1 1 8 The Naturalist in La Plata. 



has touched his dancing shoes ! Springing into the 

 saddle he proceeds to his journey's end, is warmly 

 welcomed by his host, and speedily forgetting his 

 slight misadventure, mingles with a happy crowd of 

 friends. In a little while people begin exchanging 

 whispers and significant glances ; men are seen 

 smiling at nothing in particular ; the hostess wears 

 a clouded face; the ladies cough and put their 

 scented handkerchiefs to their noses, and presently 

 they begin to feel faint and retire from the room. 

 Our hero begins to notice that there is something 

 wrong, and presently discovers its cause ; he, un- 

 happily, has been the last person in the room to 

 remark that familiar but most abominable odour, 

 rising like a deadly exhalation from the floor, con- 

 quering all other odours, and every moment becom- 

 ing more powerful. A drop has touched his shoe 

 after all; and fearing to be found out, and edging 

 towards the door, he makes his escape, and is 

 speedily riding home again ; knowing full well that 

 his sudden and early departure from the scene will 

 be quickly discovered and set down to the right 

 cause. 



In that not always trustworthy book The Natural 

 History of Chili, Molina tells us how they deal with 

 the animal in the trans-Andine regions. " When 

 one appears," he says, " some of the company begin 

 by caressing it, until an opportunity offers for one 

 of them to seize it by the tail. In this position the 

 muscles become contracted, the animal is unable to 

 eject its fluid, and is quickly despatched." One 

 might just as well talk of caressing a cobra de 

 capello ; yet this laughable fiction finds believers 



