CARNIVORA. 
75 
is naturally a coward 5 and a woman or a child will 
make it run away and abandon its prey. It is hunted 
with dogs trained for the purpose; and when hard 
pressed by them, either leaps up into a tree, seeks 
an asylum upon a rock, or, placing itself against 
the trunk of some large tree, defends itself in a fu- 
rious manner, killing many of its enemies, until the 
hunter, watching his opportunity, secures or destroys 
it. As soon as the animal finds itself taken, it roars 
terribly, and is said to shed many tears. The skin 
serves for various uses ; good leather, for boots or 
shoes, is manufactured from it ; and the fat is con- 
sidered as a specific in the sciatica. 
Azara says, this animal is less ferocious, and more 
easy to be killed than the jaguar ; it lies concealed 
in the underwood, and does not have recourse to 
caverns for shelter, like the jaguar. Unlike this 
animal, also, the puma ascends and descends the 
highest trees with celerity and ease, though it may 
be considered, in general, rather as an inhabitant of 
the plains than of the forests. He states, also, that 
it is not known to attack a inan% or even a dog, but 
avoids both with great timidity. Its depredations 
are generally confined to quadrupeds of a middling 
size, as calves, sheep, &c. ; but against these its 
ferocity is more insatiable than its appetite, de- 
stroying many at an attack, but carrying away, 
perhaps, only one. If it have more than sufficient 
* BufFon states, that it will seize a man, if it find him sleeping-, 
which Azara denies. 
