Fig .li. 





Tue Clieetali or Uunting Leopard (Felis jubata). 



by Mr. Bennett of a similar pair formerly preserved in 

 the Tower menagerie. In Dr. Gray's list this species 

 is designated Gueparda juhata. 



THE JAGUAS {Fells Onca) is a broad-chested, 

 powerfully-built animal, inhabiting Central and South 

 America (fig. 36). By some it is called the "great 

 panther " or leopard. The body occasionally measures 

 nearly five feet, exclusive of the tail. The fur is beauti- 

 fully spotted, with annulations resembling those of the 

 common leopard, their general appearance being, in the 

 hinguage of Mr. Bennett, at first sight " the same in 

 both ; but the open roses of the leopard are scarcely 

 more than half the size of those of the j.aguar, and they 

 all inclose a space of one uniform colour, in which, 

 unless in some rare and accidental instances, no central 

 spots exist ; while in the latter animal most of those 

 which are arranged along the upper surface, near the 

 middle line of the back, are distinguished by one or 

 two small black spots inclosed within their circuit. The 

 middle line itself is occupied in the leopard by open 

 roses, intermixed with a few black spots of small size 

 and roundish form ; that of the jaguar, on the contrary, 

 is marked by one or two regular longitudinal lines of 

 broad, elongated, deep black patches, sometimes extend- 

 ing several inches in length, and occasionally forming 

 an almost continuous band from between the shoulders 

 to the tail. The black rings towards the tip of the 

 latter are also more completely circular than in the 

 leopard." Respecting the habits of the Jaguar, its 

 ferocious and destructive character is well known ; 



devouring, as it does, with equal avidity, all kinds 0/ 

 cattle, horses, and other quadrupeds, monkeys, birds, 

 fishes, and even reptiles, having, it is said, a true 

 aldermanio relish for savoury turtle. Notwithstanding 

 its fierceness, it is a cowardly animal, instances having 

 been recorded where a loud shout has been aufficient tc 

 scare it away. The Spanish naturaUst, iJ'Azara, gives 

 an apt illustration of its great strength : — " A jaguar 

 had struck down a horse, and D'Azara gave instruc- 

 tions that the latter should be drawn within musket 

 shot of a tree wherein he intended to pass the night, in 

 expectation that the jaguar would return for his prey. 

 While D'Azara was gone to prepare himself, the jaguar 

 returned from the opposite side of a broad and deep 

 river, seized the horse in its mouth, (kew it to the 

 water some sixty paces, swam across the river with it, 

 and drew it into a wood hard by." Both in form and 

 colouring the Jaguar is prone to considerable variation, 

 one of the kinds being of a deep brownish-black hue 

 generally, so that the dark spots are scarcely rendered 

 visible. 



THE RIMAU-DYAN {Fiiis maeroscelis) or Gigantic 

 Tiger-cat of Sumatra, is a magnificent animal, and one 

 of the handsomest of all the feline mammalia. The 

 body is about three and a half feet long, exclusive of 

 the tail, which would give us some three feet more 

 The fur has a brownish-grey colour, and is marked 

 with marbled, interrupted, and angidar patches of a 

 deep velvet-black colour. In the 1st volume of the 

 Zoolorjical Journal, Sir Stamford ItafQes gives the 



