CHAPTER XIV. 



THE METEOR. GOD ALMIGHTY'S LANTERNS. THE SKUNK. 



THE JALAP-PLANT. AN AERIAL JOURNEY. THE OR- 

 CHIDS. BIVOUAC IN THE MOUTH OF A CAVE. — GRINGA- 



LET AND THE BEETLES. A WHITE ANTS 9 NEST. 



npHE sun left us soon afterwards, and we sat talking 



Af by the fire. At last PEncuerado took away Lucien 

 towards the rocks, and set up one of those interminable 

 chants with which his memory was stored. Our fire light- 

 ed up with its red gleam the stone on which they were sit- 

 ting, making it look like an immense pedestal, surmounted 

 by two bronze statues. Any traveller suddenly entering 

 the valley would have recoiled in terror before this fantas- 

 tic apparition ; and if any wild beast had been prowling 

 near us, our gigantic shadows would certainly have made it 

 keep its distance. 



