Adventures of a Young Naturalist
wetted, can be plunged into melting iron without burning it.[J] Thus an
idea has arisen that these batrachians can exist in the midst of flames.
Although these poor animals are deaf, nearly blind, and remarkable for
their timidity, poets, much to the amusement of naturalists, have chosen
the salamander as an emblem of valor."
Assisted by Sumichrast, I continued the examination of the immense tree,
which, being half rotted by the dampness of the soil, supplied us with
some very beautiful specimens of various insects.
Suddenly we heard Lucien speaking in supplicating tones; I ran towards
him, and found him trying to prevent l'Encuerado, who had got possession
of the salamander, from making a trial of its powers of resisting fire.
"All right, Chanito; I will not leave it long on the coals; your papa
said that these animals do not mind it a bit."
Lucien would not consent to this cruel experiment, but carried the
animal back to the tree on which we had found it.
The day was drawing to a close when we returned to the fire; from the
stew-pan an appetizing odor was escaping, in which one of the
couroucous, with a handful of rice, was boiling, while the other bird
was roasting in front. It was really a capital dinner; first we had some
excellent soup, of which Lucien had two platefuls; then came what was
left of our squirrel, and last of all the roasted couroucou, which
l'Encuerado served up on a bed of water-cresses. We had an unlimited
supply of water; and, although my readers may smile at what I say, I
really believe we drank too much. A cup of coffee crowned our feast, and
then the remains were left to Gringalet, who licked every thing clean,
even to the very saucepan. Lucien, having finished his meal, lay down by
my side, and was not long before he was fast asleep.
A dismal howling from our four-footed companion woke us up with a start.
We seized our arms. The dog, with his ears laid back, his tail between
his legs, turned his nose to the wind with an anxious glance, and set up
a fresh howl, which was answered by the shrill prolonged cries of the
coyotas, or jackal of Mexico.
"So these miserable brutes think they are going to frighten us?" cried
l'Encuerado.
And while we were making up the fire, the Indian rushed off into the
darkness.
"Are they wolves, M. Sumichrast?" asked Lucien, anxiously.
"Yes, my boy, but only prairie wolves," he answered.
"Do you think that they will first devour l'Encuerado, and then attack
us?"
"You needn't be frightened; courage is not one of their virtues. Unless
they were starving, they wouldn't venture near us."
All at once we heard a shot. The whole forest seemed in movement; the
cries of the birds resounded through the trees, and the echoes repeated
the noise of the report. Gringalet barked loudly, and was again answered
by the harsh cry of the coyotas. At length the silence, which for a
short time had been disturbed, was once more restored, and the forest
resumed its solemn stillness.
FOOTNOTES:
[H] The small tapering leaves of the pine are thus called.
[I] Elytra is derived from a Greek word, [Greek: elytrou], a sheath.
[J] Thanks to the spheroidal condition of water, discovered by M.
Boutigny (of Evreux).
CHAPTER VII.
THE CATS'-EYES POMADE.--ARMADILLO.--LUCIEN AND THE
CRUEL FERN.-THE FALLEN MOUNTAIN.--THE
WOODPECKER.--THE BASILISK.--L'ENCUERADO'S FRESH
IDEA.
Gringalet, who had been the first to give the alarm, was also the first
to go to sleep again. I could not help waiting with some degree of
anxiety for l'Encuerado's return. In a quarter of an hour, as the Indian
did not arrive, I began to think that, confused by the darkness, he had
missed finding our bivouac. After having called him two or three times,
without receiving any answer, I was just going to fire off my gun, so
that the noise of the report might serve as a guide to him, when I heard
the sound of his guttural cry.
"What on earth has possessed you to chase useless game at this hour of
the night?" I cried, as he came into sight.
"I felt bound to give these screeching animals a lesson, senor; if I
hadn't done so, they would have come back to disturb us every night,"
answered the Indian, gravely.
"Have you killed any of them?"
"I only managed to wound one. I followed it--"
"At the risk of falling into some pit. You can't see at night--at least,
as far as I know."
"Not very well; but that is all your fault," replied l'Encuerado, in a
reproachful tone.
"What! my fault?"
"The _brujos_ (sorcerers) have many a time offered me an ointment made
of cats' eyes and fat; but they wanted too much for it. You knew much
more about it than the sorcerers; and if you would only have told me the
way to make the ointment, and how to use it, I should have been able to
see at night, long enough ago, which would be quite as useful to you as
to me."
This was an old story, and all that I could have said to the Indian
would not have convinced him that I could not make him see in the dark.
It was broad daylight when Sumichrast awoke us. The brook, which we
could cross at a leap, sometimes rippled over pebbles, and sometimes
glided silently over a sandy bottom. The plants which grew on its two
banks fraternally intertwined their green branches, and their flowers
seemed to exchange their perfumes. From the boughs of the large trees
hung gray mosses, which made them look like gigantic old men; the sun
gilded their black trunks with its rising beams, and from the tops of
the trees the sweet chant of birds rose up towards heaven. Our eyes,
which had become accustomed to the comparatively barren places we had
traversed the day before, dwelt with delight upon this lovely and
glorious scene; our hearts rejoiced in the midst of this calm and
luxuriant aspect of nature. It was with feelings of regret we got ready
to move on again.
"Suppose we weren't to go till the afternoon," said Sumichrast.
"Suppose we don't go till to-morrow," I answered.
These ideas seemed so thoroughly to respond to the wish of all, that, in
a moment, our travelling gear was scattered again on the ground. The
first thing we did was to take a bath; then the thought struck us that
we had better wash our clothes. Lucien, helped by l'Encuerado, who had
nothing to wash for himself, as he wore his leather garment next to his
skin, laughed heartily at seeing us turned into washerwomen; still he
did not do his part of the work at all badly. He then undertook to wash
Gringalet, whose white coat, spotted with black, was sadly in want of
cleansing. Unfortunately, the dog was hardly out of the water when he
began rolling himself in the dust, and, as dirty as ever, came frisking
around his disappointed little master.
We were roaming about in every direction, in the hope of collecting some
insects, when Gringalet pricked up his ears and showed his teeth. The
rustling of dry leaves attracted our attention to a slope opposite to
us, on which an armadillo was seen.
Generally speaking, these animals only go out for food in the night.
This one, which we saw in broad daylight, was about the size of a large
rabbit. Pricking up its ears, it raised its tapering muzzle so as to
snuff closer to the branches. Its head, which was very small, gave it a
very grotesque appearance. Suddenly it began scratching up the earth
with its front paws, furnished with formidable claws, and now and then
poked its pointed nose into the hole it had dug. I had crossed the
stream, and was advancing cautiously towards the animal, when I saw it
leave off its work, and, bending down its head uneasily, as quick as
lightning it rolled itself up into a ball and glided down the slope.
Just at my feet it stopped, and I only had to stoop down in order to
pick it up. Gringalet, who then appeared at the top of the slope, was
evidently the cause of its sudden flight.
I rejoined my companions, carrying my prisoner, who tried neither to
defend itself nor to escape. Lucien examined with curiosity the scales
which crossed the back of the armadillo, and its pink transparent skin.
I told him that this inoffensive animal, which feeds on insects and
roots, belonged to the order Edentata--mammals in which the system of
teeth is incomplete.
"But," said he, "I have seen pictures in which armadillos are
represented with armor formed of small squares."
"That is another species, which also lives in Mexico," replied
Sumichrast.
When we talked about killing the animal, Lucien opposed the idea with
great vehemence. He wanted either to carry it away alive or to let it
go--both being plans which could not be allowed. Gringalet, however, cut
short the discussion by strangling it, l'Encuerado's carelessness having
left it in his way. The boy, both angry and distressed, was astonished
at the cruelty of his dog, and was going to beat him.
"He has only yielded to instinct," said Sumichrast.
"A fine instinct, truly," replied Lucien, in tears, "to kill a poor
beast that never did him any harm!"
"He has saved us the trouble of killing it. Men, and all carnivorous
animals, can not live except on the condition of sacrificing other
creatures. Didn't you shoot a squirrel yesterday? And you did not refuse
your share of those beautiful birds, the plumage of which so delighted
you."
"Yes, but I did not strangle the squirrel with my teeth. It's a very
different thing."
"For you, very probably; but it was much the same to the squirrel.
However, if there's another chance, you shall lend your gun to
Gringalet."
Lucien smiled through his tears, and his indignation gradually calmed
down. Certainly the result is the same, whether you wring a fowl's neck
or shoot it; yet I could never make up my mind to the former operation.
Lucien, who was endowed with almost feminine sensibility, was often
angry with l'Encuerado, who could scarcely resist the temptation of
firing at any thing alive, useful or not, which came within reach of his
gun. We had spoken often enough to the Indian on the subject, but he
always asserted that if God had allowed man to kill for the purpose of
food, He had also ordered him to destroy hurtful animals, as they were
the allies of the demon. Unfortunately, horses and dogs excepted, all
animals were hurtful in l'Encuerado's eyes.
Gun on shoulder, we made our way up the bed of the stream, often being
obliged to cut our path through a thicket of plants. I noticed a fine
tree-fern, the leaves of which, not yet developed, assumed the shape of
a bishop's crosier. Lucien remarked this.
"You are right," said I, "it is very curious. Do you know Jussieu
divided all vegetables into three great orders--_Acotyledons_,
_Monocotyledons_, and _Dicotyledons_. Ferns belong to the first;[K] they
have no visible flowers, and are allied to the sea-weed and mushroom
tribe. It is only under the tropics that ferns attain the dimensions of
the one you are looking at; in colder regions their height seldom
exceeds a few feet. Ferns formed almost the sole vegetation of the
primitive world, and we frequently find evidence of some gigantic
species which are now extinct."
Lucien, being desirous to examine the crosier-shaped stalks, allowed us
to get in front of him, then crept under the fern.
As the leaves of this shrub are furnished underneath with long prickles,
when he wanted to rejoin us he found himself caught. The more he
struggled the worse he became entangled. He cried out to me in a most
distressed voice, and not knowing what had happened, I lost no time in
going back to him. I found him fighting hard against the thorns which
were scratching his face and hands. L'Encuerado and Sumichrast also came