A YOUNG NATURALIST. 



25 



might get warm. Perhaps, just at this moment, he regret- 

 ted his little bed, and thought of the cup of warm chocolate 

 which his mother often used to bring him as soon as he 

 awoke; but, unmurmuring, he retained his place by my 

 side. 



Beyond the village of Ingenio, a brisk south wind blew 

 the dust in our faces and retarded our speed. All round 

 the trees bent before the squall, and the large plantain 

 leaves flew about, torn into ribbons. We now turned to 

 the right, and crossed a prairie. L'Encuerado required 

 breath, for his load weighed at least eighty pounds, al- 

 though, like iEsop's burden, it would surely get lighter at 

 every meal. An enormous rock, which had tumbled down 

 from one of the surrounding mountains centuries past, of- 

 fered us a retreat sheltered from the wind. At this mo- 

 ment a line of purple edging the eastern horizon announced 

 the dawn of day. 



" Come here," I called to Lucien. 



And taking the lad between my knees, I said, 



" You see that bright band of light which looks almost 

 as if the horizon was on fire ? Well, from the middle of it 

 the sun is just going to rise. At this very moment, in Eu- 

 rope, it is almost noonday ; but, as recompense, they will 

 have dark night when it is three o'clock in the afternoon 

 here, and we shall be pushing along, overwhelmed with the 

 heat of an almost vertical sun. The red line is now getting 

 wider and paler ; it is more like a golden mist. But turn 

 round and look at the mountain tops." 



The child uttered a half -surprised cry ; although we were 

 in comparative obscurity, the ridges of the Cordilleras seem- * 

 ed all on fire. 



"Do you understand that phenomenon?" asked Sumi- 

 chrast. 



" Yes ; for I know the earth is round, and these mountains, 



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