nature, ever provident, has scattered with a bounteous hand her gifts in the country of the orinoco, where the jaguar especially abounds. the savannahs, which are covered with grasses and slender plants, present a surprising luxuriance and diversity of vegetation; piles of granite blocks lie here and there, and, at the margins of the plains, occur deep valleys and ravines, the humid soil of which is covered with arums, heliconias, llianas. the shelves of primitive rocks, scarcely elevated above the plain, are partially covered with lichens and mosses, together with succulent plants and tufts of evergreen shrubs with shining leaves. the horizon is bounded with mountains overgrown with forests of laurels, among which clusters of palms rise to the height of more than a hundred feet, their slender stems supporting tufts of feathery foliage. to the east of atures other mountains appear, the ridge of which is composed of pointed cliffs, rising like huge pillars above the trees.
when these columnar masses are situated near the orinoco, flamingoes, herons, and other wading birds perch on their summits, and look like sentinels. in the vicinity of cataracts, the moisture which is diffused in the air, produces a perpetual verdure, and wherever soil has accumulated on the plains, it is adorned by the beautiful shrubs of the mountains.
such is one view of the picture, but it has its dark side also; those flowing waters, which fertilize the soil, abound with alligators: those charming shrubs and flourishing plants, are the hiding places of deadly serpents; those laurel forests, the favorite lurking spot of the fierce jaguar; while the atmosphere, so clear and lovely, abounds with musquitoes and zancudoes, to such a degree that in the missions of orinoco, the first questions in the morning when two people meet, are, "how did you find the zancudoes during the night? how are we to-day for the musquitoes?"
it is in the solitude of this wilderness, that the jaguar, stretched out motionless and silent, upon one of the lower branches of the ancient trees, watches for its passing prey; a deer, urged by thirst, is making its way to the river, and approaches the tree where this enemy lies in wait. the jaguar's eyes dilate, the ears are thrown down, and the whole frame becomes flattened against the branch. the deer, all unconscious of danger, draws near, every limb of the jaguar quivers with excitement every fibre is stiffened for the spring; then, with the force of a bow unbent, he darts with a terrific yell upon his prey, seizes it by the back of the neck, a blow is given by his powerful paw, and with broken spine the deer falls lifeless to the earth. the blood is then sucked, and the prey dragged to some favorite haunt, where it is devoured at leisure.
humboldt surprised a jaguar in his retreat. it was near the joval, below the mouth of the cano de la tigrera, that in the midst of wild and awful scenery, he saw an enormous jaguar stretched beneath the shade of a large mimosa. he had just killed a chiguire, an animal about the size of a pig, which he held with one of his paws, while the vultures were assembled in flocks around. it was curious to observe the mixture of boldness and timidity which these birds exhibited; for although they advanced within two feet of the jaguar, they instantly shrunk back at the least motion he made. in order to observe more clearly their proceedings, the travellers went into their little boat, when the tyrant of the forest withdrew behind the bushes, leaving his victim, upon which the vultures attempted to devour it, but were soon put to flight by the jaguar rushing into the midst of them.
the following night, humboldt and his party were entertained by a jaguar hunter, half-naked, and as brown as a zambo, who prided himself on being of the european race; and called his wife and daughter, who were as slightly clothed as himself, donna isabella and donna manuela. as this aspiring personage had neither home nor hut, he invited the strangers to swing their hammocks near his own between two trees, but, as ill-luck would have it, a thunder storm came on, which wetted them to the skin; but their troubles did not end here, for donna isabella's cat had perched on one of the trees, and frightened by the thunderstorm, jumped down upon one of the travellers in his cot; he naturally supposed that he was attacked by a wild beast, and as smart a battle took place between the two, as that celebrated feline engagement of don quixotte; the cat, who, perhaps had most reason to consider himself an ill-used personage, at length bolted, but the fears of the gentleman had been excited to such degree, that he could hardly be quieted. the following night was not more propitious to slumber. the party finding no tree convenient, had stuck their oars in the sand, and suspended their hammocks upon them. about eleven, there arose in the immediately adjoining wood, so terrific a noise, that it was impossible to sleep. the indians distinguished the cries of sapagous, alouates, jaguars, cougars, peccaris, sloths, curassows, paraquas, and other birds, so that there must have been as full a forest chorus as mr. hullah himself could desire.
when the jaguars approached the edge of the forest, which they frequently did, a dog belonging to the party began to howl, and seek refuge under their cots. sometimes, after a long silence, the cry of the jaguars came from the tops of the trees, when it was followed by an outcry among the monkeys. humboldt supposes the noise thus made by the inhabitants of the forest during the night, to be the effect of some contest that had arisen among them.
on the pampas of paraguay, great havoc is committed among the herds of horses by the jaguars, whose strength is quite sufficient to enable them to drag off one of these animals. azara caused the body of a horse, which had been recently killed by a jaguar, to be drawn within musket-shot of a tree, in which he intended to pass the night, anticipating that the jaguar would return in the course of it, to its victim; but while he was gone to prepare for his adventure, behold the animal swam across a large and deep river, and having seized the horse with his teeth, dragged it full sixty paces to the river, swam across again with his prey, and then dragged the carcass into a into a neighboring wood: and all this in sight of a person, whom azara had placed to keep watch. but the jaguars have also an aldermanic gout for turtles, which they gratify in a very systematic manner, as related by humboldt, who was shown large shells of turtles emptied by them.
they follow the turtles toward the beach, where the laying of eggs is to take place, surprise them on the sand, and in order to devour them at their ease, adroitly turn them on their backs; and as they turn many more than they can devour in one night, the indians often profit by their cunning. the jaguar pursues the turtle quite into the water, and when not very deep, digs up the eggs; they, with the alligator, the heron, and the gallinago vulture ore the most formidable enemies the little turtles have. humboldt justly remarks, when we reflect on the difficulty that the naturalist finds in getting out the body of the turtle, without separating the upper and the under shell, we cannot enough admire the suppleness of the jaguar's paw, which empties the double armor of the arraus, as if the adhering parts of the muscles had been cut by a surgical instrument.
the rivers of south america swarm with alligators, and these wage perpetual war with the jaguars. it is said, that when the jaguar surprises the alligator asleep on the hot sandbank, he attacks him in a vulnerable part under the tail, and often kills him, but let the alligator only get his antagonist into the water, and the tables are turned, for the jaguar is held under the water until he is drowned.
the onset of the jaguar is always made from behind, partaking of the stealthy treacherous character of his tribe; if a herd of animals, or a party of men be passing, it is the last that is always the object of his attack. when he has made choice of his victim, he springs upon the neck, and placing one paw upon the back of the head, while he seizes the muzzle with the other twists the head round with a sudden jerk which dislocates the spine, and deprives it instantaneously of life: sometimes, especially when satiated with food, he is indolent and cowardly, skulking in the gloomiest depths of the forest, and scared by the most trifling causes, but when urged by the cravings of hunger, the largest quadrupeds, and man himself, are attacked with fury and success.
mr. darwin has given an interesting account of the habits of the jaguar: the wooded banks of the great south american rivers appear to be their favorite haunt, but south of the plata they frequent the reeds bordering the lakes; wherever they are they seem to require water. they are particularly abundant on the isles of the payana, their common prey being the carpincho, so that it is generally said, that where carpinchos are plentiful, there is little fear of the jaguar; possibly, however, a jaguar which has tasted human flesh, may afterwards become dainty, and like the lions of south africa, and the tigers of india, acquire the dreadful character of maneaters, from preferring that food to all others.
it is not many years ago since a very large jaguar found his way into a church in santa fe; soon afterward a very corpulent padre entering, was at once killed by him: his equally stout coadjutor, wondering what had detained the padre, went to look after him, and also fell a victim to the jaguar; a third priest, marveling greatly at the unaccountable absence of the others, sought them, and the jaguar having by this time acquired a strong clerical taste, made at him also, but he, being fortunately of the slender order, dodged the animal from pillar to post, and happily made his escape; the beast was destroyed by being shot from a corner of the building, which was unroofed, and thus paid the penalty of his sacrilegious propensities.
on the parana, they have even entered vessels by night. one dark evening the mate of a vessel, hearing a heavy but peculiar footstep on deck, went up to see what it was, and was immediately met by a jaguar, who had come on board, seeking what he could devour; a severe struggle ensued, assistance arrived, and the brute was killed, but the man lost the use of the arm which had been ground between his teeth.
the gauchos say that the jaguar, when wandering about at night, is much tormented by the foxes yelping as they follow him: this may perhaps serve to alarm his prey, but must be as teasing to him as the attentions of swallows are to an owl, who happens to be taking a daylight promenade; and if owls ever swear, it is under these circumstances.
mr. darwin, when hunting on the banks of the uruguay, was shown three well-known trees to which the jaguars constantly resort, for the purpose, it is said, of sharpening their claws. every one must be familiar with the manner in which cats, with out-stretched legs and extended claws, will card the legs of chairs and of men; so with the jaguar; and of these trees the bark was worn quite smooth in front; on each side there were deep grooves, extending in an oblique line nearly a yard in length. the scars were of different ages, arid the inhabitants could always tell when a jaguar was in the neighborhood, by his recent autograph on one of these trees.
