Adventures of a Young Naturalist
Sunset surprised us ere we had finished our labor 156
A shrub kept him from falling into the gulf 169
The cataract 174
Fall of Ingenio (from a drawing by the Marquis of
Radepoint) 177
A tiger-cat bounded forward and seized the pheasant 191
The kite avoided the shock, and continued to rise in the
air. 202
It looked like an immense pedestal, surmounted by two bronze
statues 210
Above us, the trees crossed their branches 218
Then Sumichrast slid down the cord to the tree 223
I then ordered the Indian to light the fire 227
The wildest dreams could not picture a stranger style of
architecture 241
Five or six skulls seemed to glare at me through their empty
orbits 245
Crater of Popocatepetl 249
Our two scouts climbed some enormous heaps of rocks 262
The animal continued to retreat before him, and led him to
the mouth of a cave 266
They were at once saluted by a platoon fire 273
I at once recognized the black sugar-cane snake 279
Following in Indian file, we ascended the course of the
stream 287
The rocks came rolling down; dashing together under the
impulse of a liquid avalanche 291
L'Encuerado set to work to plait us hats 295
I used to go iguana hunting with my brothers 301
The moon rose, and rendered the illusion more striking 307
The sand rose rapidly, whirling round and round 314
Everywhere the cactus might be seen assuming twenty
different shapes 318
The water disappeared under a low arch 341
Four children appeared 346
An animal came tumbling down about ten paces from us 358
The sun was just setting 362
L'Encuerado was pressing his arm and uttering cries of
pain 365
The _Terre-Chaude_ was stretched out at my feet 373
And the Indian went away, saluting 379
I threw a stone at the beast 383
There was a whole tribe of monkeys frolicking about 397
I looked in vain for the cougar 403
L'Encuerado turned three somersets 407
It stood up on its hind legs 417
The bank to the right was covered with cranes, and that to
the left with spoonbills 422
The head and bright eyes of a superb jaguar appeared about
fifty paces from us 426
We now came upon some creeping plants 430
The monkey slid down, and fell dead at our feet 435
In front of us opened a glade, bordered by tall palm-trees 442
A band of peccaries were pursuing us 447
The banks of the river were covered with alligators 454
The Indian and his branch descended with a splash into the
river 458
The entire drove dashed at full gallop into the stream 461
The reeds were pushed aside 468
The deer sank down under the weight of a puma 472
While the moon dimly lighted up the landscape. 475
Lucien began to repeat to the parrots the names of Hortense
and Emile 479
We had to cross some muddy marshes 486
Also numerous Woodcuts embodied in, and illustrative of, the text.
INTRODUCTION.
The evening before leaving for one of my periodical excursions, I was
putting in order my guns, my insect-cases, and all my travelling
necessaries, when my eldest son, a lad nine years old, came running to
me in that wheedling manner--using that irresistible diplomacy of
childhood which imposes on fathers and mothers so many troublesome
treaties, and which children so well know how to assume when they desire
to obtain a favor.
"Are you going to make as long a journey as you did last month?" he
asked.
"Longer, I think; for, as we are so soon leaving for Europe, I want to
complete my collection as rapidly as possible. I know you will be a
good boy during my absence, and obedient to your mother. You will think
of me sometimes, will you not?"
"I should much prefer _not_ to think of you," he responded.
"You would rather, then, that I staid at Orizava?"
"Oh no; I should like you to go, and--to go with you."
"What can you be thinking of? Before we were a mile on the road you
would be knocked up, complaining of heat, thirst, fatigue--"
"That's quite a mistake, dear father. I know I should be very useful to
you, if you would only take me. I could pick up wood, light the fire,
and look after the cooking, besides catching butterflies and insects,
both for your collection and mine."
"That's all very well; but the first time you were scratched by a thorn
you would cry."
"Oh father! I promise you I will never cry, except when--I can't help
it."
I could not resist smiling at this answer.
"Then it is a settled thing, and I am to go with you," exclaimed Lucien.
"We must consult your mother, and if she sees no objection, I--"
The child ran off without allowing me to finish my sentence.
While I went on cleaning my guns, I found that I was pleading with
myself in favor of the little would-be traveller. I also remembered that
when I was only seven years old I had travelled long distances on foot
in company with my father, and to this early habit owed much of the
power of accomplishing dangerous and fatiguing journeys, which would
have frightened stronger men. I even persuaded myself that it would be
useful, before leaving Mexico, to impress the memory of my son with a
sight of some of the grand scenes of tropical nature, so that he should
retain correct ideas of the wonderful country in which his infancy had
been spent. I moreover knew that l'Encuerado, the gallant Indian who had
been my servant for so many years, perfectly adored his young master,
and would watch over him just as I should, and thus ward off any
possible mishaps. On the other hand, I risked inspiring my son with that
love of travel and adventure which had contributed materially to my
scientific collection, but very little to my fortune. Nevertheless, what
a wholesome influence is exercised over the mind by an almost unceasing
struggle with the difficulties that beset one's course through an
unknown country. Both the mind and body of my son must surely benefit by
such an excursion, which might be curtailed if desirable. Soon after the
boy returned, accompanied by his mother.
"What is all this about a journey, for which my consent is the only
requisite?" asked my wife.
"Mine is needed too," I answered.
"Why not take him, dear? L'Encuerado has promised me that he will not
lose sight of him for an instant."
"What! do _you_ take his part?"
"He does long so much to go with you," she said.
"Be it so," I replied. "Get your clothes ready, for we must be off the
day after to-morrow at daybreak."
Lucien was almost beside himself with joy. He rushed about the house
from one end to the other; gave the servants much unnecessary trouble;
leggings, boots, and a game-bag, he wanted; also a sword, a knife,
insect-cases--in fact, a whole multitude of requirements. L'Encuerado,
who was almost as rejoiced as the lad, cut him a travelling-staff, as
strong and light as was requisite, and made him other auxiliaries
necessary on such excursions. From this moment forward, Lucien was
constantly running and climbing about all the rooms and the yards round
the house, to accustom himself, as he said, to the fatigue of a long
journey. At dinner-time he would take nothing but bread and water, in
order to prepare his system for the meagre fare of the bivouac. In fact,
I had to quiet him down by recommending more coolness to his excited
little brain.
The eve of our departure arrived, and several friends came to bid me
farewell. My son told them of all the great things he had determined to
achieve--how he would crush the heads of scorpions, and with his sword
cut down trees or kill serpents.
"If I tumble over the rocks," said he, "I shall only laugh at my
bruises; and if we meet with any tigers--"[A]
An extremely warlike attitude terminated this sentence.
Ceasing at length from want of further words, he would very willingly
have reduced to silence, with his sword, those who disapproved of my
project of taking into the forests and savannahs my child of nine years
old, and exposing him to all the unknown dangers of savage life--to
fatigue, rain, and all kinds of maladies! Why, it appeared like tempting
Providence, and risking, for mere amusement, the life, or at least the
health, of my child. The unanimity of these reflections began to shake
my resolution, and I expressed myself to that effect.
"Oh father!" cried Lucien, "are you going to break your word to me?"
"No," I replied; "neither now nor ever. I want you to become a man, so
you shall go. But be off to bed, for you must be ready to start by four
o'clock in the morning."
I had given notice of my intended tour to my friend Francois
Sumichrast, a Swiss _savant_, well known for his discoveries in natural
history, in whose company I had undertaken several journeys. About ten
o'clock at night, I began to fancy my letter of information had
miscarried, when a knock at the door startled me, and I soon recognized
the happy voice of my friend. He had come expressly from Cordova, in
order to make one in our little expedition. I told him all my doubts and
fears about my boy, but he quite took the part of the young traveller;
almost what I might have expected from a companion of Toepffer.
"Come here," he cried to Lucien, who, half-undressed, had just peeped in
at the door.
The boy ran to him, and my friend, whose stature much exceeded the
average, lifted him up and embraced him as an ally.
"At your age," said Sumichrast, "I had made the tour of Switzerland, my
bag on my back, and had tried my teeth on bears'-steaks. I predict that
you will behave like a man. Shall I be wrong?"
"Oh no, M. Sumichrast."
"Can you live without eating and drinking?"
"I will do all you do."
"That's well; now go to bed. If you keep your word, when we return in a
month's time you'll be a prodigy."
Next morning Lucien was up and ready long before day-break, and
complained of our tardiness. He was dressed in a jacket and breeches of
blue cloth, with his Mexican cloak over them; he carried in his belt a
sword ready sharpened, to cut his way through the creeping plants; while
over his shoulder was passed the strap of a game-pouch, containing a
knife, a cup, and a change of under-clothing. The broad-brimmed hat, or
_sombrero_, on his head, gave him a most determined air. I had almost
forgotten the famous travelling-staff which for the last two days had