The Collaborators 



pet of which we read in the Arabian Nights, the 

 famous carpet whereon one had but to sit to be 

 carried whithersoever he pleased. O marvellous 

 conveyance, far preferable to Xavier de Maistre's 

 post-chaise! If I could only find just a little corner 

 on it, with a return-ticket! 



I do find it. I owe this unexpected good for- 

 tune to a Brother of the Christian Schools, to 

 Brother Judulien, of the La Salle College at Buenos 

 Aires. His modesty would be offended by the 

 praises which his debtor owes him. Let us simply 

 say that, acting on my instructions, his eyes take the 

 place of mine. He seeks, finds, observes, sends me 

 his notes and his discoveries. I observe, seek and 

 find with him, by correspondence. 



It is done; thanks to this first-rate collaborator, 

 I have my seat on the magic carpet. Behold me 

 in the pampas of the Argentine Republic, eager to 

 draw a parallel between the industry of the Serig- 

 nan Dung-beetles and that of their rivals in the 

 western hemisphere. 1 



To close the history of the Serignan her- 

 mit by opening such remote perspectives is 

 not so inconsistent as it may seem, for, after 

 having obstinately imprisoned himself within 

 the narrow horizon of his village all his life, 

 the Provencal recluse was beginning to be 



1 Souvenirs, vi., p. 70. The G\o<w-Worm and Other 

 Beetles, chap, ix., " Dung-beetles of the Pampas." There 

 is also mention of Brother Judulien in a long note in vol. 

 v., p. 131; The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles, p. 238. 

 291 



