generally throughout this last-named district, I have had no means of determining. Formerly this animal was
extremely abundant in its native wilds; and Azara has related that when the Spaniards first settled the country
between Monte Video and Santa F£, as many as two thousand were killed annually. This slaughter, as may be
supposed, soon caused the species to become comparatively scarce. Usually the Jaguar is found singly or perhaps in
pairs; and it is only in the love-season, according to Azara, that any number associate together; and then sometimes
as many as eight males are occasionally seen in company.
The Jaguar, it is stated, brings forth at the close of the year from two to four cubs, the greater number being usually
females. They resemble their parents; but the fur is somewhat longer and rougher than that of the adults. As soon
as they are able to follow, which period Azara believes to be about fifteen days after birth, the female leads them
about with her. Their size is then that of a domestic Cat; and for protection they look to their mother, who does not
hesitate to incur any danger in their defence. This species preys upon most of the quadrupeds that are to be met
with in the regions to which it resorts. Horses, cattle, dogs, the tapir, and capybara are quickly made to succumb
before the enormous strength and fierceness of this beautiftd but terrible beast. They do not dread water, and
frequently swim wide and deep rivers. Azara relates that a Jaguar having killed a horse, on being disturbed took
up the carcass in his mouth, and, after dragging it for about seventy paces, entered a wide river, through which
he swam, and disappeared with his prey in the woods on the other side. As a rule the Jaguar does not exhibit any
unnecessary cruelty in destroying animals, only killing such as are requisite for satisfying his hunger; and should a
bullock be yoked to one he had just killed, it is said, he will leave it uninjured, after having made his meal off its dead
companion. He does not attempt to conceal any food that he may not be able to consume at once, but leaves it to be
eaten by any stray prowler who may discover it. In his movements this beautiful creature is rapid; and by a sudden
spring he alights on his prey, striking it at the same time to the earth with one blow of his powerful paw. This species
frequently secures and feeds upon large turtles, often following them into the water, so eager does it become in their
pursuit. Having gotten hold of a turtle, it turns the reptile over on its back, when it lies helpless. The Jaguar then
inserts a paw between the shells, and by means of his terrible claws drags out the body of the reptile. So neatly and
completely is this done that Humboldt says a surgical instrument could not be more effectual. In his desire to secure
the turtles, the Jaguar frequently turns over more than he can eat; and this habit is taken advantage of by the Indians,
who possess themselves of all that may be left. It is stated that when this animal has once tasted human flesh, he
prefers it ever afterwards to all others, and then becomes a confirmed man-eater. Azara says that if a company are
camping together, the Jaguar will take the dog, should there be one—if not, then the Negro, next the Indian, and only
springs upon the Spaniard when there are none of the others present. While he was in Paraguay, six men had been
killed by this savage creature, two of whom were seized in the midst of their companions, while warming themselves at
the fire. .
As a general rule the Jaguar is untamable, no matter how young when captured; and whenever he has been reared
and kept as a pet, he has usually given cause to regret any misplaced confidence by seriously wounding some one who
ventured to play with him.
Monkeys have a great dread of this animal, and usually utter loud and angry scoldings whenever they see one, or after
hearing his roar in the forest. It is not improbable that the Jaguar occasionally seizes one as it is unconsciously passing
near his hiding-places; but it is very doubtful if he would have any great success in pursuing such agile creatures among
the branches.
In the fourth volume of his ‘ Personal Narrative,’ Humboldt gives the following account of one of these animals he
met with:—
“ Near the Joval nature assumes an awful and savage aspect. We there saw the largest Jaguar we had ever met with.
The natives themselves were astonished at its prodigious length, which surpassed that of all the Tigers of India I had seen
in the collections of Europe. The animal lay stretched beneath the shade of a large Zamany, a species of Mimosa. It
had just killed a Chiguire (Capibara, or Water-hog), but had not yet touched its prey, on which it kept one of its paws.
The Zamuroes, a species of vulture, which we have compared above to the Percnopterus of Lower Egypt, were assembled
in flocks to devour the remains of the Jaguar’s repast. They afforded the most curious spectacle, by a singular mixture of
boldness and timidity. They advanced within the distance of two feet from the Jaguar; but at the least movement the
F E L I S ONCA.
beast made they drew back. In order to observe more nearly the manners of these animals, we went into the little boat
that accompanied our canoe. Jaguars very rarely attack boats by swimming to them, and never but when their ferocity
is heightened by a long privation of food. The noise of our oars led the animal to rise slowly, and hide himself behind
the Sanso bushes that bordered the shore. The vultures tried to profit by this absence to devour the Chiguire; but the
Jaguar, notwithstanding the proximity of our boat, leaped into the midst of them, and, in a fit of rage, expressed by his
gait and the movement of his tail, carried off his prey to the forest.”
The cry of this great Cat (for it can hardly be called a roar) is represented, by those who have heard it in the forests
where the animal loves to dwell, as loud yet very deep and hoarse in tone. It is uttered most frequently by night,
particularly during the love-season, and consists of the sounds pu, pu, pu, often repeated.
The colour of the Jaguar varies greatly among individuals—some, as stated by D’Orbigny, being almost white, while
others are found entirely black, the rosette markings of these last being only visible in certain lights. With so great
a difference, therefore, in the colour of their coats, it may not be wondered at that the older authors considered that there
were several species of this animal, particularly as their knowledge of this great Cat was limited and their specimens were
few in number. The synonymy is on this account not inconsiderable in quantity, but at the same time not difficult to
unravel, as no other species of this family can well be confounded with the Jaguar. The late Dr. J. E. Gray named a
light-coloured specimen from Mazatlan, which was then (1857) living in the Gardens of the Zoological Society of London,
Leopardus Hernandesi, founding his specific characters upon the form of the head, and the disposition of the spots on the
body; but in 1867, on the death of the animal, he was obliged, from the examination of the skull, to acknowledge that it was
not different from the usual form, and that the spots only represented one of the many varieties met with among this species.
He also, in the ‘Proceedings’ of the Zoological Society for 1867, instituted the genus Leopardus, placing in it various
species not particularly closely allied, such as the Leopard, the Puma, and the F. moormensis of Hodgson, and with these
the J a g u a r . I have not been able to discover any thing, either in the osteology or outside covering of the present species,
that should give to it a separate generic rank from the other members of this family, and have therefore not adopted
Dr. Gray’s term.
Individuals of this species vary considerably in size. Baird states that the largest he saw was a specimen killed near
the mouth of the little stream Las Moras above Eagle Pass, and measured nearly five feet to the insertion of the tail.
Azara gives the dimensions of one as follows :—Length 6 feet 9 inches; tail 2 feet 2 inches, circumference of root of the
tail 8 inches, of neck 2 feet 1§ inch, fore leg at the middle 1 foot 2\ inches, ankle 8§ inches, head close to the ears 2 feet
2| inches, chest 3 feet l l j inches; hind part of the body 2 feet 11 inches ; height at shoulder 2 feet 9 inches ; length of
head as far as occiput 12^ inches ; ear 2j inches high, width 2| inches. Audubon, in his ‘ Quadrupeds of North America,’
gives the following dimensions:—Nose to root of tail 4 feet 1 inch; length of tail 2 feet 1 inch; height of ear 2f inches;
shoulder to end of claw 2 feet, length of largest daw 2 inches, around the wrist 7\ inches, around chest 3 feet, around
head 1 foot 9| inches; breadth between eyes' 3 inches. This last may be taken as about the average size of a full-grown
Jaguar. Although resembling the Leopard somewhat in his colouring, the Jaguar can always be distinguished from that
animal, and, indeed, from all spotted Cats, by having the spots not scattered singly, but arranged in rosettes, with a
single spot in the centre of each ring.
The three figures in the Plate represent the different coloration and marking exhibited by individual examples. The
principal one is what may be designated the typical style ; the one in the rear on the right is a portrait of the so-called
L. Hernandesi, Gray; and the third shows the black variety.
Head, neck, body, outside of legs, and tail near the root rich tan-colour. Upper part of head and sides of face thickly
marked with small black spots; rest of body covered with large rosettes, formed of from seven to eight black spots, these
sometimes confluent, and with one or more black spots in the centre, and ranged lengthwise along the body in from five
to seven rows. The black rings are heaviest and thickest along the back. A black mark at opening of the mouth
on the under jaw. Lips, throat, breast, entire underparts, inside of legs, and lower side of tail pure white, marked with
irregular spots of black of various sizes, those on the breast being long bars, and on the belly and on the inside of
legs very large blotches. There are no bars across the face, as in most of the spotted Cats. The tail has large black
spots near the root, some with light centres; but from about midway of its length to the tip it is ringed with black.
Ears are black behind, with a large spot of buff near the tip. The black spots extend down the legs and onto the