44 RAMBLESOT 



pale straw colour, flecked with circlets of the rich- 

 est crimson. Its long lizard-like body seemed to 

 be semi-transparent^ and its slender limbs appeared 

 like mere productions of the skin. Not far distant, 

 and near where the upper end of the stone had been, 

 lay crouched, as if asleep, one of the most beauti- 

 fully-coloured frogs I had ever beheld. Its body 

 was slender compared with most frogs, and its skin 

 covered with stripes of bright reddish-brown and 

 grayish-green, in such a manner as to recall the 

 beautiful markings of the tiger's hide; and, since 

 the time alluded to, it has received the name of 

 Tigrina from Leconte, its first scientific describer. 

 How long I should have been content to gaze at 

 these beautiful animals, as they lay basking in the 

 living water, I know not, had not the intense heat 

 made me feel the necessity of seeking a shade. It 

 was now past twelve o'clock : I began to retrace my 

 steps towards the city; and, without any particular 

 object, moved along by the little galleries examined 

 in the morning. I had advanced but a short dis- 

 tance, when I found the last place where I had 

 broken open the gallery was repaired. The earth 

 was perfectly fresh, and I had lost the chance of 

 discovering the miner, while watching my new ac- 

 quaintances in the stream. Hurrying onward, the 

 same circumstance uniformly presented; the inju- 

 ries were all efficiently repaired, and had evidently 

 been very recently completed. Here was one point 

 gained : it was ascertained that these galleries were 

 still inhabited, and I hoped soon to become ac- 



