THE JAGUAR. 



AMONG the inhabitants of the tropical for- 

 ests the most formidable and dreaded is 

 the Jaguar, sometimes called the Tiger of South 

 America. Like many of the Cat family, of wliich 

 he is a member, he is possessed of a most beauti- 

 ful coat, the fur soft and of deep golden hue, 

 spotted with black rings. His padded feet ena- 

 ble him to steal upon and surprise his victim, and 

 so great is his strength, lie can strike even an Ox 

 to the earth with one blow of his paw. 



Stealthy, cunning, crafty, treacherous, he is 

 the terror of all that live in his vicinity ; and 

 when urged on by hunger, is not restrained by 

 the fear of man himself, but will seek him also, 

 and by a sudden spring seize upon and carry him 

 bodily off to the recesses of some tangled thicket, 

 where pursuit would be of no avail, and there en- 

 joy without fear of interruption his horrid repast 

 at his leisure. 



He is extremely daring. The following story 

 is told of him : 



" A Jaguar had struck down a Horse. The 

 traveler to whom he belonged gave orders that 

 the carcass should be drawn within musket-shot 

 of a tree, wherein be intended to pass the night, 



in expectation that the Jaguar would return for 

 his prey. While tlie traveler was gone to pre- 

 pare himself, the Jaguar returned from the oppo- 

 site side of a broad and deep river, seized the 

 body of the Horse in his mouth, dragged it to the 

 water some sixty paces, swam across with it, and 

 drew it into a neighboring jungle._ All this was 

 seen by a person whom the traveler had placed 

 in hiding, to watch till his return." 



They will openly seize Cattle, Horses, and 

 Sheep from the inclosures, and the havoc made 

 by them is great, as will be easily imagined, when 

 we learn from Humboldt that their numbers are 

 such that 4,000 were killed each year in the 

 Spanish colonies, and 2,000 were exported from 

 Buenos Ayres alone. 



Nor are the reptiles free from its attacks. The 

 empty sliells of Turtles were pointed out to Hum- 

 boldt as having been emptied of their contents 

 by the Jaguar, which, it seems, watches them as 

 they come to the sandy beaches to lay their eggs, 

 rushes on them, and turns them on their backs. 

 He then gets his paw between the shells, and 

 scoops out the contents as clean as if a surgeon's 

 knife had been employed. As the beast turns 

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