Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1914-08-16
#sTHpOUGH THE BRAZILIAN W2%ZIkDERNESSM

only two dogs we could trust were the two
borrowed jaguar hounds With my jaguar
the white bitch had been our Standby this
was the black dogs day
About 10 in the morning we came to
long deep, winding bayou. On the oppo-
site bank stood capybara looking like
blunt-nosed pig, its wet hide shining black
I killed it, and it slid into the water Then
found that the bayou extended for mile or
two in each direction, and the two hunter
guides said they did not wish to swim across
for fear of the piranhas. Just at this mo-
ment we came across fresh jaguar tracks.
1t was hot, we had been travelling for FIVE
hours, and the dogs were much exhausted.
The black hound in particular was nearly
done up. We had to throw water over him;
then, as he snuffed the scent he challenged
loudly.
Evidently the big cat was not far distant.
Soon we found where it had swum across
the bayou. Piranhas or no piranhas, we
now intended to get across; and we tried to
force our horses in at what seemed likely
spot. The matted growth Of water plants,
with their leathery, slippery stems, formed
an unpleasant barrier, as the water was
swimmingdeep FOR the horses. The latter
were very unwilling to attempt the passage.
Kermit finally forced his horse through
the tangled mass swimming, plunging, and
struggling. He left lane of clear water,
through which we swan after him. The
dogs splashed and swan behind us. On the
other bank they struck the fresh trail and
followed it at a run. 1t led into long belt
of timber, chiefly composed of low-growing
nacury palms, with long, dropping, many
fronded branches In silhouette they sug
gest coarse banboos the nuts hang in big
clusters and look like punches of small, I'M
ripe bananas. Among the lower palms were
scattered some big, ordinary trees We
cantered along outside the timber belt, lis
tening to the dogs within; and in moment
burst of yelling clamor from the pack told
that the jaguar was afoot
These few minutes are the really exciting
moments in the chase, with hounds, of any
big cat that will tree. The furious baying
of the pack the shouts and cheers of en-
enlargement from the galloping horsemen,
the wilderness surroundings the knowledge
of what the quarry is-all combine to make
the moment one of fierce and thrilling ex-
element Besides, in this case there was
the possibility the jaguar might come to bay
on the ground, in which event there would
be slight element of risk as it might need
straight shooting to stop charge.
However, about as soon as the long
drawn bowling and eager yelping showed
that the jaguar had been overtaken, we saw
him, huge male, up in the branches of
great fig tree A bullet behind the shoulder,
from Kermit's 4O5 Winchester, brought him
dead to the ground He was heavier than
the very big male horse-killing cougar / shot
in Colorado, whose skull Hart Merriam re-
ported as the biggest he had ever seen; he
was very nearly double the weight of any of
the male African leopards we shot; he was
nearly or quite the weight of the smallest of
the adult lionesses we shot while in Africa.
He had the big bones, the stout frame, and
the heavy muscular build Of a small lion; he
was not 1.-the and slender and long like a
cougar or leopard; the TAIL as with all Jag
uars, was short, while the girth of the body
was great his coat was beautiful, with a
satny gloss, and the dark-brown spots on
the gold Of his back head and sides, were
hardly as conspicuous as the black of the
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