A YOUNG XATUBAHST. 359 



" It is a qtrimicApaaan^ said he to me, in a low voice. 



-A firing squirrel," I repeated to Sumichrast. 



Lucien was about to speak; bat I pointed to the Indian, 

 who, half-hidden behind a dead trunk, was carefully *ramro- 

 ing the top of an ebony-tree. At this moment FEncuerado 

 placed his gun to his shoulder and fired. He had taken 

 good aim an animal came tumbling down about ten paces 

 from us, spreading out, in its convulsive movements, the 

 membrane which joined its legs together and covered it al- 

 most like a cloak- 



Lucien took possession of the K flying squirrel,'' and, as 

 they always go in pairs, my two companions went in pursuit 

 of the other, which they soon succeeded in killing. 



"Are we going to eat these animals 7" asked Lucien. 



"Why shouldn't we ri rejoined. They are squirrels ; 

 and, even supposing that they were rats, as the Indians as- 

 sert, their flesh should be none the less savory." 



" Can these animals fly for any length of time?" asked 

 Lucien. 



"As a matter of fact, they do not fly at all; but the 

 membrane which unites their limbs acts like a parachute in 

 keeping them up in the air, and materially assists them in 

 some of their prodigious leaps." 



" Can they run as fast as squirrels? 1 " 



" Nothing fike it ; they do not, indeed, often come down 

 to the ground; but their activity on trees renders them not 

 unworthy of their family." 



I thought," observed Lucien, "that bats were the only 

 mammals that could fly." 



"There is also the flying pholongef? observed my 

 friend ; " an animal of the marsupial order, which is a na- 

 tive of Australia, and somewhat resembles the opossum. 

 It is said that, when it catches sight of a man, it hangs it- 

 self up by the tail, and does not dare to move; but I think 



