The Voyage Of The Beagle By Charles Darwin





































































 -   I saw three well-known trees; in front, the bark
was worn smooth, as if by the breast of the - Page 207
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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. 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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