THE JAGUAE AND THE PUMA. 69 



ground tlie head, limbs, and under-surface are covered witt full 

 black spots of various sizes ; and the rest of the body with roses, 

 either entirely bordered by a black ring or surrounded by several 

 of the smaller black spots arranged in a circular form. The full 

 spots are generally continued upon the greater part of the tail, 

 the tip of which is black, and which is also encircled near its 

 extremity by three or four black rings. So far there is little to 

 distinguish the marking of the jaguar from that of the leopard : 

 we come now to the diflPerences observable between them. The 

 spots which occupy the central line of the back in the former, are 

 full, narrow, and elongated; and the roses of the sides and 

 haunches, which are considerably larger and proportionally less 

 numerous than in the leopard, are all, or nearly all, marked with 

 one, or sometimes two, black dots or spots of smaller size towards 

 their centre : an apparently trifling but constant and very re- 

 markable distinction, which exists in no other species. By this 

 peculiarity alone the jaguar may be at once recognized ; and this 

 external characteristic, together with the extreme shortness of his 

 tail, his much greater size, his comparatively clumsy form, and 

 the heaviness of all his motions, not to speak of the peculiarity of 

 his voice, which has the sharp and harsh sound of an imperfect 

 bark, are unquestionably fully sufficient to sanction his separation 

 from a race of animals, from which, however much he may re- 

 semble them in general characters, he differs in so many and such 

 essential particulars." 



The jaguar is found in Texas and California, and through 

 Central and South America into Patagonia. It is rarely seen 

 in its northern limits, but is still quite common in the southern 

 countries, especially on the Patagonian coast, the pampas of 

 Buenos Ayres, and the northern parts of Paraguay, abounding 

 more particularly in the country of the Orinoco, where the deep 

 valleys and ravines that constitute the wild and awful scenery of 

 Mexico form his favourite lurking-places, Humboldt describes 

 these animals as being so numerous in some parts of South America, 

 that more than four thousand were killed annually in the Spanish 

 colonies, and two thousand skins were formerly exported every 

 season from Buenos Ayres alone. 



