136 



THE ADVENTURES OF 



daylight appeared, I led my companions farther under the 

 trees, the state of the atmosphere making me feel very un- 

 comfortable. The lofty tree-tops, roughly shaken by the 

 wind, showered down upon us a perfect hail of twigs and 

 dead leaves. We were almost deafened by the noise of the 

 clashing boughs ; sad and silent we proceeded on our way, 

 perceiving no signs of any living creature, and in much 

 trouble how we should obtain our dinners. 



Towards mid-day, the wind fell ; puffs of heat, which 

 seemed to spring from the ground beneath, almost suffo- 

 cated us. Lucien did not say a word, but, in spite of my 

 advice, he was constantly lifting his gourd to his lips, a pro- 

 ceeding which could only excite his thirst. Gringalet, in- 

 stead of frolicking about, as was his custom, followed us 

 closely, drooping his ears and tail. We were, I believe, the 

 only living beings moving under the shade, which now 

 seemed converted into a hot furnace. 



Meeting with some rocks, we made up our minds to hur- 

 ry on, thinking to come upon a stream ; a vain hope ! — the 

 rocks soon came to an end, and were succeeded by a perfect 

 labyrinth of trees. If there had only been a little grass, we 

 should have set to work to construct our hut ; for the dry 

 heat, blown up by the south wind, rendered exertion almost 

 unbearable. 



A second time we found ourselves among rocks ; but 

 they were so enormous, and so close together, that it was 

 evident we were in the vicinity of a mountain. 



"Hiou! hiou! Chanito," cried the Indian, joyously; 

 " forward ! forward ! w r e are very nearly at the end of our 

 troubles." 



The boy smiled and adopted the swift pace of his guide, 

 while Sumichrast lengthened his strides so as to get in front 

 of me. Following my companions, we soon came upon a 

 dry, barren spot in front of a steep ascent. After we had 



