24 A FLYING TRIP TO THE TROPICS. 



height. We found other kinds gi-owing about ; one esj^ecially trou- 

 blesome resembled our prickly pear, but had very long thorns. 

 These appeared to have barbs on them, for when they entered the 

 flesh they had to be picked to pieces before they could be extracted. 



"cactus . . . TEN, FIFTEEN, AND EVEN TWENTY FEET IN HEIGHT." 



When we brushed against one of these plants, a whole segment 

 would break off and hang dangling from our clothes. On our way 

 back we saw a pair of small hawks {Thimmcnhis sj^orverms brevi- 

 2')enms), and got a couple of good shots at them, but the cartridges 

 that I happened to have with me had been loaded for several years 

 and were worthless, so we failed to get one. They seemed to be 

 much the same as our sparrow-hawk. Our guide said that they 

 were called " cliiki cliiki," from their cry, which much resembled 

 this word, and that they fed on the lizards, " larguitos," which liter- 



