144 RIO PARANA chap. 



was the matter, escaped with difficulty. The beast was destroyed 

 by being shot from a corner of the building which was unroofed. 

 They commit also at these times great ravages among cattle 

 and horses. It is said that they kill their prey by breaking 

 their necks. If driven from the carcass, they seldom return to 

 it. The Gauchos say that the jaguar, when wandering about 

 at night, is much tormented by the foxes yelping as they 

 follow him. This is a curious coincidence with the fact which 

 is generally affirmed of the jackals accompanying, in a similarly 

 officious manner, the East Indian tiger. The jaguar is a noisy 

 animal, roaring much by night, and especially before bad 

 weather. 



One day, when hunting on the banks of the Uruguay, I 

 was shown certain trees, to which these animals constantly 

 recur for the purpose, as it is said, of sharpening their claws. I 

 saw three well-known trees ; in front, the bark was worn 

 smooth, as if by the breast of the animal, and on each side 

 there were deep scratches, or rather grooves, extending in an 

 oblique line, nearly a yard in length. The scars were of 

 different ages. A common method of ascertaining whether a 

 jaguar is in the neighbourhood is to examine these trees. I 

 imagine this habit of the jaguar is exactly similar to one which 

 may any day be seen in the common cat, as with outstretched 

 legs and exserted claws it scrapes the leg of a chair ; and I have 

 heard of young fruit-trees in an orchard in England having 

 been thus much injured. Some such habit must also be 

 common to the puma, for on the bare hard soil of Patagonia I 

 have frequently. seen scores so deep that no other animal could 

 have made them. The object of this practice is, I believe, to 

 tear off the ragged points of their claws, and not, as the Gauchos 

 think, to sharpen them. The jaguar is killed, without much 

 difficulty, by the aid of dogs baying and driving him up a tree, 

 where he is despatched with bullets. 



Owing to bad weather we remained two days at our moor- 

 ings. Our only amusement was catching fish for our dinner : 

 there were several kinds, and all good eating. A fish called 

 the " armado " (a Silurus) is remarkable from a harsh grating 

 noise which it makes when caught by hook and line, and 

 which can be distinctly heard when the fish is beneath the 

 water. This same fish has the power of firmly catching hold 



