ESTIVATION, OR SUMMER SLEEP. 149 



sagacious and cunning, the mule seeks a dif- 

 ferent mode of alleviating his thirst. The 

 ribbed and spherical melon-cactus conceals 

 under its prickly envelope a watery pith. The 

 mule first strikes the prickles aside with his 

 fore-feet, and then ventures warily to approach 

 his lips to the plant and drink the cool juice. 

 But resort to this vegetable fountain is not 

 always without danger ; and one sees many 

 animals that have been lamed by the prickles 

 of the cactus. 



" When the burning heat of the day is fol- 

 lowed by the coolness of the night, which in 

 these latitudes is always of the same length, 

 even then the horses and cattle cannot enjoy 

 repose. Enormous bats suck their blood like 

 vampyres during their sleep, or attach them- 

 selves to their backs, causing festering wounds, 

 in which mosquitoes, hippobosces, and a host 

 of stinging insects intrench themselves. Thus, 

 then, these animals lead a painful life, during 

 the season, when under the fierce glow of the 

 sun the soil is deprived of its moisture. 



" At length, after the long drought the wel- 

 come season of the rains arrives ; and then 

 how suddenly is the scene changed ! The deep 

 blue of the hitherto perpetually cloudless sky 

 becomes lighter ; at night the dark space in 

 the constellation of the Southern Cross is 

 hardly distinguishable ; the soft phosphorescent 

 light of the Magellanic clouds fades away ; and 

 even the stars in Aquila and Ophiucus in the 

 aenith line shine with a trembling and less 



