THE JAGUAR. 05

the Leopard of Asia. Though ferocious in his wild state, he
is amenable to civilizing influences and becomes mild and
tame in captivity. He is an excellent swimmer and an expert
climber, ascending to the tops of high branchless trees by
fixing his claws in the trunks. It is said that he can hunt
in the trees almost as well as he can upon the ground, and
that hence he becomes a formidable enemy to the monkeys.
He is also a clever fisherman, his method being that of
dropping saliva on to the surface of the water, and upon the
approach of a fish, by a dexterous stroke of his paw knock-
ing it out of the water on to the bank. D’Azara, says: “ He
is a very ferocious animal causing great destruction among
horses and asses. He is extremely fond of eggs, and goes to
the shores frequented by turtles, and digs their eggs out of
the sand.”
The Strength The strength of the Jaguar is very great, and
of the Jaguar. as he can climb, swim, and leap a great distance,
he is almost equally formidable in three elements. He is said
to attack the alligator and to banquet with evident relish off
his victim. D’Azara says that on one occasion he found a
Jaguar feasting upon a horse which it had killed. The Jaguar
fled at his approach, whereupon he had the body of the
horse dragged to within a musket shot of a tree in which he
purposed watching for the Jaguar’s return. While temporarily
absent he left a man to keep watch, and while he was away the
jaguar reappeared from the opposite side of a river which was
both deep and broad. Having crossed the river the animal
approached, and seizing the body of the horse with his teeth
dragged it some sixty paces to the water side, plunged in
with it, swam across the river, pulled it out upon the other
side, and carried it into a neighbouring wood.
A Night of Mrs. Bowdich tells a story of two early settlers
Horror. jin the Western States of America, a man and
his wife, who closed their wooden hut, and went to pay a
visit at. a distance, leaving a freshly-killed piece of venison

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