The Puma, or Lion of America, 49 
to defend itself, does not seem really less wonderful 
in an animal of its bold and sanguinary temper than 
that it should follow the traveller in the wilderness, 
or come near him when he lies sleeping or disabled, 
and even occasionally defend him from its enemy 
the jaguar. We know that certain sounds, colours, 
or smells, which are not particularly noticed by 
most animals, produce an extraordinary effect on 
some species ; and it is possible to believe, I think, 
that the human form or countenance, or the odour 
of the human body, may also have the effect on the 
puma of suspending its predatory instincts and in- 
spiring it with a gentleness towards man, which we 
are only accustomed to see in our domesticated 
carnivores or in feral animals towards those of their 
own species. Wolves, when pressed with hunger, 
will sometimes devour a fellow wolf ; as a rule, 
however, rapacious animals will starve to death 
rather than prey on one of their own kind, nor is it 
a common thing for them to attack other species 
possessing instincts similar to their own. The 
puma, we have seen, violently attacks other large 
carnivores, not to feed on them, but merely to 
satisfy its animosity ; and, while respecting man, it 
is, within the tropics, a great hunter and eater of 
monkeys, which of all animals most resemble men. 
We can onlv conclude with Humboldt that there is 
•j 
something mysterious in the hatreds and affections 
of animals. 
The view here taken of the puma’s character 
imparts, I think, a fresh interest to some things 
concerning the species, which have appeared in 
E 
