86 THE ADVENTURES OF 



" What is the use of having forty-four feet," he cried, " if the cen- 

 tipede cannot get on faster than a cardbus, which only has six 1" 



L'Encuerado could alone explain this mystery ; but still he 

 kept silence. 



" Are these creatures poisonous, M. Sumichrast ? " 



" It is said so; but some species — that, for instance, which you 

 are examining — may be handled without danger." 



" Here is a little centipede with only twelve legs." 



" It has only just come out of the egg; their rings increase in 

 number as they grow older, and this is one of their peculiarities.'' 



" How hard the rings are ! they are almost like armour." 



"It is armour, in fact ; the scolopendrce form a line of demar- 

 cation, so to speak, separating insects from crustaceans ; centi- 

 pedes are not very distant relations of lobsters.'' 



'■ Look, papa ! I have just found a chocolate-coloured worm, 

 which looks like a centipede." 



" That 's not a worm ; it is an iulus, first cousin to the centi- 

 pede. Don't take it up in your hand, for it will impregnate your 

 fingers with a sickening odour." 



We resumed our progress towards our encampment, Lucien 

 and I'Encuerado preceding us. The weather was warm without 

 being suffocating ; the slanting rays of the sun were moderated 

 by the foliage, the birds were singing, and to-day, like yesterday, 

 seemed as if it would be one of the least fatiguing in our journey. 

 We were now in the midst of the Terre-Temperie, and were 

 surrounded by white and black oaks. Ceibas, elms, cedars, and 

 lignum-vitce trees only grew here and there ; and the musquitoes, 

 so plentiful in the Terre-Chaude, did not trouble us here. The 

 timber, growing widely apart, allowed us to pass easily ; we were 

 in a virgin-forest, but were still too high up above the plains to 

 have to struggle against the inextricable net-work of tropical 

 creepers. 



The tuea made its appearance at our dinner, dressed with rice. 

 Although the appearance of this animal is repulsive, its flesh has 

 an exquisite flavour. I offered a piece of the thigh to Lucien ; 

 he found it so nice, that he soon held out his plate — or rather his 

 calabash — for more. Sumichrast told him he was eating some of 



