THE JAGUAR
Felis onca, generally called the jaguar, and very often, in the regions he inhabits,el tigre, or the tiger, is a large and heavy animal; coming, in respect to its average size, between the Asiatic panther and lion. It is, perhaps, the most exclusively inter-tropical form amongFelidæ,—or at least the larger species of that family; and although it passes beyond equatorial latitudes both to the north and south, and is found at considerable elevations where the temperature is low, this beast is essentially an inhabitant of hot countries.
THE JAGUAR.[From a photograph by Ottomar Anschütz. Copyright.]
THE JAGUAR.[From a photograph by Ottomar Anschütz. Copyright.]
THE JAGUAR.
[From a photograph by Ottomar Anschütz. Copyright.]
H. H. Smith and others look upon the black jaguar of the Brazilian highlands as a distinct species, and one whose range is different from that of the spotted animals of the Amazon valleys and basin of La Plata. W. N. Lockington (“Standard Natural History”) is one of several authorities who consider that there may be several true species ofFelis onca, besides geographical varieties. In short, the zoölogy of this great American cat is not settled, and the records relating to its character and habits are rather scanty.
Looking at a full-grown jaguar carelessly, one might mistake it for a large and thick-set panther, with a rather short, clumsy tail, and very massive limbs. But besidesthat the angular ocelli on its coat—irregular black borders with an enclosed spot of the same color—are not rosettes, theensembleis scarcely the same with that of a panther, although anatomically these species are nearly identical.
The true home of the jaguar is in the great woodlands of the Amazon. “Here,” says Lockington, “he reigns supreme; the terror of the forest, as the lion is of the desert, and the tiger of the jungle; the acknowledged and dreaded lord of man and beast.” Charles Darwin found this species in the basin of the La Plata River, living in reed belts and around lake shores. Unlike the panther, jaguars cannot live without a constant supply of water. Falconer asserts that in some places these animals subsist chiefly upon fish. At all events, they are very expert in catching them, and fish even in rivers whose banks abound with game.
As a rule, however, that large rodent, the capybara, now the only living representative of an ancient family otherwise extinct, is the American tiger’s chief article of food, and Darwin reports a saying among the Indians to the effect that man has little to fear from “el tigre’s” attacks where these are plentiful. Another point of resemblance between this beast and the panther is their mutual fondness for monkeys.
Natives believe that the jaguar fascinates them. All instances which have been given of the exercise of this power seem, however, to be susceptible of a different interpretation, and naturalists generally discredit the idea that such an influence is ever exerted. Hypnotic phenomena, however, are actual facts, and it is undoubtedlypremature to limit the possibility of their induction to human beings.
Apart from this matter, concerning which there is no certainty, it is a fact that the brutes in question take their prey mostly on the surface of the ground, to some extent in water, and likewise among the limbs of trees. They are indiscriminate feeders, and besides all species of land animals that inhabit their range, both wild and domesticated, they destroy vast numbers of turtles and their eggs, lizards, fish, shell-covered species, and even insects. So long as anything has blood, whether red or white, in its body, it does not come amiss to what Wood calls “the jaguar’s ravenous appetite.” This trait makes him very destructive, and in some places domestic animals have been extirpated.
The jaguar, although he principally subsists upon game, hunts men also, as might be anticipated both from his size, strength, and family traits. An almost unarmed Indian of these regions is no match for a brute like this, even when provided with the blow-gun used in those latitudes.
Being as lazy as a lion, and from his usually abundant supplies, generally in good condition, the jaguar most commonly ambushes prey. Not always, however, for T. P. Bigg-Wither reports that they have been known to follow upon the trail of companies for days, while awaiting a favorable opportunity to seize one of the party. When “el tigre” designs to make a meal of peccary, the character of that creature compels him to surprise it. This is a very bold and inveterately revengeful animal, and moreoveris rarely found except in herds. An attack upon one member of the band is instantly and fiercely resented by all, so that strategy upon the jaguar’s part is essential to success.
It is not at all unusual to find people congratulating themselves upon the assumed fact that formidable brutes are unacquainted with their own strength and skill. This is one of the many mistakes made concerning lower animals.
Returning to the jaguar’s general description, one of his most eccentric propensities is the pursuit of alligators. The jaguar kills and eats these reptiles from choice; or in many instances, simply bites their tails off and lets them go. H. W. Bates found a recently-killed alligator partly eaten. Orton refers to this habit as well known, and both Smith and Wallace speak of it as a matter of common notoriety.
Like all species among theFelidæ, this one is nocturnal. Their “dull, deadly-looking eyes,” as Barton Premium describes them, are not adapted to excess of light. In remote and secluded places, however, and in the dark recesses of a tropical forest they prowl at all hours, and the author has met with these beasts in the full glare of a vertical sun.
When a jaguar sets out on a foraging expedition at night, he begins to roar like the lion as he leaves his lair; and again like his majesty, he keeps this up at more or less regular intervals until he actually begins to hunt. Jaguars are noisy animals at all times, says Darwin, but they are especially so upon stormy nights, whentheir “deep, grating roar” reverberates through the forest in a manner very impressive to those unaccustomed to the sound.
Like all animals with retractile claws, they are in the habit of sharpening them, as it is called; but it is not for the purpose of putting a point upon his talons that a jaguar draws them through the bark of trees. All the cats are given to trying how far they can reach, and all of them, both in killing game and feeding, get their nails clogged with shreds of flesh. It is to cleanse them that they scratch tree trunks, from time to time, as they go along. Darwin asserts that each animal has an especial tree to which he resorts for this purpose.
It is agreed among several authorities that a jaguar constantly strikes down, disables, and kills game with a blow of his massive forearm. At the same time, Wood, Humboldt, and Holder write as if death always ensued from dislocation of the neck. When a horse or some other large quadruped is seized, says the former, his assailant “leaps from an elevated spot upon the shoulders ... places one paw on the back of the head and another on the muzzle, and then with a single tremendous wrench breaks the neck.” So far as the act described is assumed to be of invariable occurrence many equally reliable accounts differ entirely, and the author knows from personal experience that jaguars will attack in front, make their assault on level ground, and in some instances do not attempt to kill either man or beast by forcing back the head.
Independently of other facts and considerations which bear upon this brute in its relation to man, the name bywhich it is known among the natives is more conclusive with regard to character than a host of witnesses. According to Burton the wordjaguaris composed of the Indian (Tupi)jawe or us, andguara, an eater or devourer; and it may be assumed that when tribes of savages conferred such a designation as this, they had very good reason for doing so. It may be said, however, that other etymologies of the word have been given.
In the olden days of exploration, both Gonzalo Pizarro and Orellana spoke of the loss of human life from the depredations of jaguars; but, strange to relate, their successors, the accomplished missionary priests, Artiega and Acuna, have nothing to say about them in their sketch of the natural history of Northern Brazil.
Like tigers, lions, and panthers, the jaguar, no doubt, finds it easier to kill a man than almost any other animal that will afford him a full meal, and under favorable conditions he acts accordingly. Hence along the Brazilian frontier of Guiana where these beasts are very numerous, E. F. im Thurn relates that he found the forest tribes sleeping in hammocks swung high enough above the ground to be out of reach of a spring. J. W. Wells and the distinguished Waterton describe the way in which their tents were beset by jaguars. Humboldt tells how his mastiff was carried off from within his camp on the Rio Negro. Darwin mentions that “many woodcutters are killed by them on the Paraná,” and that they “have even entered vessels at night,” and Von Tschudi recounts how one broke into an Englishman’s hut, seized his boy, and bore him off into the forest.
When we examine the records of the first European travellers in those provinces infested by jaguars, their testimony with regard to its character is quite unanimous.
In the Adelantado Pascual de Andagoya’s narrative of Pedrarias Davila’s expedition he says, “there are lions and tigers”—by which all the Spanish and Portuguese writers meant pumas and jaguars—“on the Isthmus of Panama, that do much harm to the people, so that on their account the houses are built very close to one another, and are secured at night.” Father José de Acosta (“Historia natural y moral de las Indias”) explains, however, that these beasts are not equally dangerous. “The tigers are fiercer and more cruel than the lions.” Likewise it is more perilous to come in their way “because they leap forth and assail men treasonably.”
Pedro Cieza de Leon, of whom Prescott remarks that “his testimony is always good,” gives an account of the state of affairs on the road between Cali and the port of Buenaventura. Here are “many great tigers, that kill numbers of Indians and Spaniards as they go to and fro every day.” Likewise in the mountainous portions of the district, these animals were so destructive that the Indian houses, which are “rather small, and roofed with palm leaves, ... are surrounded by stout and very long palisades, so as to form a wall; and this is put up as a defence against the tigers.” So far as the author’s acquaintance with the Spanish and Portuguese relations goes, all authorities of this class agree in giving these beasts the traits that those theoretical and practical considerations mentionedrespecting the temper and habits of the large carnivora would lead us to look for.
The writer never saw a full-grown animal of this kind which had been domesticated to the extent of being harmless if left at large, and never succeeded in taming one completely himself. E. George Squier (“Adventures on the Mosquito Shore”) mentions an incident in which such was the case. He was summoned to an interview with “The Mother of the Tigers,” who, under this ominous title, proved to be a modest young Indian girl, and the high priestess of one of those secret semi-religious societies that gave Alvarado so much trouble in the days of the Spanish invasion. Her retreat lay in the darkest recesses of one of those gloomy forests where there is always twilight, even at the tropical noonday. He found that Sukia was only attended by one old woman, and guarded by an immense jaguar. This beast did not like the stranger’s appearance, but made no attack, and at once passed into the house and lay down when commanded to do so.
Perhaps it is unnecessary to bring, as might readily be done, proof of what might be assumed beforehand; namely, that an animal like the jaguar is certain to attack men wherever their possession of firearms has not in the course of time taught the sagacious beast that the contest is an unequal one. It happens, however, that the explorer C. Barrington Brown (“Canoe and Camp Life in British Guiana”) has given some quite explicit information concerning a point which has been rarely touched upon, that is to say the behavior of a wild beast that very probably never saw a man before, and certainly not a white man.Brown was in a country infested by jaguars, but while remaining in the peopled regions he does not say much about them. Once, however, he records the fact that he encountered an Indian whose neck was much distorted by a bite received from this animal. The man was accompanied by a friend armed with a gun when the jaguar sprang upon him, and was shot dead by his friend. Most of Brown’s explorations were made in boats, by the waterways of the Essequibo, Corentyne, and other rivers and their affluents. He penetrated into parts which were, so far as human beings are concerned, nearly or entirely uninhabited.
“On one occasion,” says this author, “when we had landed and were pursuing a herd of bush-hogs,”—peccaries, he means,—“two men were left in charge of the boat. We had not been away in the forest more than two or three minutes, when these men heard a heavy footfall on the bank above them, and looking up saw a large jaguar gazing down upon them from the very spot up which we had clambered.” In other words, neither the sense of smell, nor actual sight, taught him anything about those enemies whom he, in common with all other wild beasts, is so generally represented to fear instinctively. “They immediately pushed the boat off shore, fearing an attack from the tiger.” Afterwards his men told Brown “that this animal was one of those the Indians call ‘Masters of the herd,’ that it followed herds of swine wherever they went; and that whenever it was hungry, and found a pig at a little distance from the rest, pounced upon it, killing it with one blow of its huge paw. The squeak of thestricken one always brought down its companions to the spot, whereupon the jaguar climbed a tree for safety till the storm it had brewed was over, and the pigs left the spot; then it descended from its perch to feed on the flesh of its victim....
“In ascending that portion of the Corentyne below Tehmeri rocks, we saw a large jaguar standing on a granite rock close to the river bank, which immediately bolted into the forest as we paddled to the spot. Glancing up at the place where it had disappeared, I saw it sitting down and gazing intently at us, without showing the least sign of fear. I took aim behind the shoulder and fired a charge of large shot, which caused it to bound forward, fall and roll over. But at once regaining its feet it made off into the forest.” Although they followed the bloody trail, the animal was not seen again.
Brown had four other shots at jaguars—all of them close—and he wounded two, but never succeeded in bagging a single one. In every case observed by him there was an entire absence of that behavior which is said to be natural and instinctive. The animals he saw expressed only wonder at the sight and scent of man, as well as at the sound of his voice.
Father Acosta declares that the jaguar attacks “treasonably,” that is to say, being treacherous like all cats, and one of the laziest of animals besides, he springs upon his prey, as a rule, from an ambush, which may be above the creature seized or on a level with it, according to circumstances.
Like all large beasts of prey, these brutes kill in a variety of ways as existing conditions and the size andstructure of the creature assaulted suggest,—they break its neck, tear open the blood-vessels in its throat, strike it dead with a blow from their powerful and massive forearms, crush its life out in their spring, drown it, and tear it to pieces while alive. This last is the way in which such vast numbers of the great river turtles are destroyed: they are turned upon their backs, the claws inserted beneath the breast plate, and these unfortunates are then torn asunder.
With reference to the act of overwhelming an animal, crushing it to death, or killing it by shock, Emmanuel Liais (“Climats, Géologie, Faune, du Brésil”), who gives a somewhat different etymology for the wordjaguarfrom that before mentioned, remarks that this term may be translated in a way that refers directly to its method of taking life. “Le nom de Jaguâra peut alors se traduire en français par la périphrase: Carnassier qui écrase sa proie d’un seul bond.” This plan is, however, inapplicable to large game.
When a jaguar catches fish, either by waiting till they rise, or by attracting fruit-eating species by tapping with his tail so they think food is falling from the trees, he simply tosses them on shore, and they suffocate in the air; but with the lemantin of the Amazon, upon which he constantly preys, that would be impossible. Paul Marcoy saw the act of capture and describes it in these terms: “At the distance of twenty paces, on a bank facing us, and but a few feet in height, a jaguar of the larger species,—Yahuaraté pacoa sororoca,—with pale red fur, and its body beautifully marked, was crouching with fierce aspect, on its fore-paws,its ears straight, its body immovable.... The animal’s eyes, like two disks of pure gold, followed with inexorable greed the motions of a poor lemantin which was occupied in crunching the stalks of false maize and water-plantains that grew on the spot. Suddenly, as the lemantin raised its ill-shaped head above the water, the jaguar sprang on it, and burying the claws of his left paw in the neck, weighed down the muzzle with those of the right, and held it under water to prevent its breathing. The lemantin, finding itself nearly choked, made a desperate effort to break loose from its adversary, but he had no baby to deal with. The tiger was now pulled under and now lifted out of the water, according to the direction of the violent somersaults of his victim, yet still retained his deadly hold. This unequal struggle lasted some minutes, and then the convulsive movements of the lemantin began to relax, and finally ceased altogether—the poor creature was dead. Then the jaguar left the water backwards, and resting on his hind quarters, with one fore-paw for a prop, he succeeded in dragging the enormous animal up the bank with the other paw. The muzzle and neck of the lemantin were torn with gaping wounds. Our attention was so fixed and close—I sayouradvisedly, for my men admitted that they had never seen a similar spectacle—that the jaguar, which had just given a peculiar cry, as if calling his mate or his cubs, would shortly have disappeared with his capture, had not one of the rowers broken the charm by bending his bow and sending an arrow after the cat, which, however, missed its mark and planted itself in a neighboring tree. Surprised at this aggression, the animalbounded on one side, and cast a savage glance from his round eyes—which from yellow had now become red—at the curtain of willows that concealed us. Another arrow, which also missed its object, the shouts of the oarsmen, and the epithet ‘sua—sua,’ double thief, which Julio cried at the top of his voice, at length caused it to move away.”
It is not from the jungle only, or the fringing reeds of streams, from dense woodlands, or the undergrowth and high grasses of thoserestingas(open spaces amid overgrown and often submerged country), where Bates says they may be most successfully hunted with beaters, that the jaguar bounds upon his prey. He is by no means exclusively a denizen of the forest, and Romain d’Aurignac (“Trois Ans chez les Argentins”) merely expresses a commonly known fact when, speaking of the pampas, he remarks that “les jaguars ... abondent également dans ces parages.” On these great plains the jaguar subsists upon cattle, horses, and mules, that are to be found there in immense numbers, as well as upon those wild animals whose habits of life confine them to open places.
C. B. Brown, speaking of the causes, whatever these may be, which prevent the increase of jaguars, remarks that “they have no enemies.” This is true in so far as there is no single creature except man in those provinces through which they range that willingly comes into collision with them. No doubt the jaguar frequently meets with a violent death, however, which is not inflicted by human agency. In one case that is certain; the great ant-eater, or ant-bear, has been known to kill him. Wallaceand others vouch for the truth of this, and there is nothing intrinsically improbable in the statement that an animal so large, so powerful, and so formidably armed with claws which are more effective than those of the jaguar in every way, might be able to cling to its enemy long enough to inflict mortal wounds. When attacked by a tiger, the ant-bear turns upon his back and uses his talons with deadly effect. It is said that both parties in such an engagement are apt to perish. The jaguar cannot disengage himself, and the ant-eater dies under the fangs of his adversary.
Those qualities which this creature exhibits in procuring food—the varied styles of attack and modes of destruction it makes use of—entitle the American tiger to be considered as among the first of the whole group of beasts of prey. But there is little doubt that some things are attributed to him through that admiration and reverence he excites in the aborigines, which are without foundation. It is said, for instance, that jaguars mimic the cries of many animals, and thus beguile them within their reach. Of those creatures upon which jaguars prey most constantly, however, a number only call at certain seasons, others are practically voiceless, and some, as monkeys in general, are not to be deluded in this manner.
Priests, naturalists, and geographers, whose special pursuits occupied them fully, have chiefly written of the jaguar’s provinces; so that the strong light which is cast upon the character and habits of wild beasts by narratives of the chase, is almost entirely wanting. J. W. Wells (“Three Thousand Miles through Brazil”) says, speaking of hunting jaguars with dogs, what the author knows to be true;namely, that animals employed in this way, and in fact the whole canine family in those latitudes where these animals are found, stand in mortal fear of them. He admits, however, that the ordinary Indian dog will not keep upon a tiger’s trail without constant encouragement, and that they never close with them. After having been barked at, one can hardly say chased, for a certain distance, this lazy, short-winded brute gets into some large tree and tries to conceal himself, while the curs yelp around it until their noise brings the huntsmen to the spot. That is thetheoryof this proceeding, but practically it does not work, and few jaguars are killed in this manner. Following up a tiger with dogs just in front—for they will not, as a rule, keep upon the trail by themselves—does well enough to talk about; but when the place where this is to be done is a tropical forest, it will be found impossible to put in practice. If the beast were not disposed to come to bay, it might easily get through mazes impenetrable to men, and go its way along paths by which its pursuers could not follow. There is a breed called “tiger dogs” in Mexico and Central America, but the author has never seen them at work, and also knows that thetigreros, or professional tiger-hunters of those parts, kill most of their game without such aid.
Jaguars are constantly seen abroad by day in remote regions; but from the reports of native hunters, and on the ground of personal observation, the author is inclined to believe that their roar is seldom heard except at night. Waterton speaks of it as an “awfully fine” sound, and says that “it echoed among the hills like distant thunder.”Some travellers describe it as a deep, hoarse, rapid repetition of the syllablespa-pa; and Brown, referring to the calls of two jaguars he heard on the Berbice River, thought their “low, deep tones,” which “made the air quiver and vibrate, ... had a grand sound, with a true, noble ring in it.” The writer never detected anything like a “ring” in it; on the contrary, the ordinary intonation is markedly flat, like that of the panther’s and tiger’s ordinary cry. A jaguar can roar, however, and often does so with violence: under all modulations his tones convey the impression of great power.
The question how far jaguars hunt by scent, and how far by sight, could not probably be answered, both senses being constantly employed. T. P. Bigg-Withers relates that one of them trailed him “all day waiting for a favorable opportunity” to attack, and that a Botocudo Indian was finally seized, but escaped with some comparatively trifling injuries. This pursuit was carried on no doubt chiefly by scent, although the animal had been seen more than once. Major Leveson (“Sport in Many Lands”) makes a statement in connection with shooting from machans to the effect that elevated positions are favorable to the sportsman because wild beasts “never look up.” He excepts leopards, it is true, but the fact is that allFelidæ, leaving out lions and tigers, which are too heavy and large to climb, use their eyes in every direction, and in prowling for food through forests, scrutinize the trees where their prey is often found, as closely as they do surrounding jungle and open spaces. Those natives who live among tigers on this continent do not at all eventsthink themselves safe in trees, since E. F. im Thurn and others explain that they not only swing their hammocks out of reach among branches, but build fires around the stems to prevent them from being ascended. In such a case the jaguar would probably act as he does when a monkey gets out to the end of an isolated limb that will not bear his weight—that is to say, spring upon the prey, and come to the ground with it.
When a lion or tiger receives a shot, it is very often replied to by a roar, and this whether the animal attacks in return or bounds away. A jaguar, however, generally bears his wounds without any outcry, and if he intends to fight, does so, like the panther, at once. The writer has neither seen nor heard that these animals make use of those stratagems that tigers constantly, and lions frequently, adopt for the purpose of intimidating their assailants and causing them to retreat. It would appear that jaguars do not commonly make feigned assaults, but generally charge in earnest, with lightning-like rapidity, and desperate determination. The writer, speaking from experience, is inclined to think that these animals act in this way as constantly as the panther. There may be, however, numerous exceptions to this behavior; the opinion expressed is not offered as if it were final, and the data upon which it is based are extremely imperfect. More than that, it should be acknowledged with regard to any facts stated, that they only represent this, or any other animal’s average behavior. There can be no doubt that wild beasts will sometimes do anything and everything which is not positively impossible.
Whether the current opinion that black jaguars are more ferocious than those of the spotted variety be true, the author is not able to say. Amongtigrerosthis is believed to be the case; but that kind of animal is rarer than the others, attracts more attention, and being undoubtedly dangerous, naturally gathers round it certain superstitions with which the minds of this class of men become impregnated. Natives, in general, do not appear to make any particular distinction between the varieties, and such records as we possess place them very much upon a par, with regard to the habits and characteristics that have been spoken of.
The jaguar’s strength is very great. These beasts are well known to “carry off,” as it is called, the bodies of horses, etc., that have been killed. They swim broad rivers also, and are said, like the royal tiger, to fight effectively while in the water. Wood quotes Dr. Holder to the effect that on one occasion a jaguar destroyed a horse, dragged it to the bank of a large stream, swam across with his prey, and finally conveyed it into the forest. The writer in the “Encyclopædia Britannica” refers to the same story, but besides these authorities, this kind of an exploit has not been recorded by any one.
Darwin states that the jaguar prowling at night is much annoyed by foxes, that attend his movements and keep up a constant barking. It is well known that jackals follow or accompany lions under like circumstances, and Darwin speaks of this parallel association as a “curious coincidence.” But the fox is in this case an interloper like the other, an unwelcome hanger-on in expectation ofoffal, that betrays the jaguar’s presence when he, usually a noisy animal, has cause to be quiet.
It is singular that a creature so noteworthy, and one so frequently mentioned, should remain so imperfectly known in many important particulars relating to its natural history, habits, and character. Dr. Carpenter (“Zoölogy”) remarks that it “may be regarded as the panther of America,” and many traits which favor this likeness have been given. It remains to say, however, that while zoölogists express themselves in guarded terms with respect to species ofFelis onca, and the natives discriminate half a dozen among the spotted kind alone; while Liais describes “le jaguar noir” as “a third species,” and Azara (“Descripcion y Historia del Paraguay”) writes of a yellowish-white variety as a fourth specific form, the black jaguar, in all probability, only adds another to the many resemblances that liken this beast to the panther. Black or dark-brown cubs have not, as in the case ofFelis pardus, been found, so far as the writer knows, in one litter with those marked with spots; but there is reason to believe that they occur in this manner.
Two cubs are born together as a rule, although, as happens with other species of this family, the average number is sometimes exceeded. Of the young jaguar’s first essays in life very little is known. Whether its father takes part in the whelp’s education, as a lion does, or is on the contrary a destroyer of his male offspring, like the tiger; how long parental care continues, and in fact all details relating to its period of infancy, remain obscure. If one inquires about these matters from natives, they entertainhim with romances, legends, and folk-lore tales. It was a subject for comment among the early Spanish writers that so few of these animals were killed by Indians. In his “Brief Narrative of the Most Remarkable Things that Samuel Champlain observed in the Western Indies,” we find a mention of some jaguar skins that had been bartered by natives, referred to as rarities. Now, as many or more come annually from Buenos Ayres alone as were once procured in the same time throughout the Amazon valleys. Notices of jaguars being taken in traps are occasionally found in books, but detailed descriptions of the process of catching them the author has not met with. Some of the tribes possess efficient weapons of their kind—bows, strong enough, as Cieza de Leon asserts, “to send an arrow through a horse, or the knight who rides it.” These Indians are in the habit likewise of poisoning their arrow-heads. Cieza gives an account of how, after much trouble and persuasion, he induced the aborigines at Carthagena and Santa Martha to show him their mode of preparing poison. His relation, however, is not very instructive. Humboldt and Bonpland (“Voyage, etc., Relation Historique”) give “curare” as the active principle of those mixtures made by Amazonian tribes. These poisons contain, both in South America and all over the world where they are used, matters which are more or less inert, and have been introduced upon purely magical principles. E. F. im Thurn found the effective constituent used in Guiana to be “Strychnos-Urari, Yakki, or Arimaru—i.e.,S. toxifera,S. Schomburgkii,S. cogens.” Both he and Sir R. Schomburgh speak of other ingredients—bark,roots, peppers, snake venom—compounded with the more active principle. Waterton gives much the same account of the toxic agent used by means of the bow or blow-gun, and of course there is no doubt that a jaguar inoculated with enoughcurarewould die.
As for foreigners, their reliance has always been upon firearms, ever since the first arquebuses were introduced into Spanish America by theconquistadores; and nothing less efficient is likely to avail against an animal that Audubon and Bachman say “compares in size with the Asiatic tiger,” and is his “equal in fierceness.”