264 WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA. 



It means the jaguar, whose skin is beautifully spotted, aod 

 not striped like that of the tiger in the East. It is, in fact, 

 the tiger of the new world, and receiving the name of tiger' 

 from the discoverers of South America, it has kept it ever 

 since. It is a cruel, strong, and dangerous beast, but not 

 so courageous as the Bengal tiger. 



We now baited a shark-hook with a large fish, and put 

 it upon a board about a yard long, and one foot broad, 

 which we had brought on purpose. This board was carried 

 out in the canoe, about forty yards into the river. By 

 means of a string, long enough to reach the bottom of ,the 

 river, and at the end of which string was fastened a stone, 

 the board was kept, as it were, at anchor. One end of the 

 new rope I had bought in town was reeved through the 

 chain of the shark-hook, and the other end fastened to a 

 tree on the sand-bank. 



It was now an hour after sunset. The sky was cloud- 

 less, and the moon shone beautifully bright. There was 

 not a breath of wind in the heavens, and the river seemed 

 like a large plain of quicksilver. Every now and then a 

 huge tish would strike and plunge in the water ; then the 

 owls and goatsuckers would continue their lamentations, 

 and the sound of these was lost in the prowling tiger's 

 growl. Then all was still again, and silent as midnight. 



The caymen were now upon the stir, and at intervals 

 their noise could be distinguished amid that of the jaguar, 

 the owls, the goatsuckers, and frogs. It was a singular and 

 awful sound. It was like a suppressed sigh, bursting forth 

 all of a sudden, and so loud that you might hear it above 

 a mile off. First one emitted this horrible noise, and then 

 another answered him ; and on looking at the countenances 

 of the people around me, I could plainly see that they 

 expected to have a cayman that night. 



"We were at supper, when the Indian, who seemed to 



