[Illustration: JAGUAR.]
The Jaguar is the Leopard of the American forests, and nearly approaches
to the Tiger of India in strength and daring. The Jaguar may be
distinguished from the Leopard by a bold streak or two of black
extending across the chest from shoulder to shoulder. The rosettes on
the body are very large, open and rather angular, with a central spot or
two in each, and a central chain of black dashes extends along the
spine. The size of the Jaguar varies, but usually exceeds that of the
Leopard. Its form is more robust and less agile and graceful. The limbs
are short, but exceedingly thick and muscular, the head square and
larger, and the tail comparatively shorter. The Jaguar is the most
formidable of all the American members of the Cat family. It prefers the
marshy and wooded districts of the warmer latitudes, and haunts the vast
forest along the larger rivers. He climbs and swims with equal facility,
and preys on the larger domestic quadrupeds, on Peccaries and Monkeys,
and also on Tortoises and Fishes. Sonnini saw the scratches left on the
smooth bark of a tree without branches forty feet high. Humboldt heard
the Jaguar’s yell from the tops of the trees, followed by the sharp,
shrill, long whistle of the terrified Monkeys, as they seemed to flee.
It takes Birds in their nests and Fish in the shallows and makes havoc
in some districts among Horses, Cattle and Sheep.
The Jaguar is also called the American Tiger; it is the largest
carnivorous animal of the New World. It almost equals the Tiger in size,
as well as in blood-thirstiness; it measures nearly seven feet from the
end of the nose to the root of the tail. It is not Zebra-striped like
the Tiger, but spotted in the same manner as the Panther. Its markings
are most numerous on the head, thighs, legs and back, but always
irregular in shape. The ground color of the coat is of a bright tawny
hue above, and white beneath. The Jaguar is spread over nearly the whole
of South America and of the warmer parts of North America. It inhabits
the great forests traversed by rivers, and actively pursues various
aquatic Mammals. Like the Tiger, it swims with ease and passes the day
in inaction among the islets 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 back-bone of its victims.
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 commencement and the termination
of its feeding operations, and thus excites terror or joy. In certain
parts of South America, Jaguars were so numerous, that, according to
Azara, in the seventeenth century, 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.