THE COUGUAR.*

 

            THE couguar [sic] is as long, but not so thick as the jaguar; his legs are also longer, and he has more the shape of a greyhound.  His head is small, his tail long, and his hair of nearly a uniform colour, being of a lively red, mixed with a little tincture of black, especially on the back.  He has no spots, like those of the tiger, the leopard, the ounce, and the panther.  His chin, throat, and all the inferior parts of his bo- [197] dy, are whitish.  Though weaker, he is equally ferocious, and, perhaps, more cruel than the jaguar.  He appears to be still more rapacious on his prey;* for he devours without tearing it in pieces.  As soon as he seizes an animal, he kills, sucks, and eats it successively, and never quits it till he is fully gorged.

 

            These animals are very common in Guiana.  Great numbers of them were formerly seen swimming from the Continent to the island of Cayenne,+ in order to devour the flocks.  They were, at first, a great scourge to the colony; but, by hunting and destroying them, they have gradually retired to a distance from the more cultivated parts of the country. They are found in Brasil, Paraguay, and the Amazon country; and it is probable, that the animal mentioned by some travellers, under the name of ocorome,3 is the same with the cougar, as well as the Iroquois animal,4 which has been regarded as a tiger, though [198] he is neither spotted like the panther, nor marked with long bands like the tiger.

 

            The couguar, by the lightness of his body, and the length of his limbs, should be more swift, and climb trees with greater facility, than the jaguar.  When gorged with prey, they are both equally indolent and cowardly.  The seldom attack men, unless they find them sleeping.  When men pass the night in the woods, the kindling of a fire is sufficient to prevent the approach of these animals.*  They delight in the shades of large forests.  They conceal themselves in the thickets, or even in a bushy tree, from which they dart upon animals as they pass.  Though they live only on prey, and drink blood oftener than water, their flesh is said to be very good eating.  Piso says, that it is as good as veal,+ and others compare it to mutton.3  I can hardly believe that the flesh of this animal is good, especially as Desmarchais affirms,4 that [199] the skin is the only part of him which is valuable, and that his flesh is generally lean, and of a disagreeable flavour.

 

SUPPLEMENT.

 

            In the original work, we gave the figure of the male couguar, and we now add that of the female, which we had an opportunity of drawing a few years ago.

 

The COUGUAR of PENSYLVANIA [sic].

 

            THE Jaguar, as well as the Couguar, inhabit the warmest regions of South America.  But there is another species of Couguar (of which we have given a figure) found in the temperate climates of North America, as on the mountains of Carolina, Georgia, Pensylvania [sic], and the adjacent provinces.  The drawing of this couguar was sent me from England by the late Mr Colinson, with the following description:  If it is exact, this couguar must differ greatly from the common kind.

 

            “The Couguar of Pensylvania,” says Mr Colinson, “differs much from the couguar of Cayenne, (above described). His limbs are shorter, [200] his body much longer, and his tail is also three or four inches longer.  But, in the colour of the hair, and the form of the head and ears, they have a perfect resemblance to each other.”  “The couguar of Pensylvania,” adds Mr Colinson, “is an animal remarkable for thinness and length of body, shortness of legs, and length of tail.  The length of the body, from the muzzle to the anus, is five feet four inches; and that of the tail is two feet six inches.  The fore-legs are one foot long, and the hind-legs one foot three inches.  The height of the body before is one foot nine inches, and one foot ten inches behind.  The circumference of the thickest part of the body is two feet three inches.”*

 

            Mr Edwards, who, for skill in the art of drawing, and his knowledge of Natural history, merits the applauses of all lovers of science, sent me some engravings which corresponded with the drawing communicated by Mr Colinson.

 

THE BLACK COUGUAR.

 

            M. de la BORDE, King’s physician at Cayenne, informs me, that in the Continent there are three species of rapacious animals; that the first is the jaguar, which is called the tiger; that [201] the second is the couguar, called the red tiger, on account of the uniform redness of his hair; that the jaguar is of the size of a large bull-dog, and weighs about 200 pounds; that the couguar is smaller, less dangerous, and not so frequent in the neighbourhood of Cayenne as the jaguar; and that both these animals take six years in acquiring their full growth.  He adds, that there is a third species in these countries, called the black tiger, of which we have given a figure under the appellation of the black couguar.

 

            “The head,” says M. de la Borde, “is pretty similar to that of the common couguar; but the animal has long black hair, and likewise a long tail, with strong whiskers.  He weighs not above forty pounds.  The female brings forth her young in the hollows of old trees.”*  [202]

 

            This black couguar may be the same animal which Piso and Marcgrave call the jaguarette, or jaguar with black hair, and which no other traveller has mentioned under the name of jaguarette.  I only find, in a note of M. Sonini de Manoncour, that the jaguarette is called the black tiger at Cayenne, and that he is of a different species from the jaguar, being smaller, and thinner in the body.  This animal is fierce and rapacious; but he is very rare in the neighbourhood of Cayenne.

 

            “The jaguars and couguars,” continues M. de la Borde, “are very common in all the lands which border on the river of the Amazons, as far as Saint Martha.  Their skin is so tender as to be easily pierced by the simple arrows of the Indians.  Besides, all these animals are not absolutely covetous of carnage; for a single prey always satisfies them.  They go generally alone; but, when the females are in season, sometimes two or three of them are seen together.”

 

            “When pressed with hunger, they attack cows and oxen. They spring upon the back of an ox, fix the claws of their left foot upon his neck, and, when he falls down, they tear him in pieces; and, after opening his breast and belly to glut themselves with blood, they trail portions of his flesh into the wood.  They then cover the remainder of the carcass with branches of trees, and never remove to any great [203] distance.  But, as soon as the flesh begins to corrupt, they eat no more of it.  Sometimes they conceal themselves in trees, and dart down upon passing animals.  They likewise follow the flocks of wild hogs, and seize the stragglers.  But, if ever they allow themselves to be surrounded by these animals, they have no safety but in a precipitate retreat.”

 

            “But neither the jaguars nor couguars are absolutely ferocious:  They never attack men, unless when they feel themselves wounded.  But they despise the assaults of dogs, whom they often seize in the very neighbourhood of houses.  When pursued by such a number of dogs as obliges them to fly, they take refuge in the trees.  These animals often roam about the margins of the sea, and eat the eggs deposited there by turtles.  They likewise eat caïmans, or alligators, lizards, fishes, and sometimes the buds and tender leaves of the Indian fig.  They are excellent swimmers, and traverse the largest rivers.  I taking the caïman, they lie down on their belly at the edge of the river, strike the water to make a noise, and attrack [sic] the attention of the caiman, who soon approaches, and raises his head above the water, upon which the jaguar instantly makes his deadly spring, and, after killing the animal, drags him off to a distance, in order to devour him at his leisure.”

 

            “The Indians say, that the jaguars decoy the agouti by counterfeiting his cry; they likewise [204] [PLATE CXVII here] [PLATE CXVIII here] [PLATE CXIX here] [PLATE CXX here] say that they attract the caiman by a cry similar to that of a young dog, or like that of a man who coughs, which is still more difficult to believe.”

 

            “When these animals are in season, they set up dreadful roarings, which are heard at a great distance.  They commonly bring forth but one at a time, which they deposit in the large trunks of corrupted trees.  At Cayenne, they eat the flesh of these animals, which, when young, is as white as that of a rabbit.”*

 

            The couguar, when brought into captivity, is almost equally gentle as the other domestic animals.

 

            “I have seen,” says the author of Les Recherches sur les Americains, “a living couguar at the house of Ducos, a keeper of wild beasts; he was as peaceable as a dog, and of greater size than the largest kind of dogs.  He stands high on his legs, which renders him nimble and alert.  His canine teeth are very large, and conical.  He was neither disarmed nor muzzled; and he was conducted by a leash.—He allowed himself to be caressed with the hand.  I have seen boys mount him, and ride astraddle on his back. The name of the paltroon tiger has been given to him with propriety.”+ [205]

Notes

 

*  The couguar, or brown cat, has a very little head, small pointed ears, large eyes, a white chin, and the back, neck, rump, and sides, of a pale brownish red colour, mixed with dusky hairs.  The breast, belly, and inside of the legs, are cinereous.  The hair on the belly is long; the tail is dusky and ferruginous, but black at the tip.  The teeth are of a vast size, and the claws are white, the outmost one of the fore-feet being much longer than the others.  It is long bodied, and high on its legs.  The length, from nose to tail, is five feet three inches, and that of the tail two feet eight.  Pennant’s Synops. of quad p. 179.

            The cougar, which we have contracted from the Brasilian name caguacu ara, pronounced cougouacouare, is called the red tiger in Guiana. 

            Cuguacu are; Pison, Hist. Nat. p. 105.

            Cuguacu arana; Marcgravii Hist. Brasil. p. 245.

            Cuguacu arana Brasiliensibus; Raii Synops. quad. p. 169.

            Tigris sulvus; Barrère, Hist. Franc. equinox. p. 166.

            Felis ex flavor rufescens, mente et infimo ventre albicantibus…… Tigris fulva.  Let tigre rouge; Brisson. Regn. anim. p. 272.

            The American tiger, whose skin is brown, and without spots. Voyage de la Condamine sur la riviere des Amazones, p. 162 [back to page 197].

 

*  Cuguacu arana, the red, or rather bay tiger, is the most insatiable and rapacious of all American animals; Barrère, Hist. de la France equinox, p. 166.

+  Voyage de Desmarchais, p. 300.—The colony of Cayenne has not a greater scourge than that of the tigers; Roger’s voyage, tom. 3. p. 28.

3.  The ocorome of Peru is the size of a large dog.  His hair is red, his muzzle pointed, and his teeth very sharp; Lettres edifiantes; recueil 10.  Voyages de Coreal, tom. 2. p. 352.

4.  We find, in the Iroquois country, tigers of a grayish colour, but not spotted.  They have a long tail, and hunt the porcupine.  The Iroquois kill them more frequently on trees than on the ground…..Some of them have reddish kind [198] of hair, and, in all of them, it is very fine, and their skins make excellent furs; Charlevoix, tom. 1. p. 272 [this note straddles two pages, with the break occurring where indicated above.  Back to page 198].

 

*  The Indians on the banks of the Oroonoko in Guiana, kindle fires during the night to intimidate the tigers, who never approach as long as the fire burns; Hist. Nat. de l’Orenoque par le Père Joseph Jumilla, tom. 2. p. 3.

+  Nec est, quod aliquis putet à Barbaris tantum expeti carnem horum rapcium animalium:  Illae enim quae rufescentibus et flavescentibus maculis sunt, ab omnibus passim Europeis incolis, instar vitulinae, estimator; Pison. Hist. Nat. p. 103.

3.  The flesh of the Iroquois tigers, even in the estimation of the French, is as good as mutton; Charlevoix, tom.1. p. 272.

4.  Voyage de Desmarchias, tom. 3. p. 299 [back to page 199].

 

*  Mr Colinson’s letter to M. de Buffon, April 30, 1763.   [Note:  I added the quotation bracket that appears in the middle of the paragraph.  In the original texts, long quotes are indicated by a series of single quote marks along the left hand side of the page at the start of each line, with the end marked by a single quote mark.  For some reason the printer here omitted the end quote after “other,” but it seems implied since the next sentence with the “adds Mr Colinson” interjection includes an end quote after “Pensylvania.”  Back to page 201].

* To this description we shall add that given by Mr Pennant which is more accurate, though somewhat different from that communicated by M. de la Borde to M. de Buffon.

"Black tiger, or cat, with the head black, sides, fore part of the legs, and the tail, covered with short and very glossy hairs, of a dusky colour, sometimes spotted with black, but generally plain: Upper lips white: At the corner of the mouth a black spot: Long hairs above each eye, and long whiskers on the upper lip: Lower lip, throat, belly, and the inside of the legs, whitish, or very pale ash-colour: Paws white: Ears pointed: Grows to the size of a heifer of a year old: Has vast strength in its limbs.-- Inhabits Brasil and Guiana: Is a cruel and fierce beast; much dreaded by the Indians; but happily is a scarce species;" Pennant's Synops. of quad. p. 180.

This description was taken from two black cougars which were shown in London some years ago [Smellie's note. Back to page 202].