Adventures of a Young Naturalist
application of water that they soon came and sat beside us. I can not
describe the proud enjoyment we all felt in this wild spot. We were face
to face with this unknown cascade, which we were, perhaps, the first
Europeans to contemplate. Behind us the mountain sides seemed to unite
and hem in the bed of the torrent. The sun bathed with its rays that
portion which was bordered with large trees, among which kingfishers
were skimming about. One of these birds came and perched close to
us--its breast was white, its wings black on the upper side, and its
head-feathers dark green; its stout, thick-set shape, and its short
tail, made Lucien remark that it looked like a malformed creature.
Always restless, it almost immediately resumed its abrupt flight over
the surface of the water, and disappeared among the windings of the
ravine.
Lucien pointed out to me an immense willow, the branches of which,
drooping over the water, seemed to have at their ends enormous
gourd-shaped fruits. I recognized in them the nests of those beautiful
yellow birds, spotted with black, which the Mexicans call _calandres_.
To convince Lucien of his mistake, l'Encuerado threw a large stone into
the tree; the missile fell from branch to branch, and more than a
hundred frightened birds flew out from their curious retreats. At first
they appeared much alarmed; but when this had subsided, they skimmed
over the water, or entered their impregnable habitations.
We made our way down the ravine in hopes of finding a resting-place less
rugged, and after a long, winding, tedious course, came upon a sheet of
calm water, flowing over a bed of sand. The sun was shining full open
upon its transparent surface, and, close to the edge, hundreds of flies
were whirling about.
"Those are coleopterae," said Sumichrast to Lucien.
"Why do they turn round and round like that?" inquired he.
"To find their food, for they are carnivorous, and require a great deal
of nourishment. In France they are commonly called _tourniquets_, or
_water-fleas_."
Lucien wanted to catch one, but could not succeed; l'Encuerado and
Sumichrast joined in the pursuit. At first I amused myself with watching
the useless efforts of my companions; but at last, thinking myself
cleverer than they, I squatted down also. There we all four were, with
our hands in the water, perfectly motionless, and holding our breath,
the better to remain motionless. The insects were all in a close mass,
and whirling round like a living mosaic, moving in every direction
without separating; but however quickly we raised our hands, we all
failed in our efforts.
An hour was spent in this way, and even then we should not have given up
the chase if the sun had not ceased to shine on the bank, and the
insects had therefore moved beyond our reach, so as to be within its
influence. Lucien, vexed at their going away, and l'Encuerado, furious
at having been conquered by the agile creatures, commenced throwing
stones at them with the hope of wounding one. Even in this they did not
succeed, so l'Encuerado satisfied himself by calling them fools, a name
which, in his opinion, constituted a gross insult.
About twenty tadpoles, swimming in a puddle of water, were taken by
Lucien for fish.
"They are frogs," I said to him.
"Where are their feet, then?"
"Under the brown skin, which makes them look like fish; when the time
of their metamorphosis arrives, this skin will split all down their
back, and a little frog will come out of it. Look at this tadpole I have
just caught; you can see the feet through its transparent skin. To-day
it is a fish, that is to say, it breathes through gills--those little
tufts you see on each side of its head--and perhaps to-morrow it will
undergo that metamorphosis which will cause it to breathe through its
mouth. The Toltecs, the great nation which preceded the Aztecs in
Mexico, counted the frog among their gods."
When putting the tadpole back into the pool, I noticed some whitish
insects, which were incessantly rising in jerks to the surface of the
water, and diving down again directly. Lucien, astonished at their
movements, cried out--
"But, papa, they are walking on their backs!"
"You are quite right; they are hydrocorises, allied to the tettigones,
and consequently _hemipterae_."
The young naturalist was more successful than in his gyrin-hunting, and
succeeded in catching two or three of these water-bugs.
"What is the use of their wings?" he inquired.
"Why, to fly with, and to move from place to place."
"Then water-bugs are really able to fly, swim, and walk?"
"Yes; and I'm sure they can see in the dark, too," said l'Encuerado,
who, it may be remembered, envied animals this privilege.
"We are certainly justified in thinking so," I answered, smiling, "for
they nearly always choose the night for travelling. Take care they don't
bite you, for the water-bug bites as hard as its kinsmen of the woods
and houses."
A little farther on, Lucien stopped in front of an herbaceous plant,
covered from top to bottom with round, flat black insects, speckled with
red, and almost resembling mosaic-work. He was very proud of his
beautiful discovery, and took hold of two or three of the insects; but
feeling their soft bodies give way in his fingers, he threw them down
with disgust.
"Oh! what are these horrid creatures?"
"They are wood-bugs," replied Sumichrast; "only they are in the state of
_larvae_, and have no wings."
"What has caused this nasty smell on my fingers?"
"When any one touches these insects, a very strong-smelling yellowish
liquid always exudes from them."
Lucien ran off to wash his hands. He rubbed them over and over again,
but could not quite get rid of the smell, which seemed to annoy him very
much. I concluded from this that in future he would not have many
wood-bugs in his collection.
After a long ramble at the bottom of the ravine, we had to return to our
starting-point, which was the only side by which we could obtain an
exit. We found the cataract perfectly bathed in light. The large upper
sheet of water looked like a block of azure-stone, while the spray
beneath glittered as if covered with diamonds. Above our heads a rainbow
spanned the stream from bank to bank.
I at last succeeded in tearing my companions away from this wondrous
scene. We had met with no game, but a great part of our fawn was yet
remaining in the basket. Sumichrast was still in pain, and l'Encuerado's
face continued much inflamed. We now had to ascend, and we each adopted
the greatest precaution while passing the spot where we had seen the
serpents. I don't know how we should ever have got up if l'Encuerado had
not thought of cutting some branches of dwarf elder for walking-sticks.
Above every thing, I wished to keep Lucien from the suffering caused by
coming in contact with the _Mala-mujer_, as the Mexicans call it, and it
was with a sigh of relief that I saw him safe and sound out of this
_cul-de-sac_.
CHAPTER XII.
A RELATION OF GRINGALET.--OUR FOUR-FOOTED GUIDE.--A REVIEW OF OUR
PARTY.--THE ALLIGATOR-TORTOISE.--THE PHEASANTS.--THE MAGNOLIA.--THE
NUTMEG-TREE.--THE BLUE-PLANT.--THE CATERPILLAR.
As the sun was setting, our wisest course was to go back to our bivouac
of the evening before, and to postpone until the next day the discovery
of the passage we had sought in vain. Upon the whole, the sight of the
cataract had amply repaid us for our useless walk.
Our little party, therefore, once more plunged into the forest, rather
at random, though taking care not to go too far from the stream. Two or
three times we seemed to have reached the spot where we left the bank;
but we soon got into the most inextricable thickets. As the time wore
on, I began to think we had passed the place; and, as is often the case
in similar circumstances, opinions were divided. A fox, which appeared
within gunshot, interrupted our discussion. I fired, and the animal
fell. It was a magnificent specimen, and exactly like its European
confrere. By a singular chance, at the very moment it was expiring, a
crow just above our heads uttered a loud croaking.
"There! the crow is thanking us for having rid him of his enemy, the
fox," said Sumichrast to Lucien.
The boy laughed heartily at this joke. In spite of our advice,
l'Encuerado would insist upon skinning the animal, whose pelt he wished
to preserve. Fortunately, he was very quick at such an operation, and
the beautiful fur was soon hanging over his arm, ready to be stretched
outside his basket to dry.
"I hope," said Sumichrast to Lucien, "that you have already recognized
the fox's relationship."
"Oh yes! in its color and shape it is like the _cayotte_."
"You are quite right, but the _cayotte_ and the fox are both Gringalet's
cousins."
"I can scarcely believe that, for Gringalet has short hair, is spotted
with black and white, has gray eyes--"
"Those are only secondary characteristics," interrupted Sumichrast.
"Gringalet belongs to the carnivorous type, called by naturalists
_Digitigrades_."
"Is Gringalet a digitigrade?" asked Lucien, smiling.
"Yes, certainly; that is to say, he walks on his toes, and not on the
sole of his feet, exactly like the fox, whose teeth, also, are perfectly
similar to those of Gringalet. The principal difference between them is,
that the fox has eyes which are formed so as to enable it to see in the
dark, a quality which Gringalet does not possess in the same degree."
"Are there such things as wild dogs?"
"Yes, although the point has been much disputed. But the dog, the
faithful companion of man, has been so long domesticated, that little
similarity of appearance exists between them. However, the _cayotte_,
the fox, and the wolf may be called wild dogs."
We had once more got into the midst of a thicket without discovering the
least trace of our resting-place. It became important that we should
soon find our starting-point. I noticed that Gringalet, instead of
gambolling round us as he generally did, remained behind, pricking up
his ears, and appearing excessively knowing.
"What do you think, shall we take Gringalet for our guide?" said I.
As soon as the animal heard his name mentioned, he rushed towards me,
and I patted him.
"Come, tell your dog to lead us to the bivouac," I said to Lucien.
"To the bivouac! to the bivouac!" cried the boy, patting the animal.
Gringalet really seemed to understand, for he sniffed up the air, and at
once went to the front. I soon discovered that he was taking us back by
a very circuitous path.
"To the bivouac! to the bivouac!"
Gradually the noise of the torrent became more distinct, and our guide
plunged into the brush-wood. While we were cutting down the branches
that stopped up our path, Gringalet waited with his ears pricked up and
one foot uplifted. At last we caught sight of the hut, which was greeted
with such pleasure and relief as only known by fatigued travellers.
It was not without emotion that I again beheld this spot, to which I
had, as I thought, said good-bye forever. The scarcely extinguished
embers, and the shelter which we had raised, had quite a home-like
appearance. Sumichrast said he felt the same impression, and Lucien
declared that his first idea had been that we should find an Indian in
the hut.
But what about Gringalet? Had he then really understood us? Those who
have made a trial of canine intelligence will not doubt the fact for a
moment. The word _bivouac_, having been so often pronounced since we set
out, must have struck both the mind and the ears of the animal, so as to
have become almost synonymous in his ideas with dinner and rest.