THE AMAZON DISTRICT 



317 



would begin to move towards the water, when the onga would 

 spring upon it, and again commence eating at the tail, during 

 which time the alligator lay perfectly still. We had been 

 observing a cat playing with a lizard, both behaving in exactly 

 the same manner, the lizard only attempting to move when 

 the cat for a moment left it ; the cat would then immediately 

 spring upon it again : and my informant assured me that he 

 had seen the jaguar treating the alligator in exactly the same 

 way. 



The onga is particularly fond of dogs, and will carry them 

 off in preference to any other animal. When one has been 

 committing any depredations, it is a common thing to tie a 

 dog to a tree at night, the howling of which attracts the onga, 

 which comes to seize it, and is then shot by a person concealed 

 for the purpose. 



It is a general belief among the Indians and the white 

 inhabitants of Brazil, that the onga has the power of fascination. 

 Many accounts are given to prove this; among others, a 

 person informed me, that he had seen an onga standing at the 

 foot of a high tree, looking up into it: on the top was a 

 guariba, or howling-monkey, looking down at the onga, and 

 jumping about from side to side, crying piteously; the onga 

 stood still ; the monkey continued descending lower and lower 

 on the branches, still uttering its cries, till at length it fell 

 down at the very feet of the onga, which seized and devoured 

 it. Many incidents of this kind are related by persons who 

 have witnessed them; but whether they are exaggerated, or 

 are altogether imaginary, it is difficult to decide. The belief 

 in them, by persons best acquainted with the habits of the 

 animal, is universal. 



Of the smaller Tiger-cats, there are several kinds, but having 

 lost my collection of skins, I cannot ascertain the species. 

 The Puma is considered much less fierce than the jaguar, and 

 is very little feared by the inhabitants. There are several 

 varieties of the jaguar, distinguished by the Indians by different 

 names. The black variety is rarer than the others, and is 

 generally thought to be quite distinct ; in some locahties it is 

 unknown, while in others it is as abundant as the ocellated 

 variety. 



Many small rodent animals— squirrels, rats, etc. — complete 

 the terrestrial mammalia of the Amazon district. 



