OF FULGOUA CANDELARIA, 51 



Lampyris, Elater. A writer, in a recent number of Black- 

 wood's Magazine, who has evidently seen what he describes, 

 alludes pointedly to the Elater. He says, — " I could not but 

 admire the thousands and tens of thousands of fire-flies that 

 spangled the gulf below, a tiny galaxy ; they did not twinkle 

 promiscuously, but seemed to emit their small green light by 

 signals, beginning at the head of the ravine, and glaring all the 

 way down in a wavy, continuous, lambent flash, every fly, as it 

 were, taking the time from its neighbour a-head ; then for a 

 moment all would be dark, until the stream of sparkles flowed 

 down once more from the head of the valley, and again dis- 

 appeared astern of us." A few lines lower down, in the same 

 passage, we have, " See that brilliant one creeping up the 

 handle of my whip ; it comes along with its two tiny burners, 

 like the lights in a carriage, meeting you." This was in 

 Jamaica, and reminds me that old Mouffet tells a capital story 

 about Jamaica fire-flies; and these, I have proof positive, are 

 Elaterites. When Sir Somebody Something, and Sir Something 

 Somebody, first landed on that island, they saw, at night, a 

 great army of Spaniards issue from a wood with torches, and 

 in their hurry to get back to their ships, they ran neck over 

 heels into the sea. The great army of Spaniards turned out 

 to be fire-flies ! 



There is a story better still in Solis's Historia de la Con- 

 quista de Mexico : in fact, the fire-fly decided the fate of 

 Cortez, if not, for some time, of Montezuma. You will doubt- 

 less remember that Cortez was recalled by Velasquez, the 

 governor of Cuba, that he refused to obey, and that Velasquez 

 sent Parfilo de Narboez to compel him to return. Cortez was 

 then at Mexico, but hastened back, and met Narboez at Zem- 

 poala, after some unsuccessful attempts at reconciliation. 

 Finding that Narboez had by far the greatest force, Cortez 

 attacked him by night, and routed his forces, which, in the 

 obscurity, could not distinguish the number of their enemies. 

 " At length," says Solis, " the battle ceased, because resistance 

 had ceased : the partisans of Narboez shut themselves up in 

 their fortifications ; so frightened were they that they dare not 

 even fire, and were only anxious about blocking up the entry. 

 The soldiers of Cortez shouted victory ! some for Cortez, some 

 for the King, but the most heedful for the Holy Ghost; 

 exclamations of anticipated joy, which increased the terror of 



