106 



THE ADVENTURES OF 



upon this lovely and glorious scene ; our hearts rejoiced in 

 the midst of this calm and luxuriant aspect of nature. It 

 was with feelings of regret we got ready to move on again. 



" Suppose we weren't to go till the afternoon," said Su- 

 michrast. 



" Suppose we don't go till to-morrow," I answered. 



These ideas seemed so thoroughly to respond to the w r ish 

 of all, that, in a moment, our travelling gear was scattered 

 again on the ground. The first thing we did was to take a 

 bath ; then the thought struck us that we had better wash 

 our clothes. Lucien, helped by l'Encuerado, who had noth- 

 ing to wash for himself, as he wore his leather garment 

 next to his skin, laughed heartily at seeing us turned into 

 washerwomen ; still he did not do his part of the work at 

 all badly. He then undertook to wash Gringalet, whose 

 white coat, spotted with black, was sadly in want of cleans- 

 ing. Unfortunately, the dog was hardly out of the water 

 when he began rolling himself in the dust, and, as dirty as 

 ever, came frisking around his disappointed little master. 



We were roaming about in every direction, in the hope 

 of collecting some insects, when Gringalet pricked up his 

 ears and showed his teeth. The rustling of dry leaves at- 

 tracted our attention to a slope opposite to us, on which an 

 armadillo was seen. 



Generally speaking, these animals only go out for food in 

 the night. This one, which we saw in broad daylight, was 

 about the size of a large rabbit. Pricking up its ears, it 

 raised its tapering muzzle so as to snuff closer to the branch- 

 es. Its head, which was very small, gave it a very grotesque 

 appearance. Suddenly it began scratching up the earth 

 with its front paws, furnished with formidable claws, and 

 now and then poked its pointed nose into the hole it had dug. 

 .1 had crossed the stream, and was advancing cautiously to- 

 wards the animal, when I saw it leave off its work, and, bend- 



