:::::::::C TWO BIRD- LOVERS IN MEXICO ^^:::::::: 



At the end of the glade a cold spring trickled from 

 an orchid-padded wall, and not thirty feet away, a flow 

 of tepid water, rich in minerals, had worn a little clear 

 path for itself, some property of its composition being 

 inimical to vegetable growth. Just beyond the two 

 springs, a deep pool of the crystal water nestled at the 

 foot of a gigantic wild fig, whose branches reached 

 out a hundred feet in all directions. 



The stream flowed on in a most erratic course, twist- 

 ing and winding until, in following it, one lost all idea 

 of the points of the compass. Its banks occasionally 

 widened out into lawn-like stretches, or dense ferns 

 and reeds restricted its course to a deep narrow chan- 

 nel. A short distance away from the stream, the effects 

 of the long rainless season were very evident in the 

 lack of green verdure and the intrusion of thorny 

 acacias and l>ulpy cacti. 



We were about twenty miles from the Pacific Ocean, 

 over four degrees south of the Tropic of Cancer, and 

 but a few hundred feet above sea-level. Our camp was 

 at the very base of a steep clitt", while to the west the 

 jungle thinned out to low, open bush. To the south 

 and southwest Avound the stream, while the north 

 framed the ever more wonderful volcano. Amid such 

 surroundings we began our camp-life in the tropics. 



NOCTURNAL VISITORS 



The nights were full of hiterest and almost every 

 "c4 270 ^ 



