This Evening I Had Not
Proceeded A Hundred Yards, Before Finding Indubitable Signs
Of The Recent Presence Of The Tiger, I Was Obliged To Come
Back.
On every island there were tracks; and as on the
former excursion "el rastro de los Indios" had been
The
subject of conversation, so in this was "el rastro del tigre."
The wooded banks of the great rivers appear to be the
favourite haunts of the jaguar; but south of the Plata, I
was told that they frequented the reeds bordering lakes:
wherever they are, they seem to require water. Their common
prey is the capybara, so that it is generally said, where
capybaras are numerous there is little danger from the
jaguar. Falconer states that near the southern side of the
mouth of the Plata there are many jaguars, and that they
chiefly live on fish; this account I have heard repeated. On
the Parana they have killed many wood-cutters, and have
even entered vessels at night. There is a man now living
in the Bajada, who, coming up from below when it was
dark, was seized on the deck; he escaped, however, with
the loss of the use of one arm. When the floods drive these
animals from the islands, they are most dangerous. I was
told that a few years since a very large one found its way
into a church at St. Fe: two padres entering one after the
other were killed, and a third, who came to see what was the
matter, escaped with difficulty. The beast was destroyed by
being shot from a corner of the building which was unroofed.
They commit also at these times great ravages
among cattle and horses. It is said that they kill their prey
by breaking their necks. If driven from the carcass, they
seldom return to it. The Gauchos say that the jaguar, when
wandering about at night, is much tormented by the foxes
yelping as they follow him. This is a curious coincidence
with the fact which is generally affirmed of the jackals
accompanying, in a similarly officious manner, the East Indian
tiger. The jaguar is a noisy animal, roaring much by night,
and especially before bad weather.
One day, when hunting on the banks of the Uruguay, I
was shown certain trees, to which these animals constantly
recur for the purpose, as it is said, of sharpening their
claws. I saw three well-known trees; in front, the bark
was worn smooth, as if by the breast of the animal, and on
each side there were deep scratches, or rather grooves,
extending in an oblique line, nearly a yard in length. The
scars were of different ages. A common method of ascertaining
whether a jaguar is in the neighbourhood is to
examine these trees. I imagine this habit of the jaguar is
exactly similar to one which may any day be seen in the
common cat, as with outstretched legs and exserted claws it
scrapes the leg of a chair; and I have heard of young fruit-
trees in an orchard in England having been thus much injured.
Some such habit must also be common to the puma,
for on the bare hard soil of Patagonia I have frequently
seen scores so deep that no other animal could have made
them.
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