The Indian, as he roams through the forest, turns many a cautious look
over his shoulder, lest the savage jaguar, with stealthy feet, may be
following his trail. Meeting the monarch of his forests face to face,
he fears it not, provided he is armed with a bow and poisoned arrows, or
sumpitan and envenomed dart, which will soon compel the fierce creature
to succumb to its deadly influence.
Of the jaguar, or ounce (Felis onca), there are two species--the one of
a palish brown-yellow, variegated on the upper parts of the body with
streaks and regular oblong spots of black; while the other is of a
general black hue, and is considered the more savage of the two. It
reaches a size which may vie with the tigers of India, though it is
often not much larger than a wolf. It is frequently called the tiger or
panther of the New World. The tail is not so long as the body. In
outward appearance it closely resembles the leopard, especially in its
arborial habits, as by means of its powerful claws it can with ease
spring up the trunk of a tree, and make its way along the branches,
ready to pounce down upon a foe. Nearly every creature of the forests
and arid plains over which it roams, and many which frequent the margins
of the rivers and lakes, have to dread its voracious jaws. It will
spring from the bough, along which it lies crouching, on the back of the
thick-skinned tapir, which, with those powerful claws clinging to its
hide, dashes terror--stricken through the thickets, endeavouring to
shake off its foe. It will even fearlessly attack the alligator, in
spite of the latter's enormous jaws,--avoiding which, by its agility, it
will tear open the reptile's side, and devour it before life is extinct.
It lies watching from a projecting trunk for the huge manatee swimming
by, and grappling it with its claws, holds it fast in the struggle for
life and death, by degrees dragging the vast body out of the water, and
never letting go its grasp till it has succeeded in capturing its prey.
Turtles become its easy victims. Watching for them as they crawl up the
sandy banks, it turns them helplessly over with its paws. The capybara,
or water-hog, seems born for the especial purpose of serving it as food,
enormous numbers of that big rodent being devoured by it. Even active
monkeys cannot escape it. It will climb the trees and surprise them
when sleeping; or sometimes, lying in concealment, springs out among a
troop of them joyously gambolling, unsuspicious of danger, when their
shrieks of terror and the hoarse roar of the jaguar may be heard
resounding through the forest.
But where flocks and herds are collected in the neighbourhood of man's
abode, the jaguar is especially dreaded, as it will spring upon a horse
and bring it to the ground with ease; it has been known to drag one many
yards to the water's side, and swim across the river with its prey,
carrying it away on the opposite side to its home in the forest. Sheep
and deer fall easy victims. When seizing a deer or horse, it leaps on
the animal's back, and grasping the head with its claws, wrenches it
back till the vertebrae of the neck are broken.
There are but two animals who do not fear the jaguar. The great
ant-eater is defended from the monster's attacks by its shaggy, thick
coat. It will often grasp the jaguar in its powerful claws, and keep it
in a close embrace, while these formidable weapons tear open its side--
treating it as some chiefs in India were in the habit of treating their
guests, whom they pretended to receive with an embrace of friendship,
their hands armed with the steel-formed claws in imitation of those of
tigers. Though the savage little peccaries, when caught singly, are
quickly despatched by the jaguar, yet when meeting it collected in a
herd, they so fiercely assault it with their sharp tusks, that it is
either pierced to death, in spite of the blows of its claws, or
compelled to take to flight.
It catches fish as it does the manatee, suddenly thrusting forth its
talons as they pass below it; while it scrapes up the turtle's eggs in
numbers. It even pounces on birds and lizards, in spite of their
activity and means of escape; and, when pressed by hunger, it will
attack a native village, and carry off, not only fowls and other tame
animals, but the children, and sometimes full-grown people, whom it may
catch unawares.
Darwin says, that when the floods drive these animals to drier ground,
they are most dangerous; and mentions many instances of people being
destroyed by them. On the Parana they have been known to get on board
vessels at night. He heard of a man who, coming up from below when it
was dark, was seized on the deck by a jaguar. He escaped, however, with
the loss of the use of an arm. At Santa Fe, two padres entering, one
after the other, a church into which a jaguar had made its way, were
both killed. A third, who came to see what was the matter, escaped with
difficulty. The beast was destroyed by being shot at from a corner of
the building which was unroofed.
The gauchos say, that when wandering at night, it is frequently followed
by foxes yelping at its heels. If such is the case, it is a curious
coincidence with the fact, generally affirmed, that jackals accompany
the East Indian tiger.
The jaguar often leaves marks on the bark of trees, which it scrapes for
the purpose of tearing off the rugged parts of its claws; a habit common
also to the puma, as Darwin says he frequently found in Patagonia scores
so deep on the hard soil, that no other animal could have made them.
Brett mentions several instances which came under his notice of human
beings being killed by jaguars. A Carib Indian had gone into the forest
to procure touari,--the inner bark of the sapucaya-nut tree, of the thin
papery layers of which the Indians form the envelopes of their
cigarettes. While employed in cutting off the long strips of the bark,
on turning round he discovered a jaguar stealthily approaching. His
friends, as he did not return, set out in search of him. For a whole
day they searched in vain; but on the second they discovered his
foot-tracks, and those of a large jaguar. Following these for a long
way in anxious suspense, they at length came to a spot where there were
marks of a conflict, and they discovered their comrade's bow lying
broken on the ground. Still it was apparent that the Indian had beaten
off his assailant, for the tracks of both led still further into the
forest. At length they reached the scene of the last desperate
struggle. On the ground lay the man's knife, which he had lashed to the
end of a stick; but it had been loosened and turned aside against the
tough hide of the animal. From the marks on a tree it was evident that
the poor fellow, in dire extremity, at the approach of night, had been
trying to climb it, but ere he had ascended ten feet the jaguar had
sprung after him, and pulling him down, had torn him to pieces. The
remains, terribly mangled and half-devoured, lay near. One of the
Caribs who had found the body described the sickness which came over him
at the sight, and remarked that he had never since felt secure when
traversing the forest with only his knife and bow and arrows. On the
banks of the Pomaroon lived a Carib family, with a number of small
children. The young ones had gone into the water to bathe, when they
were startled by the cry of the smallest of their party--a little boy--
whom they had left seated at the water's edge. On looking round they
beheld a huge jaguar which had been attracted by their noises of
splashing, and which, having come behind the poor child, was standing
with one paw on his shoulder. The elder children, screaming for help,
attempted bravely to drive away the savage beast, but their efforts only
resulted in it seizing the poor little fellow's head with its powerful
jaws. It was a moment of agony. Their father was absent, but another
Carib who was near rushed to the spot, followed by the child's mother
and some other females. The beast, startled at this sudden increase in
the number of its assailants, dropped its victim, whom the man
immediately took up and gave to the mother. But assistance had come too
late. The child gave his last struggle as his mother received him in
her arms. When night set in, the disappointed beast came back to claim
his prey, roaring and yelling through the hours of darkness around the
open shed which formed their dwelling. Females alone were present, as
the man had gone off to call the child's father; and they had great
difficulty, with firebrands and shouting, in keeping the brute off till
help arrived.
Some time after this, another man, of considerable personal strength and
cool courage, was one day in his field, with a little dog playing by his
side, when he saw a jaguar at a distance watching his movements. The
beast slunk away when observed, and as the Carib had no gun, he went on
quietly with his work, clearing away the bush with his cutlass, which
was a new and sharp one. The jaguar had, however, marked the dog for
its prey, and only retreated to execute a flank march through the bush,
and to come unperceived on his rear. Having effected this, it crept
noiselessly forward, and sprang on the dog, which was instantly killed.
The Carib rushed to the assistance of his favourite, compelling the
savage jaguar to relinquish its hold, but the creature turned and sprang
upon him. The man, however, anticipating the attack, dashed forward and
decided the contest by a single blow, which buried his cutlass deep in
the jaguar's skull. The same man, on another occasion, clove the skull
of a second jaguar with an axe with which he was about to fell some
trees.
The jaguar, however, is capable of being tamed. The well-known Captain
Inglefield possessed one, afterwards placed in the Zoological Gardens.
It was so tame that he used to lie down and place his head on its body
as on a pillow. It was allowed to roam at liberty about the ship. It
was remarkable, however, that this creature could never be trusted when
a young child or a dog was present. On such occasions it became greatly
excited, endeavouring to break away from the chain with which it was
secured when on shore. Probably in its native wilds both would have
fallen victims to its natural ferocity.
The Bishop of Demerara witnessed an instance of the way in which these
savage creatures may occasionally be tamed, while on an expedition up
the River Demerara. On approaching the falls, he and his party halted
at an Indian settlement on the left bank, where they saw a young jaguar
only a few weeks old, which appeared to be extremely savage, when any of
them went near it. "But," he continues, "never did I observe such
apparent gentleness and attachment in any animal; as, when one or two of
our party had certainly not gone the way to win the creature's
affections, it allowed itself to be drawn close to us by an Indian
woman, and afterwards by a little child. Not a moment before, it was as
angry and savage as could be; but no sooner did the child draw it
towards her, than, looking up with an expression of intelligence and
trustfulness quite new to me, it nestled itself within the embrace of
its kind protectress."
The Indians are proverbially famous for the facility with which they
attract animals towards them. Bates and Wallace also mention having
seen, on several occasions, jaguars perfectly tame, roaming in and out
of the huts, as their smaller feline relatives would have done.