CANO DE LA TIOEEBA. 
157 
9j; tte crocodiles in the water, and of the tigers on land- 
^ ' is difficult to conceive, how, being thus persecuted fey 
“ w o powerful enemies, they become so numerous ; but they 
weed with the same rapidity as the little comet or guinea- 
I J1 gs, which come to us from Brazil. 
. We stopped below the mouth of the Cano de la Tigrera, 
111 a sinuosity called la Vuella del Joval, to measure the 
4°«ty of the water at its surface. It was not more than 
" feet* in a second, which gives 2 - 56 feet for the mean velo- 
Clt y- The height of the barometer indicated barely a slope of 
?p. Ver deen inches in a mile of nine hundred and fifty toises. 
^ he velocity is the simultaneous effect of the slope of the 
b’Uund, and the accumulation of the waters by the swelling 
] 3 , . u Pper parts of the river. We were again surrounded 
J chiguires, which swim like dogs, raising their heads and 
° vs , a fe°' T e the water. Wo saw with surprise a large 
r °codile on the opposite shore, motionless, and sleeping in 
le midst of these nibbling animals. It awoke at the ap- 
J. uoacli of our canoe, and went into the water slowly, without 
. ’ghteninc ‘ ' 
Uidjffi ’ & 
the chiguires. Our Indians accounted for this 
Dr i erence fry the stupidity of the animals, but it is more 
r °bable that the chiguires know by long experience, that 
e crocodile of the Apure and the Orinoco does not attack 
( jP° ll land, imless he finds the object he wmuld seize imme- 
ateiy jjjg wa y a t the instant when he throws himself 
the water. 
-> ear the Joval nature assumes an awful and extremely wild 
wj P« ct ' We there saw the largest jaguar we had ever met 
digiri natives themselves were astonished at its pro- 
h;ul° US length, which surpassed that of any Bengal tiger I 
sir ‘t < i, er seen u 1 the museu ms of Europe. The animal lay 
just l ^cl beneath the shade of a large zamang.* It had 
W ] • j uled a chiguire, but had not yet touched its prey, on 
usso 1 ' ie P t ' one °P paws. The zamuro vultures were 
j a "Ua , l ‘d in great numbers to devour the remains of the 
b ar 8 repast. They presented the most curious spectacle, 
* I 
,n easu^ ^ r( ^ er t0 ra e a sure the velocity of the surface of a river, I generally 
Uaetep fh °. a heach a base of 250 feet, and observed with the chrono- 
to rea e . t j me that a floating body, abandoned to the current, required 
c u this distance. 
+ A species of mimosa. 
