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. The object of this practice is, I believe, to tear off the
ragged points of their claws, and not, as the Gauchos think, to
sharpen them. The jaguar is killed, without much difficulty, by the
aid of dogs baying and driving him up a tree, where he is
despatched with bullets.
Owing to bad weather we remained two days at our moorings. Our only
amusement was catching fish for our dinner: there were several
kinds, and all good eating. A fish called the "armado" (a Silurus)
is remarkable from a harsh grating noise which it makes when caught
by hook and line, and which can be distinctly heard when the fish
is beneath the water.
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