66 
The DirrEKENT Species or Cat^Tribe. 
ground-colour of the pelt more dark-yellow-browuiüh, its build indeed 
powerful, but yet somewhat smaller tliun the Fclü onca. Although it 
causes serious damage among the herds on the farms, its favourite food 
nevertheless seems to be turtle : this it waylays on the sandbanks, places 
its cl'd'y on t-)]), and now Aery skilfully bites out u round h.)le along the 
line of junction betAveen the back and front shields, through which it 
then pulls out the flesh with its fore-paws. The AVaracaba-Arowa* of the 
Arawaks (Waracaba is the name given to the Trumpet-bird, Fsoph'm 
ere pit a lis, and AroAMi means a tiger) must, according to what they say, 
be very wild and bloodthirsty and only met in the thicket forests: it has 
received its nam.e from tlie peculiar colouring of its breast which is said 
to exactlA' resemlble that of tlie feathera of the Psophia. The Abouya- 
Arowa or Pekai'i-tiger of tlie Arawaks is for its size an unusually power- 
ful creature. Its length does not exceed 4 feet, of which IG to 18 in. 
include the tail. The ground-colour is a dark yellow-brown, along which 
froiu the Itack to the tail there run long black stripes that enclose a some- 
wliat darker patcli than tlie ground-colour. The sides of the animal as 
well as the remaining portions are covered with irregular spots. The 
tail is ronsideral»]y shorter tlum that of the others. It is very frequently 
present on the coast where it comlmits plenty of damage, particularly on 
the sheep and pigs. It is probably Fells pardalis Linn. The Laba-arowa 
is the size of a wild cat : the ground-colour of tlie skin is light brown, and 
the spotting much larger than in all the others. These spend the greater 
portion of the night visiting the fowl-roosts of the estates' owners, nuore 
often on the coast than in the intenor. As I liave already stated, Laba 
is what t)ie Indians call tlic Cochxirujia pnva wliich this creature is said 
chiefly to hunt. The cat that the Indians call Aguti-iarowa is probably 
only a variety of it: its ii»dt has tlie same gronnd-oolour : its marking only 
varies from' that of tlie Laba-arowa in that it is not only smaller, but 
is particnlarly also closer. It has received its name from the Aguti, 
which, like the former whiskered aniuxal, it is especially fond of devour- 
ing. It is probably Felis nuirroura Neuwied. 
167. The Indians give the name of rat-tiger to two considerably 
smaller species. Their ground-colour corresponds entirely with that of 
our young deer whilst that of the head and neighbourhood of the shoul- 
ders is dotted alteniately round and oblong. The tail is white and ringed 
with black. They hardly attain the size of our tame cats, and their prey 
seems to consist entirely of birds. Both are present only in the thickest 
forest. They stand close to Felis tifirina Linn. With the Felis concolor 
(Puma) the Indians distinguish the ^^'awula-Arowa from the Soaso- 
ranna-Arowa: the former is met Axith as much in the forests 
of the coast as on the saA-annah, the latter only on the 
savannahs of the interior. The Wawula-arowa (Felis coneolor) is 
already so well knoAvn that it requires no further description. So far as 
strength is concerned it is in no sense inferior to the jaguar, and a trust- 
worthy plantation oAvner assured us that he had shot one Avhich was 
at the very time engaged in dragging a mule, that it had suddenly fallen 
upon, across a plantation-trench about half filled with water, and up the 
* This Waracaba Tiger is a myth. See Roth',« Animism and Folklore, etc., p. 'M7 (Ed.) 
