ent that the Indian had beaten
off his assailant, for the tracks of both led still further into the
forest. At length they reached the scene of the last desperate
struggle. On the ground lay the man's knife, which he had lashed to the
end of a stick; but it had been loosened and turned aside against the
tough hide of the animal. From the marks on a tree it was evident that
the poor fellow, in dire extremity, at the approach of night, had been
trying to climb it, but ere he had ascended ten feet the jaguar had
sprung after him, and pulling him down, had torn him to pieces. The
remains, terribly mangled and half-devoured, lay near. One of the
Caribs who had found the body described the sickness which came over him
at the sight, and remarked that he had never since felt secure when
traversing the forest with only his knife and bow and arrows. On the
banks of the Pomaroon lived a Carib family, with a number of small
children. The young ones had gone into the water to bathe, when they
were startled by the cry of the smallest of their party--a little boy--
whom they had left seated at the water's edge. On looking round they
beheld a huge jaguar which had been attracted by their noises of
splashing, and which, having come behind the poor child, was standing
with one paw on his shoulder. The elder children, screaming for help,
attempted bravely to drive away the savage beast, but their efforts only
resulted in it seizing the poor little fellow's head with its powerful
jaws. It was a moment of agony. Their father was absent, but another
Carib who was near rushed to the spot, followed by the child's mother
and some other females. The beast, startled at this sudden increase in
the number of its assailants, dropped its victim, whom the man
immediately took up and gave to the mother. But assistance had come too
late. The child gave his last struggle as his mother received him in
her arms. When night set in, the disappointed beast came back to claim
his prey, roaring and yelling through the hours of darkness around the
open shed which formed their dwelling. Females alone were present, as
the man had gone off to call the child's father; and they had great
difficulty, with firebrands and shouting, in keeping the brute off till
help arrived.

Some time after this, another man, of considerable personal strength and
cool courage, was one day in his field, with a little dog playing by his
side, when he saw a jaguar at a dis