CARNIVORA. 
69 
higher than the other, has the fore legs smaller, a - 
fur not quite so bright, and a more gentle dispo- 
sition. Azara says, it is called pop6, but he thinks 
they are but one ; but Major C. H. Smith, whose 
long residence in America afforded him opportunity 
of inquiry, and whose zealous and active disposition 
would prompt him to make the best use of it, in- 
forms me, he satisfied himself there were two distinct 
varieties of the jaguar, differing principally in di- 
mensions. 
The opposite figure is from his accurate pencil. 
The type was a specimen, as he believes, of the great 
jaguar, which was shot in the act of devouring a 
peccary in the woods of Surinam ; it measured two 
feet ten inches in height at the shoulder, but, from 
its compact and heavy make, it appeared larger than 
it was in reality. The spots do not strictly agree with 
what either Cuvier or Lichtenstein have fixed as cri- 
teria; and Major Smith doubts whether any skin of 
this variety (presuming it to be the pop6 or large 
jaguar) has ever come under the observation of those 
indefatigable and accurate observers. The line of 
lengthened spots on the back was not quite full, and 
it seems probable, when they are so, that it arises 
from nonage. The marks on the sides are very 
irregular, and indefinable ; the eyes were small and 
sunken; the whiskers very long; and the whole 
character that of an aged animal. It was a male. 
The portrait is extremely like that given by Azara 
in his Travels, particularly as to the make of the 
animal. 
