92 THE ADVENTURES OF 



swallow. Sheltered behind the rock, we oontemplated with 

 dread the colossal trees round us, which swayed and bent, 

 sprinkling the ground with their scattered boughs. 



The sun set, pale and rayless, as if drowned in the ill-omened 

 yellow clouds. The wind kept puffing and blowing at intervals. 

 A few minutes' lull enabled us to collect a little grass, and then, 

 seated side by side, we watched the approach of night, dark, 

 desolate, and starless; but the comparative coolness of the atmos- 

 phere gave some little relief to our exhausted lungs. Lucien 

 went off to sleep ; Sumichrast and I'Encuerado tried to follow 

 his example; Gringalet seemed afraid to go far away, and 

 crouched down at our feet. Ere long, I was the only one of the 

 party who was awake. 



What an awful night ! About nine o'clock the squalls ran 

 riot with unexampled violence ; if it had not been for our shelter 

 behind the rock, we should surely have been swept away. From 

 the forest beneath came a roar like that of waves beating against 

 a cliff ; branches broke off with an uproar sounding like a series 

 of gunshots, and the leaves, driven by the wind, covered us with 

 their dihis. Every now and then an inexplicable and increasing 

 hoarse rumbling filled my mind with anxiety. I listened, hold- 

 ing my breath with fear ; the rumbling seemed to approach, as if 

 bringing with it new and unknown perils. Then suddenly, pre- 

 vailing over the tumult, a formidable crash made itself heard, 

 followed by a shock prolonged by the echoes ; it was the fall 

 of some forest giant, vanquished by the hurricane. Sometimes 

 one might have fancied that a multitude of men were fighting 

 together in the darkness that no eye could pierce ; there were 

 plainly to be recognised the wild cries of the conflict, and the 

 plaintive moans of the wounded ; and then, again, a fresh shock 

 shook the earth, and deadened the outburst of the mighty lament. 



I must confess that, at this moment, I bitterly regretted hav- 

 ing brought Lucien ; I remembered that my friends had pre- 

 dicted to me all the perils which now threatened us. While 

 listening to the uproar of the tempest, I felt my resolution give 

 way, and I had serious thoughts of returning to Orizava the 

 next day. 



