98 
ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. 
the Cats of the New World, in the warmer regions of 
which he exercises the same cruel tyranny as the Lions, 
the Tigers, and the Leopards, of the burning climates of 
the Old. He appears to be almost universally spread 
over the southern division of the American continent 
from Paraguay to Guiana ; but there is no satisfactory 
proof of his having been observed to the north of the 
Isthmus of Panama. In the neighbourhood of inhabited 
places he is daily becoming more and more rare, the 
ravages which he commits upon the flocks, and the 
high price that is given for his skin, forming a double 
incentive to his destruction. His habits and manners 
are almost precisely the same as those of the other 
large animals of his tribe ; but he is spoken of as even 
more indolent and cowardly. Like them he generally 
watches for his prey in a concealed ambush, whence he 
darts upon it unawares, bearing it at once to the earth 
by his great muscular strength, and depriving it of all 
power of resistance or of flight. Occasionally, however, 
when urged by hunger, he prowls abroad more openly, 
and will even venture to attack man ; but rarely if he 
finds him on his guard. M. Sonnini relates that one 
annoyed him and his party for two successive nights, 
during his travels in Guiana, constantly hovering about 
them, watching an opportunity for falling on his prey, 
but retreating into the bushes the moment he perceived 
himself observed, and disappearing with such rapidity 
that it was impossible to get a shot at him. According 
to the same author and to M. D'Azara, these animals 
climb with great dexterity, swim with almost equal 
skill, and are able to carry ofl" the bodies of their vic- 
tims, even of the largest quadrupeds, such as horses 
and oxen, to a place of security where they can satiate 
their appetites without risk of disturbance. 
