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.
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