A YOUNG NATURALIST. 91 



rado. Gringalet was continually sitting down, and hanging out 

 his tongue to a most enormous length ; it was, doubtless, his way 

 of testifying that he moved an amendment against the length of 

 the journey. 



" We were quite wrong in finding fault with the shade," said 

 Sumichrast ; " for, in this unsheltered spot, the heat is more in- 

 supportable than under the trees. The sun seems to dart into 

 us as if its rays were needles' points." 



" Don't drink, Chanito, don't drink ! " cried I'Encuerado to 

 Lucien. 



The poor little fellow replaced the gourd at his side, and bent 

 on me such a heart-rending look that I caught him up in my 

 arms. 



" Let us make a halt," said my friend, who was sheltering him- 

 self under a gigantic rock; " I confess that I am dead-beat." 



It was a great relief when we were seated down and deprived 

 of our burdens ; but, instead of setting to work, according to our 

 usual custom, to collect wood for our fire and to construct our 

 hut, we remained idle, looking at the horizon, without exchang- 

 ing a single word. At our feet extended, as far as we could see, 

 the tree-tops of an immense forest. "We had turned our backs 

 upon the volcano of Orizava ; on our right the black summits of 

 the Cordillera stood out against the red sky ; the nruhu vultures 

 were whirling round and round high up above us — the only 

 living creatures we had set eyes on since the evening before. 



It was now four o'clock ; a kind of hot blast beat into our 

 faces, producing the same sensation as that experienced in front 

 of a furnace, when the door is suddenly opened. The south wind 

 sprung up again, and squall succeeded squall ; the forest undu- 

 lating like a liquid surface. 



I in vain endeavoured to overcome the state of nervous pros- 

 tration which had come over me; the terrible wind which 

 parched and burned us took away all power of will. Our eyes 

 were inflamed, our lips cracked, and our heads heavy, and no one 

 cared about eating ; all we longed for was water, and we were 

 obliged to watch Lucien, to prevent him emptying his gourd. 

 He was nibbling a morsel of totopo, which he, like us, could hardly 



