:^x ALONG THE STREAM OF DEATH m:: 



a single inflexible piece, while nine bands about the 

 centre of the body save him from the immobility of 

 a turtle. What a stranoe creature ! We mis;ht imasfine 

 that Tatu, for some crime, had been condemned to for- 

 sake the appearance and activity of the fur-covered 

 animals and simulate the scaly creatures of the dust. 

 One cannot help comparing- the armadillos with the 

 Iguanas. Science, however, allows us no such imagery, 

 and, with ruthless scalpel, proves the former's kinship 

 with sloth and ant-eater. The armadillos hereabouts 

 were certainly neither solitary nor exclusively nocturnal, 

 and we often saw them vanishing into their holes at 

 midday, as we came suddenly upon them, although 

 they were also found foraging at midnight. 



After capture, an armadillo scorns to seek protec- 

 tion by rolling up in a ball. We very much desired to 

 photograph one thus, but failed to do so. We spent 

 several hours in rolling one into a close sphere, but the 

 aggravating creature as often promptly unrolled and 

 made off. 



THE SUMMIT AND EDGE OF THE LITTLE DESERT 



A few steps upward from the zone of Tatu and 

 Iguana burrows, and we were upon the crest of the 

 arroyo wall. The level plain in front of us was fretted 

 with dark, sinuous lines — the wooded edges of deep 

 narrow bart^ancas, tracing the course of streams. In 

 the distance Colima stood as ever — two peaks, deep, 



«4 235 ^ 



