176 Wild Beasts 



that the angular ocelli on its coat — irregular black borders 

 with an enclosed spot of the same color — are not rosettes, 

 the ensemble is scarcely the same with that of a panther, 

 although anatomically these species are nearly identical. 



The true home of the jaguar is in the great woodlands 

 of the Amazon. "Here," says Lockington, "he reigns 

 supreme; the terror of the forest, as the lion is of the 

 desert, and the tiger of the jungle ; the acknowledged and 

 dreaded lord of man and beast." Charles Darwin found 

 this species in the basin of the La Plata River, living in reed 

 belts and around lake shores. Unlike the panther, jaguars 

 cannot live without a constant supply of water. Falconer 

 asserts that in some places these animals subsist chiefly 

 upon fish. At all events, they are very expert in catching 

 them, and fish even in rivers whose banks abound with 

 game. 



As a rule, however, that large rodent, the capybara, now 

 the only living representative of an ancient family other- 

 wise extinct, is the American tiger's chief article of food, 

 and Darwin reports a saying among the Indians to the 

 effect that man has little to fear from " el tigre's " attacks 

 where these are plentiful. Another point of resemblance 

 between this beast and the panther is their mutual fond- 

 ness for monkeys. 



Natives believe that the jaguar fascinates them. All 

 instances which have been given of the exercise of this 

 power seem, however, to be susceptible of a different 

 interpretation, and naturalists generally discredit the idea 

 that such an influence is ever exerted. Hypnotic phe- 

 nomena, however, are actual facts, and it is undoubtedly' 



