590 



made at Esmeralda. I had found it at the foot 

 of Duida 28*25° div. cent., almost 3° more than 

 at Mandavaca. I obtained at the mouth of the 

 Cassiquiare 28*75° ; the influence of Duida 

 therefore appeared to be imperceptible. The 

 cries of the jaguars * were heard during the 

 whole night. They are extremely frequent in 

 those countries, between the Cerro Maraguaca, 

 the Unturan, and the banks of the Pamoni. 

 There also is found that black tiger of which 

 I saw some fine skins at Esmeralda. This animal 

 is celebrated for it's strength and ferocity ; it ap- 

 pears to be still larger than the common jaguar. 

 The black spots are scarcely visible on the dark- 

 brown ground of it's skin. The Indians assert, 

 that these tigers are very rare, never mingle with 



* This frequency of large jaguars is somewhat remarkable 

 in a country destitute of cattle. The tigers of the Upper Oroo- 

 noko lead a wretched life in comparison of those of the Pampas 

 of Buenos Ayres and the Llanos of Caraccas, covered with 

 herds of cattle. More than four thousand jaguars are killed 

 annually in the Spanish colonies, several of them equal- 

 ling the mean size of the royal tiger of Asia. Two thousand 

 skins of jaguars were formerly exported annually from 

 Buenos Ayres alone ; they are called by the furriers of 

 Europe skins of the great panther. 



+ Gmelin in his Synonima, seems to confound this animal 

 by the name of felis discolor with the great American lion, 

 felis concolor, which is very different from the little lion 

 (puma) of the Andes of Quito. (Lin, Sysi. Nat. vol. i, p. 

 79. C verier, Regne animal, vol. i, p. 160.) 



