A YOUNG NATURALIST. 



179 



bed of sand. The sun was shining full upon its transparent 

 surface, and, close to the edge, hundreds of flies were whirl- 

 ing about. 



" Those are coleopterae," said Sumichrast to Lucien. 

 " Why do they turn round and round like that ?" inquired 

 he. 



" To find their food, for they are carnivorous, and require 

 a great deal of nourishment. In France they are common- 

 ly called tourniquets, or water-fleas" 



Lucien wanted to catch one, but could not succeed ; l'En- 

 cuerado and Sumichrast joined in the pursuit. At first I 

 amused myself with watching the useless efforts of my com- 

 panions ; but at last, thinking myself cleverer than they, I 

 squatted down also. There we all four were, with our 

 hands in the water, perfectly motionless, and holding our 

 breath, the better to remain motionless. The insects were 

 all in a close mass, and whirling round like a living mosaic, 

 moving in every direction without separating ; but however 

 quickly we raised our hands, we all failed in our efforts. 



An hour was spent in this way, and even then we should 

 not have given up the chase if the sun had not ceased to 

 shine on the bank, and the insects had therefore moved be- 

 yond our reach, so as to be within its influence. Lucien, 

 vexed at their going away, and l'Encuerado, furious at hav- 

 ing been conquered by the agile creatures, commenced 

 throwing stones at them with the hope of wounding one. 

 Even in this they did not succeed, so l'Encuerado satisfied 

 himself by calling them fools, a name which, in his- opinion, 

 constituted a gross insult. 



About twenty tadpoles, swimming in a puddle of water, 

 were taken by Lucien for fish. 



" They are frogs," I said to him. 



" Where are their feet, then ?" 



" Under the brown skin, which makes them look like fish : 



