the report, the huge animal came
tumbling down from the tree, and fell with a dull, dead plash upon the
water. It was the male.

"Quick, Clara!" cried the Indian. "A stroke of the paddle--quick, or we
shall have the other upon us!"

And, as Costal spoke, he drew his long knife to be ready for defending
himself.

Anxious as the negro was to get out of the way, and making all the haste
in his power, his fears had so unnerved him that his efforts were in
vain. The female jaguar, furious at the death of her mate, and anxious
for the safety of her whelps, stayed only to utter one savage yell; and
then, bounding downward from the branches, she launched herself upon the
student. The hammock, however, oscillating violently to one side,
caused her to let go her hold, and making a second spring, she dropped
down into the canoe. The weight of her body, combined with the impetus
which her anger had given to it, at once capsized the little craft; and
Indian, negro, and jaguar went all together under water!

In a second's time all three reappeared on the surface--Clara
half-frightened out of his senses, and striking out with all the energy
of despair.

Fortunately for the negro, the old pearl-diver could swim like a shark;
and, in the twinkling of an eye, the latter had darted betwixt him and
the jaguar--his knife slung between his clenched teeth.

The two adversaries, now face to face, paused for an instant as if to
measure the distance between them. Their eyes met--those of the
tiger-hunter expressing coolness and resolution, while the orbs of the
jaguar rolled furiously in their sockets.

All at once the hunter was seen to dive; and the jaguar, astonished at
the sudden disappearance of her enemy, paused, and for a moment balanced
herself in the water. Then turning round, she commenced swimming back
towards the tree upon which she had left her young ones.

Before reaching it, however, she was seen to struggle, and sink
partially below the surface--as if some whirlpool was sucking her
underneath; then rising up again, she turned over on her back, and
floated lifeless down the current. A long red gash appeared freshly
opened in her belly; and the water around was fast becoming tinged with
the crimson stream that gushed copiously from the wound.

The Indian, in turn, came to the surface; and, after casting a look
around him, swam towards the canoe--which the current had already
carried to some distance from the tre