ORDER OE CARNIVORA. 
381 
in inaction among the islets which stud the surfaces of the great 
lagoons and rivers. In the evening it seeks its food, and levies 
a heavy tribute on the immense herds of wild cattle and Horses 
that graze in the Pampas of the Plata. With a single blow of 
its paw it breaks the vertebral column of its victims. It fishes, 
we are told, very adroitly, and is not afraid of attacking the largest 
Cayman. 
The Jaguar climbs trees with agility, to the great discomfiture 
of the Monkeys which it pursues. Notwithstanding the fires that 
travellers make at night to keep away these ferocious animals, 
they do not always escape its attacks. 
At the setting and rising of the sun it gives utterance to two 
cries, which are well known to the natives and to hunters. It is 
by this means that it announces to living nature the commence- 
ment and the termination of its feeding operations, and thus 
excites terror or joy. In certain parts of America, Jaguars were 
so numerous, that, according to Azara, in the seventeenth cen- 
tury, two thousand were killed every year at Paraguay. At the 
present time many are yet to be found in that region, although 
their numbers are considerably diminished. 
The Puma or Cougar ( Leoparclus concolor ), formerly improperly 
called the American Lion, is an animal about four and a half 
feet long,* and of an uniform fawn colour without any spots. It 
inhabits Paraguay, Brazil, Guiana, Mexico, and the United 
States. It has the general appearance of a Lioness, without 
possessing its dimensions. 
This animal is alike remarkable for stealth and agility. It 
makes great ravages among the herds, and differs from the 
other Cats, in slaying numerous victims before it commences 
to feed. To carry off the smaller domestic animals, it visits 
human habitations during the night. It prefers living in the 
open country, yet it climbs trees ; its agility is such, that at one 
bound it can ascend upwards of twenty feet. 
The Puma is easily tamed, when it knows its master, and receives 
his caresses with pleasure. No inconvenience results from allowing 
it to run about at liberty. The celebrated English actor Kean, 
* The size of the Puma is frequently greater than here stated. At the early 
settlement of the United States numerous children, even adults, were killed by these 
animals. At the present date both white and red men dread them more than any 
Svild animal found in their habitat. — Ed. 
