6 PREFACE. 



scious of their handsome plumage, while the timid deer and 

 shaggy-coated, bison roam over prairies or through wood- 

 land glades, as yet unacquainted with the report of the 

 white man's destructive fire-arms. 



Can it, therefore, be surprising that our little hero should 

 have craved to be permitted to have a sight of this new 

 land, so rich in the prospect of adventure. How he behaved 

 himself throughout the numerous ordeals to which he was 

 submitted, suffice it for me to say that his conduct was 

 worthy of the representative of any nationality, and such as 

 was calculated to make all parents proud off their offspring ; 

 for whether suffering from thirst or hunger, being persecu- 

 ted by noxious insects, straying in the woods, even when 

 within reach of the fiercest carnivora or in the presence of 

 the deadliest reptiles, he never for a moment hesitated in 

 performing his seniors' instructions, lost his courage, or, 

 better still, an opportunity of improving his mind. 



That the young English reader may benefit as much by 

 the perusal of this work as Master Lucien, otherwise " Sun- 

 beam," did by his journey through the Cordilleras of Mex- 

 ico, and that they may enjoy the information herein im- 

 parted upon the wonderful works of the Creator, is the 

 sincere wish of 



The Editor. 



