328 TEE ADVENTURES OF 



" But if they always lived in the shade ?" cried 1'En- 

 cuerado. 



" It would have to be perfect darkness, a thing which it 

 is quite impossible to procure." 



At this moment our host called us. On a rickety table, 

 covered with a small cotton cloth, a bowl of thin soup, with 

 tortilla and tomatoes, was smoking, and we all did full jus- 

 tice to our fare. This dish was followed by a fowl season- 

 ed with pimento sauce and black beans fried in fat ; then 

 some camotes (Convolvulus batatas] displayed the bright 

 colors of their mealy interior, in the midst of a sirup with 

 which 1'Encuerado and Lucien regaled themselves. A 

 large bowl of coffee put the finishing stroke to our satisfac- 

 tiop. Instead of bread, we ate some freshly made maize- 

 cakes. Never had any dinner appeared so delicious to us 

 as this, for we had begun to get rather tired of game, 

 which had formed our principal food since we left home. 



When the meal was over, Lucien ran back to join the 

 children, who, seated on the bank of the stream, were plait- 

 ing palm-leaves together. One of them was very successful 

 in making a grasshopper, and the boys, delighted with the 

 praises of their guest, vied with one another in their inven- 

 tions. They presented him with a bull, a fowl, a basket, 

 and other articles, which were very curious, considering the 

 material used and the skill of workmanship exhibited. 



Lucien, perfectly enchanted with these presents, and find- 

 ing that our admiration hardly equalled his own, turned to 

 1'Encuerado, who criticised the articles submitted to him 

 with an artistic eye : 



" Then you, too, know how to weave palm-leaves ?" 



" Yes, Chanito, I can make grasshoppers, horses, and even 

 birds." ^ 



" Only fancy ! and yet you have never made any for 

 me !" 



