458 CLASS MAMMALIA. 



brand, that will save him. Scarcely any thing but the 

 celerity of a musket-ball will anticipate its murderous pur- 

 pose. The aim must be quick and steady ; and life or death 

 depends on the result. 



Many parts of South America which were once griev- 

 ously pestered with Jaguars, are now almost freed from 

 them, or are only occasionally troubled with their destruc- 

 tive incursions. 



D'Azara was once informed, that a Jaguar had attacked 

 a Horse near the place where he was. He ran to the spot, 

 and found that the Horse was killed, and part of his breast 

 devoured ; and that the Jaguar, having probably been dis- 

 turbed, had fled. He then caused the body of the Horse to 

 be drawn within musket-shot of a tree, in which he intended 

 to pass the night, anticipating that the Jaguar would return 

 in the course of it to its victim : but while he was gone to 

 prepare for his adventure, the animal returned from the 

 opposite side of a large and deep river, and having seized 

 the Horse with its teeth, drew it for about sixty paces to 

 the water, swam across with its prey, and then drew it into 

 a neighbouring wood, in sight the whole time of the person 

 who was left by D'Azara concealed, to observe what might 

 happen before his return. 



The husbandmen frequently fasten two Horses together 

 while grazing; and it is confidently stated, that the Jaguar 

 will sometimes kill one, and in spite of the exertions of the 

 survivor, draw them both into the wood. This is a per- 

 formance Molina also attributes to the Puma. It may be 

 reconciled by supposing, that the extreme terror of the 

 surviving Horse paralyzes its efforts. 



Generally speaking, particularly during day, the Jaguar 

 will not attack a man ; but if it be pressed by hunger, or 

 have previously tasted human flesh, its appetite will over- 

 come its fears ; and during the residence of d'Azara in 

 Paraguay, no less than six men were destroyed by this 



