A YOUNG NATURALIST. 137 



the position of the spot, there was not much hkelihood of his 

 missing his way ; although we had full confidence in his instinct, 

 we feared to what extent his ardour might carry him. 



We now kept on the look-out, hoping that chance would throw 

 us in contact with some game. All at once there was a movement 

 to our right in the high grass, and its waving about pointed out the 

 presence of some reptile. In a minute or two we saw a serpent 

 making its way towards the pool ; it was the species which is 

 called by the Indians, as formerly by the Greeks, the double- 

 headed serpent. The amphisbsena was about a foot and a half 

 long, and its tail was swollen at the end, which gave it a very 

 curious appearance. Its skin, covered with large scales, had a 

 bluish metallic glitter. It crawled slowly, and stopped every 

 instant as if to bore into the ground, but in reality to pick up 

 insects or ants. This singular snake quite enchanted Lucien, and 

 Sumichrast told him to fire his gun at it, so as to be able to study 

 it more closely. He had no need to repeat his instructions ; the 

 young sportsman, who had begun to handle his weapon very 

 skilfully, at once placed it to his shoulder ; the shot was fired, 

 and the amphisbsena tumbling over, disappeared in the grass. 

 The reptile had been hit, and we all of us clambered down the 

 rock as fast as we could, in the hopes of finding it dead. We 

 sought for it in vain ; the snake had made its escape into some 

 hole, from which it would be in vain to try to dislodge it. 



Gringalet now showed himself, soon followed by I'Encuerado. 

 When he caught sight of us, the Indian raised a loud " Hiou ! 

 hiou !" Waving his hat in the air, he threw upon the ground 

 some dark object, which fell heavily on the turf, and then he 

 began dancing. We roared with laughter at his grotesque steps, 

 and Lucien ran towards the Mistec, who, after his dance, was 

 acting the acrobat on the turf. 



" A turkey ! " he cried ; and an enormous bird, with bronzed 

 plumage, was passed from hand to hand. 



" Ah ! Chanito," cried the Indian, " if you had gone with 

 me, you would have seen a whole flock of them ! I had chased 

 those miserable doves till I was tired, without even catching a 

 glimpse of them, and was resting at the foot of a tree, when 



