THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE 147 



all kinds of animals and of all ages, thus embedded in one 

 thick earthy mass? Would he not attribute it to a flood 

 having swept over the surface of the land, rather than to 

 the common order of things? 10 



October 12th. — I had intended to push my excursion fur- 

 ther, but not being quite well, I was compelled to return by 

 a balandra, or one-masted vessel of about a hundred tons' 

 burden, which was bound to Buenos Ayres. As the weather 

 was not fair, we moored early in the day to a branch of a 

 tree on one of the islands. The Parana is full of islands, 

 which undergo a constant round of decay and renovation. 

 In the memory of the master several large ones had dis- 

 appeared, and others again had been formed and protected 

 by vegetation. They are composed of muddy sand, without 

 even the smallest pebble, and were then about four feet 

 above the level of the river ; but during the periodical floods 

 they are inundated. They all present one character ; numer- 

 ous willows and a few other trees are bound together by a 

 great variety of creeping plants, thus forming a thick jungle. 

 These thickets afford a retreat for capybaras and jaguars. 

 The fear of the latter animal quite destroyed all pleasure 

 in scrambling through the woods. This evening I had not 

 proceeded a hundred yards, before finding indubitable signs 

 of the recent presence of the tiger, I was obliged to come 

 back. On every island there were tracks; and as on the 

 former excursion "el rastro de los Indios" had been the 

 subject of conversation, so in this was " el rastro del tigre." 



The wooded banks of the great rivers appear to be the 

 favourite haunts of the jaguar; but south of the Plata, I 

 was told that they frequented the reeds bordering lakes: 

 wherever they are, they seem to require water. Their com- 

 mon prey is the capybara, so that it is generally said, where 

 capybaras are numerous there is little danger from the 

 jaguar. Falconer states that near the southern side of the 

 mouth of the Plata there are many jaguars, and that they 

 chiefly live on fish ; this account I have heard repeated. On 

 the Parana they have killed many wood-cutters, and have 



10 These droughts to a certain degree seem to be almost periodical; 1 was 

 told the dates of several others, and the intervals were about fifteen years. 



