Adventures of a Young Naturalist
Archimedes when he leaped out of his bath.
Seizing my _machete_, I cut two stakes of a good thickness, which I
drove into the ground close to one another, about three yards from the
precipice. While Sumichrast with a club was consolidating my work, I cut
a stick about a foot long, to the middle of which I firmly tied the
lasso. I then placed it crosswise behind the stakes. I considered that
when we had let ourselves down to the spot occupied by l'Encuerado, a
sharp undulatory shake given to the lasso would be sufficient to
disengage the stick. When our preparations were finished, we let down
the basket to the man who carried it. Then Sumichrast, who was the
heaviest among us, slid down the cord to the tree which grew in so
convenient a position. The stakes scarcely yielded at all to his weight.
Continuing his descent, my friend soon joined the Indian.
Lucien's impatience was extreme; he was enchanted with this aerial
route.
"Now it's your turn," said I, as soon as I had drawn up the lasso.
"Are you going to tie me?" he asked in a disappointed tone.
"How did you suppose you would descend?"
"By holding on to the lasso, like l'Encuerado and M. Sumichrast,"
answered the boy.
"The grasp of your hands is not firm enough; you must not think of it; I
have no wish to risk your neck."
"Oh! dear father! do let me try."
"Certainly not; for if your trial failed, you would not be in a position
to try again."
Not without some slight vexation Lucien was tied to the lasso, while
Gringalet, astonished, barked round us.
"Patience! patience!" I exclaimed to the dog; "it will be your turn
next, and then, perhaps, you will not seem so pleased."
I let the lasso slowly down, and the boy was soon safely lodged among
the branches of the tree. With care equal to mine, and with still firmer
knots, l'Encuerado tied the cord afresh. Then, leaning over the
precipice, I heard Sumichrast's voice ordering the Indian to let the
improvised cable slowly down. Seeing that the port was safely reached,
and relieved of a great care, I began tying Gringalet, who hadn't left
off howling since his young master disappeared. In spite of his terror,
I launched the dog into the air; he struggled, howled, and nearly evaded
l'Encuerado's friendly grasp; the latter, as he again let him down,
tried to explain the inutility of his struggles, and the danger of
breaking loose. At length, having for the last time examined the stakes
and the cross-piece, I also descended. I then shook the lasso, and at
once succeeded in disengaging it.
I saw below me Sumichrast and Lucien, seated on a narrow projection,
which led by a rocky declivity down to the foot of the mountain. Soon I
joined them, followed by the Indian. We had fixed the cross-bar between
two stout branches, and for a long time, without loosening the stick, I
shook the cord. At last, tired out, and about to leave it, the piece of
wood suddenly gave way, and nearly fell on me.
Walking now became very laborious, and it was occasionally difficult to
preserve our balance in passing over rocks, sometimes smooth, at others
very uneven. Our path lay between perfect hedges of orchids, of which
beautiful race Mexico possesses hundreds of species; we stopped at
nearly every step to admire some of these curiously shaped, brilliantly
colored, but often scentless flowers. L'Encuerado pointed out many
plants of the lynx flower, called by the Indians the _serpent-flower_,
the fine petals of which are dotted with yellow spots, and marbled with
pink, violet, and white. Farther on, another flower, the tiger-lily,
reminded us, by its color, of the animal from which it takes its name.
Plucking as he went along, Lucien became possessor of such a bouquet as
the richest gardens could not furnish. Of course he wanted to know the
names of all, but he was obliged to be content with learning that, with
the exception of the vanilla-plant, the brilliant legion of orchids
furnishes nothing utilized in the arts or industrial skill.
We had just reached the foot of the mountain, when an immense mass of
stones obliged us to turn aside. I took the lead, and an involuntary
slip brought me unexpectedly to a cave. My companions came running up in
answer to my call; I took three or four steps into the entrance, and
immediately made up my mind, from its thorough adaptability, to shelter
there for the night. While I, helped by Lucien, was collecting some
wood, l'Encuerado cleared the ground, and Sumichrast cut down two or
three shrubs which impeded the view. I then ordered the Indian to light
the fire, which would assist us to reconnoitre the entrance to the
cavern; which being done, it was necessary for us to go in search of
game for our dinner.
Looking from the plain, I could well judge of the feat we had
accomplished in our descent. Up to the level of the cave there were
shrubs and brush-wood. Higher up, orchids, with their bright flowers and
opal-green leaves; higher still rose a perpendicular and almost smooth
rampart, utterly impassable except through the fissure which had
afforded us egress. Sumichrast guided us through the thicket, where the
frangipanni-plants, covered with their sweet-scented flowers,
predominated, announcing our approach into the _Terre-Chaude_, and of a
completely altered nature of vegetation. Soon an immense mahogany-tree
(_Swietenia mahogoni_), with its thick boughs and dark-green foliage,
rose before us; a little farther on a fallen ceiba had crushed four or
five shrubs. The ceiba (_Eriodendron anfractuosum_) called _Pochotl_ by
the Indians, is one of the largest trees known; its fruit, of a pod-like
shape, contains a silky down, which possesses a singular property of
swelling in the sun. I was pointing out this peculiarity to Lucien, when
a formidable buzzing noise met our ears; a whole flock of Hercules
beetles had flown out of a bush and struck heavily against the branches
of a tree. Lucien caught one and wanted to hold it down on the ground,
but the insect got away from him and continued its flight.
"Oh!" cried the boy, "this beetle is stronger than I am!"
"It is not for nothing that it bears the name of _Hercules_," replied
Sumichrast, smiling; "as you have just found out, it is as remarkable
for its strength as for its size. It is a native of Brazil, and is only
occasionally found in Mexico."
"Do they always travel in flocks like this?"
"No; the occurrence is so rare that I shall make a note of it."
"I smell something like snuff," said Lucien, sneezing.
"It proceeds from the beetles," said Sumichrast.
And so powerful was this odor, that it caused Lucien several times to
sneeze. This was another fact to note down.
"Papa, do look at them hanging one on to another, and forming something
like an immense bunch of grapes. Do they bite with those powerful jaws?"
"They are horns which you mistake for jaws; but their arrangement quite
excuses your error. Look; the upper part of their body is black and
polished, and their wing-sheaths are a greenish gray, irregularly dotted
with dark spots."
"Here is one which has no horns."
"It is a female."
We were examining with some curiosity all the ways of the insect colony,
which was scarcely disturbed by our presence, when Gringalet, who had
also taken to sneezing, suddenly set up the most plaintive howl.
L'Encuerado had placed on the dog's back three or four beetles, which
had buried their claws in his skin. The Indian, surprised at the result
of his experiment, hurried to relieve the poor animal, which was rolling
on the ground; at last he succeeded in getting hold of him, but he had
much difficulty in freeing him from his vindictive assailants. One
beetle, indeed, seized hold of the hand of the mischievous wag, whose
grimaces much amused us; as fast as he disengaged one of the insect's
claws, the creature--which possessed six--soon found a chance to cling
on with others. Annoyed at having to strive with such a paltry enemy,
l'Encuerado at last tore the beetle roughly away, but the blood flowed
from his bronze-colored skin. Always too ready for revenge, he
threatened to exterminate the whole colony of beetles; but, smiling at
his ill-humor, I forbade his perpetrating such a useless massacre.
"They are nice gentlemen!" he cried; "because they had just heard
themselves called _Hercules_, they think they are strong enough to bite
the hands of every person they meet! Stupid fools, with noses longer
than their bodies, who fly away when Gringalet barks at them! Bite them!
Bite them!" cried he, setting the dog at them.
But the latter, with his ears drooped and his tail between his legs,
refused to obey, and, from this day forward I remarked that the least
buzzing from any insect was sufficient to render him uneasy.
Sumichrast, who had caught one of these large beetles, placed a stone
upon it which any one would have thought sufficient to have crushed it;
but, to Lucien's great admiration, the six-legged Hercules walked off
with its burden, almost without an effort. Ere long the beetles one by
one resumed their flight, and came buzzing around us, so it became
really necessary to beat a retreat, lest we should have our eyes put out
by their immense horns; Gringalet followed our example. Lucien sat down
so as to laugh at his ease, for l'Encuerado, instead of running away,
drew his bill-hook, assuming a threatening attitude to his enemies, and,
like one of Homer's heroes, defied them to come near him. At last the
whole band of beetles united and suspended themselves to the branch of a
ceiba, a tree for which the Hercules beetle shows a marked preference.
But we had in the mean time quite forgotten our dinners, so we set off
hunting in various directions. I skirted the edge of the forests,
accompanied by Sumichrast and Lucien. We had walked for an hour without
finding any thing, when four partridges, with ash-colored breasts, tawny
wings, and tufted heads, rose about fifty paces from us, and settled
down a little farther on. Having arrived within easy gunshot, I told my
son to fire when I did, and two of them (which _savants_ call the Sonini
partridge) fell dead on the ground. These pretty birds are rarely met
with in Mexico, at least in the part where we were.
I now returned towards the bivouac, taking a path through the forest.
"Oh papa, here's a great sponge!" cried Lucien, suddenly.
On our right there was a shapeless, porous, yellowish mass, rising three
or four feet above the ground. I saw at once that it was the nest of a
termite, or ant, which the Mexicans call _comejen_.
"It is a nest of white ants," I said to my son; "they are insects of the
neuropteral order, and allied to the _libellula_."
"But where are they?"
"You will soon see," I answered.
So, kicking the spongy mass, immediately out came a multitude of
insects, which swarmed about in every direction, as if to ascertain the
cause of the disturbance. Lucien wanted to examine them closer.
"Take care," I called out to him; "the termites you see are nothing but
the inoffensive workers; the soldier ants will soon make their
appearance, and if they bite you they will certainly draw blood."
Lucien looked at me, thinking I was joking.
"I am speaking quite seriously," I hastened to add; "termites, like bees
and ants, the latter of which they much resemble at first sight, live in
communities, and build nests which are often larger than the one you are
looking at. This nest, skillfully divided into cells, contains a king, a
queen, workmen, and soldiers. The workmen are the clever architects,
whose duty it is to build, maintain, and, in case of need, increase the