CHAPTEE XVI. 



THE EARTH-NUTS— A WILD CAX'S FEAST — ANOTHER EXPLOEING EX- 

 PEDITION TO THE CAVE — THE BATS— EXCAVATIONS IN A TOMB. 



\ HILST making our way through the brushwood, in the 

 hopes of putting up some game of a more appetising 

 nature than the opossum, our feet became entangled in 

 the fibrous and creeping branches of the earth-nut, called 

 by the Indians tlalcacahuatl. Although the stems were still 

 covered with white flowers, I'Encuerado dug up the soil in which 

 the fruit had buried itself in order to complete its ripening, 

 and there found a quantity. The tlalcacahuatl, which is classed 

 by botanists in the leguminous order, produces yellowish, 

 wrinkled pods, each containing three or four kernels, which 

 are eaten after being roasted in their shells ; their taste is some- 

 thing like that of a chestnut. It is now cultivated to some 

 extent in Europe, and the nut produces an oil, which does not 

 readily turn rancid, and is used in Spain in the manufacture of 

 soap. 



Lucien and I'Encuerado were the most pleased at the discovery, 

 for they were very fond of these earth-nuts, which, on the days 

 of religious festivals, are sold by heaps in front of the Mexican 

 churches. 



" It is the day but one after Ascension Day,'' cried the Indian; 

 " we certainly cannot hear Mass, but, at all events, we can try to 

 please God by eating pea-nuts in His honour." 



