i8o THE ADVENTURES OF 



Sumichrast ; " it will not be long now before we are among the 

 marshes." 



'' What birds are wild-ducks related to ?" asked Lucien. 



" To swans and geese, Master Sunbeam," replied my friend. , 

 " All the individuals of this order, as their name — palmipedes, or 

 web-footed birds — indicates, have their toes united by a wide 

 membrane. Ducks, many species of which are found in Mexico, 

 have a flat bill ; and their short legs, placed so far behind, compel 

 them to waddle in walking, although they can swim with great 

 facility." 



" How do they manage to perch on a tree with feet of that 

 kindl" 



" With the exception of the wood- duck, this family never perch; 

 they pass the day in dabbling in the water, and sleej> upon its 

 surface, or among the reeds." 



" Then they must always be wet.'' 



" Not so ; nature has covered the feathers of web-footed birds 

 with an oily substance, which renders their plumage quite water- 

 proof Ducks are gregarious, and migrate from one locality 

 to another according to the seasons. They are so common on 

 the lagoons which surround the city of Mexico, that sportsmen 

 scarcely will be troubled shooting them." 



Whilst I'Encuerado was preparing dinner, I and my companions 

 walked along the edge of the stream. Before long I discovered 

 some watercress — a lucky discovery for travellers who are con- 

 fined constantly to animal food. Lucien examined the small, 

 white flowers, which has obtained for all its family the name of 

 Cruciferce; these vegetables contain an acrid and volatile oil, which 

 gives them strong anti-scorbutic qualities. The cabbage (brassica 

 oleracea), turnip (6. napus), radish (raphanus sativus), and mustard 

 (sinapis alba), are of the Crucifera order. To this list we must 

 also add the horse-radish, the colza, the seed of which produces 

 an oil well adapted for lighting purposes ; the erysimum, or hedge- 

 mustard, a popular remedy in France for coughs ; the shepherd's 

 purse, which the Mexicans use as a decoction for washing wounds ; 

 and the lepidium piscidium, employed by the natives of Oceania 

 for intoxicating fish, so as to catch them more easily. 



