344 



BLACK TIG-EES. 



head and a fold of their body, and swallowed it with deliberation. I 

 imagine that they would live entirely without food for six months. 



Many gentlemen had tigers about their establishments. They w r ere 

 docile, and playful in their intercourse with acquaintances ; but they 

 were generally kept chained for fear of injury to strangers. Their play, 

 too, was not very gentle, for their claws could scarcely touch without 

 leaving a mark. 



Mr. Pond, an American, had a pair of black tigers, that were the 

 most beautiful animals I have ever seen. The ground color of the body 

 w r as a very dark maroon ; but it was so thickly covered with black 

 spots that, to a casual glance, the animal appeared coal black. The 

 brilliancy of the color — the savage glare of the eye — the formidable 

 appearance of their tusks and claws — and their evidently enormous 

 strength — gave them a very imposing appearance. They were not so 

 large as the Bengal tiger ; but much larger than the common ounce. 

 They were bred in Para from cubs. 



Electric eels are found in great numbers in the creeks and ditches 

 about Para. The largest I have seen was about four inches in diameter, 

 and five feet in length. Their shock, to me, was unpleasant, but not 

 painful. Some persons, however, are much more susceptible than others. 

 Captain Lee, of the Dolphin, could not feel at all the shock of an eel, 

 which affected a lady so strongly as to cause her to reel, and nearly fall. 

 Animals seem more powerfully affected than men. Mr. Norris told me 

 that he had seen a horse drinking out of a tub, in which was one of 

 these eels, jerked entirely off his feet. It may be that the electric shock 

 was communicated directly to the stomach by means of the water he 

 was swallowing ; but Humboldt gives a very interesting account of the 

 manner of taking these eels by means of horses, which shows that they 

 are peculiarly susceptible to the shock. He says : 



"Impatient of waiting, and having obtained very uncertain results 

 from an electrical eel that had been brought to us alive, but much en- 

 feebled, we repaired to the cano de Bera to make our experiments, in 

 the open air, on the borders of the water itself. To catch the gymnoti 

 with nets is very difficult, on account of the extreme agility of the 

 fish, which bury themselves in the mud like serpents. We would not 

 employ the barbasco. These means would have enfeebled the gymnoti. 

 The Indians, therefore, told us that they would 'fish with horses,' 

 1 embarbascar con cavallos? "We found it difficult to form an idea of this 

 extraordinary manner of fishing ; but we soon saw our guides return 

 from the Savannah, which they had been scouring for wild horses and 

 mules. They brought about thirty with them, which they forced to 

 enter the pool. 



