ADVENTURES OF A YOUNG NATURALIST. 



203 



" It is the dew, Clianito ; it is almost as abundant as the 

 night dews in the Terre^Chaude." 



" Are not morning and night dews the same thing?" 



" Not exactly," 1 replied ; " the morning dew is generally of a 

 beneficial nature ; but the Mexicans dread the other, which falls 

 after sunset, and is said to be productive of fever." 



" But from whence does all this moisture come?" 



" From the air, which always contains a certain quantity, 

 some of which it deposits on the ground, on stones and plants, 

 as they become cool by radiation." 



Just at this moment our attention was attracted by the first 

 ray of the sun, which, piercing through a light cloud, shot across 

 the plain like a bright arrow. The horizon, which had been 

 visible, was now obscured by a mist, which gradually rolled 

 towards us. By degrees, however, it drew off, and the trees a 

 short distance away showed their rounded tops ; while wide 

 breaks opened here and there in the semi-transparent veil, and 

 vanished as quickly as they had arisen. 



The telescope was passed from hand to hand, and each tried 

 to discover if there was a hut where the glimmering fire had 

 been descried the night before. The search was in vain, the 

 reflection of the sun's rays quite dazzled us, and restricted the 

 prospect ; but, once in the right course, we might advance 

 without fear of missing our point, and, according to our cal- 

 culations, we would meet with habitations the next day or the 

 following. 



Gringalet's tongue hung out of his mouth; he found the journey 

 over the nitrous soil very irksome, and the scanty leaves of the 

 mimosa failed to screen him from the sun. "What a contrast it 

 was to the pleasant regions we had hitherto travelled through ! 



" Your country, after all, is not so nice a one as mine," said 

 Lucien, addressing I'Encuerado. 



" My real native country is much more beautiful than that we 

 are now in, Chanito ; in the first place, it has mountains and 

 woods, and there it sometimes rains." 



" Shall we see any snow fall, now that we are in the Terre- 

 Froide ? " 



