of the crocodile had been turned to the water,
from which he was not distant over ten feet. He had, in fact, been
carrying his prey towards it when he was interrupted by the attack of
the jaguar; and now at every fresh opportunity he was pushing on, bit by
bit, in that direction. He knew that in his own proper element he would
be more than a match for his spotted assailant, and no doubt he might
have escaped from the contest by surrendering his prey. Had he been a
smaller crocodile he would have been only too glad to have done so; but
trusting to his size and strength, and perhaps not a little to the
justice of his cause, he was determined not to go without taking the
capivara along with him.

The jaguar, on the other hand, was just as determined he should not. He,
too, had some rights. The capivara would not have been killed so easily,
had he not frightened it from behind; besides, the crocodile was out of
his element. He was poaching on the domain of the forest monarch.

Bit by bit, the crocodile was gaining ground--at each fresh pause in the
struggle he was forging forward, pushing the chiguire before him, and of
course causing his antagonist to make ground backwards.

The jaguar at length felt his hind-feet in the water; and this seemed
to act upon him like a shock of electricity. All at once he let go his
hold of the capivara, ran a few feet forward, and then flattening his
body along the ground, prepared himself for a mighty spring. Before a
second had passed, he launched his body high into the air, and descended
upon the back of the crocodile just over his fore-shoulders! He did not
settle there, but ran nimbly down the back of the saurian towards its
hinder part, and its claws could be heard rattling against its scaly
skin.

In a moment more he was seen close-squatted along the crocodile's body,
and with his teeth tearing fiercely at the root of its tail. He knew
that after the eyes this was the most vulnerable part of his antagonist,
and if he had been allowed but a few minutes' time, he would soon have
disabled the crocodile; for to have seriously wounded the root of his
tail, would have been to have destroyed his essential weapon of offence.

The jaguar would have succeeded had the encounter occurred only a dozen
yards farther from the water. But the crocodile was close to the river's
edge, and perceiving the advantage against him, and that there was no
hope of dismounting his adversary, he dropped the c