I04 THE ADVENlbRES OF 



we had obtained fuel enough to keep up the bivouac fire all 

 night. Our meal, although without meat, was a cheerful one. 

 Each in turn retired to his pine-leaf couch ; and soon I alone 

 remained up, not feeling an inclination for slumber. 



What a contrast it was ! The night before, at this time, we 

 were deafened by the uproarious wind, and the forests echoed 

 with its fearful eifectsj while we, perfectly helpless, sheltered 

 behind a trembhng stone, could scarcely breathe the burning air. 

 Twenty-four hours had hardly elapsed, and a few miles had 

 brought us on to a granite soil where we felt even unpleasantly 

 cold ; it was no longer the uproar, but the silence, which awoke 

 in my mind the reveries of loneliness. 



We rose before dawn perfectly benumbed, and hardly able to 

 move our lips. L'Encuerado stirred up the fire so as to get the 

 coffee ready. The first ray of light showed the ground covered 

 with a white shroud of bright hoar-frost. Lucien had never seen 

 this phenomenon before, and was never tired of admiring it. 

 Sumichrast explained to him that the drops of dew, which every 

 morning may be seen glittering on the grass in hot countries, 

 freeze in situations of great altitude, and produce those beautiful 

 transparent globules, which, owing to the refraction of light, 

 assume so beauteous an appearance. 



The rays of the sun warmed us but little, so I hastened our 

 preparations for departure. After skirting the edge of the lake, 

 we once more found ourselves among rocks. The summit which 

 we had traversed was doubtless the crater of some extinct volcano. 

 I took a farewell look at the gigantic semicircle, edged with 

 mountain crests, ere commencing a journey quite as difficult as 

 that of the day before, through the immense stones which had 

 been vomited forth by the burning mountain. More than once 

 we got into a cul-de-sac, and we sat down utterly discouraged. 



For the last time I examined the horizon ; we were now stand- 

 ing on the highest summit of the Cordillera ; opposite us, as far 

 as we could see, rose verdure-clad peaks, which gradually dimin- 

 ished in height. We were again about to meet with tropical 

 vegetation, and should ere long reach the plains and forests of 

 the Terre-Chaude. The way seemed direct and easy; but how 



