Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1868-11-27
Selertsd a91tsrflIaup.
THE GYMNAST AND THE JAGULR.

WImNAoI AND 1HE JAHUkR,
NE the gymnsst at a smena0er;e vbic,
was WAS stationed in New York one winter
his name was Jorl-I never knew
whether 1t was his first name or last
anne, Tor never heard him called any
ching but Jorl.
de was full of interesting stories.
hound, had been in nearly all the countries
oot the globe, and had had ady enturers in.
Vulnerable. We fell into conversation
ABOUT the wild beasts in the cages before
us, and he soon began to tell me one OF
his stories.
There was South American tiger in
one OF the cages--or jaguar, as it should
De cslled-and inquired of its habits.
Ihey are terrible creature in their
a aatlYe Iairs, sir" said the gymnast. "a
mercer animal don't go on four legs, l prom.
use you. "A grown-up one never yet was
caught. That one there looks quietly
enough, bat ne is the ugliest beast in the
snow. Flo was caught when he was a
baby, a nd has never been out of a cage
since, ont he's far from tame. He is not
so WI i'd as he might be, I'll allow, but yet
Iaili 6 he is not, nor never will be-
4, There is an African lion over yonder,
lat looks more terrible, with his great
shaggy name and his big body; but if l
had got to be put into the cage Of one or
the other of them, you may be sure I'd 90
in with the gentleman from Africa. amt
very much afraid of him, but the jaguar
an afraid of-mortal He'd make nothing
OF Just chawing my head right off of me /
-" You saw the lion-king go into that
other cage to-day, suppose! Well, you
stkeep coming here till you see the lion
KING go into that iaguar's cage, and the
result will be that you will come every
day for the next six months-and then
yo'i won't see him do it. He never does
II, sir. He don't dare.
And yet, as | said before, that iaguar
JOCKS quiet enough, and he is no more to
oe compared to n live one, roaming about
IN his native wilds, than fighting cock
is to be compared to an American bald
eagle.
81 could tell you pretty story about a
hight once saw between one of them Pan
anna .roosters and bald eagle, but not to-
day But if you don't mind sitting down
here for few minutes, I'll tell you about
the ia guar that chased me once in South
America"
agreed to this proposition, and we sat
down.
"You must know, in the first place."
said the gymnast, that the isguar gener-
ally, is like other wild beasts in this
respect-that he don't prey on human
flesh. He preys on animals and fish, and
only fights man when he is attacked
himself; but then don't he fghtl Whewl
He is just the ugliest creature that ever
licked his jaws.
But though this is true of the iaguar
in general, it is not true of some particu-
lar ones, you see. When one of them has
once met man and fought with him, he
is not the same beast for the rest of his
hfe-he is more ferocious and blood
thirsty. Ii the man escapes, this is true.
But when he don't escape-when he is
killed, and the jaguar eats him up-ah,
that's dreadful misfortune
The gymnast shuddered.
"Of course it is always a misfortune
for human being to be killed, that is un-
derstood; but it is a misfortune in this
case, for this reason-that jaguar becomes
from that day hunter of men. He has
tasted human flesh, and found out that
there is no other so sweet. He watches for
men night and day, and woe to the man
that crosses his track
Well, sir, that was my lot exactly. I
crossed the track of name eater, whose
lame was terror to the whole country.
The hardest hunters would tremble at the
sound of his name-for he was SO cele-
the nickname of the murdererp He had
succeeded in catching and eating eleven
men, up to the time l ran across him, and
so you may understand what monster he
was. He would venture forth nearer to
the edge of the great South American for
est than any other beast of his tribe for
you know the jaguar lives very deep in
the woods, as a rule.
"Well, about that time am speaking
of, got into trouble in San Blanco, and
was obliged to take to the woods for safety
till my companions could join me.
1t was net without very uneomfort-
able feeling under my waistcoat, assure
you, that | struck into the woods; for
had no more deadly weapon than my
knife-no gun, no pistol, nothing that
could even attempt to defend myself with
in case of attack.
There were rumors that the murder
er had been seen within a few days in the
neighborhood; and in fact the provincial
Justice had that very day issued a call
10 the huntsmen OF the district to gather
on the following day and set out in pur-
suit of this terrible man-eater. So. OF
course, my thoughts were full of the
beast
"You must know there is broad desert
between San Blanco and the woods
vast waste WlLnOuJ water OF vegetation
and only here and Ithere a tree But II
would not afford me safe hiding-place,
and so l had to hurry across it as fast
as l could in order to get into the woods.
"I had gone but little distance in the
dark forest, looking about cautiously,
when heard, away of in the distance, a
noise which knew at once was the
iaguaT's roar
"You see my nerves were all of trem-
BILE, owing to the excitement was in, and
this, added to the fact that l was waiting
every minute in fear Of that very sound,
made me hear IL when the beast was
great distance Off
My flesh almost crept as heard that
long, terrible screech-a noise such as no
other animal makes-and enough to set
your teeth on edge, even If it didn't mean
death.
"But it did mean death TO me-and
horrible death, too.
This, and a good deal more, ran
through my head like lightning when
heard that far-off scream. knew he had
snufed my blood and was after me and
l imagined him crashing through the
woods, his tail flying, and his eyes blazing.
on my track. How was to escapeP Al
first thought of going up one of the
great solid trees which were around me