A YOUNG NATURALIST. 199 



poor beast fell over on the ground, and placing its hand- 

 shaped paws on the wound, rolled itself up into a ball at 

 the foot of a tree. Gringalet darted forward to seize it, 

 and then immediately retreated, howling with pain; he 

 came back to us with his muzzle bristling with the porcu- 

 pine's quills, which were about two inches long and finely 

 pointed. The unfortunate dog rubbed his nose against the $ 

 ground in order to get relief, but, of course, this only in- 

 creased his pain. Lucien ran to help him, and at last suc^ 

 ceeded in extracting them. 



" Have you lost your senses ?" asked l'Encuerado of the 

 dog, while washing the poor beast's nose and mouth. " The 

 idea of trying to bite a huitzttacuatzin ! Upon my word, I 

 thought you knew better than that. 'No doubt it's a good 

 thing to be brave, but you must manage to be less stupid 

 when you are in the forests of the Terre- Chaude, unless 

 you want to be devoured by a tiger, or scratched to pieces 

 by an ant-eater." 



After listening to l'Encuerado's speech, Lucien scolded 

 him for firing at the poor animal, and then joined us, close 

 to the porcupine, which was dying. It was about the size 

 of a fox, and its fore paws were furnished with four toes 

 armed with claws. This animal, which is slow of pace and 

 entirely inoffensive, spreads round it a sickening musky 

 odor. It lives on fruit, roots, and insects, and, aided by 

 its prehensile tail, climbs trees with great skill. It but 

 rarely tries to make its escape at the approach of the hunt- 

 er, who, moreover, utterly despises such worthless game. 



L'Encuerado reminded us that we had now been travel- 

 ling twelve days, and that it was the first Sunday in May. 

 We should have devoted it to rest if our morning's hunting 

 had been successful; but, unless we contented ourselves 

 with a dinner composed only of rice, we were obliged to 

 shoot some eatable bird or animal to fill our stew-pot 



