A YOUNG NATURALIST. loi 



" Do you know the family of the animal we are going to have 

 for breakfast % " asked Sumichrast. 



"Yes; it is a Eodent." 



" Well done ; but how did you recognise it to be so ^ " 



" By the absence of canine teeth in its jaws, its large incisors, 

 and its hind-legs being longer than its fore-legs.'' 



" Come, your memory is good. You should also know that, 

 in Europe, the rabbit, which is nearly allied to the hare, is 

 thought to be a native of Africa. Formerly, the Aztecs used to 

 sacrifice hundreds of these animals to the goddess Centeutl, who 

 is the Ceres of Mexican mythology ; and the nobles used to wear 

 cloaks made of the hair of the hare, mixed with cotton. With 

 regard to the larger hare, known farther north as the Jackass 

 rabbit, the Indians generally refuse to eat its flesh, under the 

 pretence that it feeds on dead bodies, a mistake which as yet they 

 have not been persuaded to abandon." 



We did justice to our game like guests who have to make up 

 for a forced fast. The meal finished, without further delay our 

 little coterie moved on again. Instead of the abundant and 

 bushy thickets of sarsaparilla, we met with nothing but stunted 

 shrubs. However, as we approached the mountain, the vegeta- 

 tion assumed a richer aspect, and the bare rocks no longer 

 protruded through the soil. Here and there, tanagers, with 

 black backs, yellow breasts, and violet-blue throats, fluttered 

 around us ; also other variegated birds of the Passerine family. 

 We were just about to begin climbing the slope, when I'Encuerado, 

 whose piercing eyes seemed to see everything, exclaimed — 



" There are some potatoes !" 



Lucien ran towards the Indian, who, with his machete, had 

 already cleared away the earth round a small plant with oval- 

 shaped leaves, covered with soft greenish berries. Some wrinkled 

 tubercles were ere long discovered, which we could easily crush 

 between our fingers. This is the origin of the valuable plant for 

 which Europe is indebted to America. 



After climbing some time, we came upon a mass of rocks all 

 heaped up in a perfect chaos. Some obstacle or other incessantly 

 obliged us either to jump over or make a circuit so as to get 



