A YOUNG NATURALIST. 



231 



marked that the least buzzing from any insect was sufficient 

 to render him uneasy. 



Sumichrast, who had caught one of these large beetles, 

 placed a stone upon it which any one would have thought 

 sufficient to have crushed it ; but, to Lucien' s great admira- 

 tion, the six-legged Hercules walked off with its burden, al- 

 most without an effort. Ere long the beetles one by one 

 resumed their flight, and came buzzing around us, so it be- 

 came really necessary to beat a retreat, lest we should have 

 our eyes put out by their immense horns ; Gringalet f ollow- 

 , ed our example. Lucien sat down so as to laugh at his 

 ease, for l'Encuerado, instead of running away, drew his 

 bill-hook, assuming a threatening attitude to his enemies, 

 and, like one of Homer's heroes, defied them to come near 

 him. At last the whole band of beetles united and sus- 

 pended themselves to the branch of a ceiba, a tree for which 

 the Hercules beetle shows a marked preference. 



But we had in the mean time quite forgotten our dinners, 

 so we set off hunting in various directions. I skirted the 

 edge of the forests, accompanied by Sumichrast and Lucien. 

 We had walked for an hour without finding any thing, 

 when four partridges, with ash-colored breasts, tawny wings, 

 and tufted heads, rose about fifty paces from us, and settled 

 down a little farther on. Having arrived within easy gun- 

 shot, I told my son to fire when I did, and two of them 

 (which savants call the Sonini partridge) fell dead on the 

 ground. These pretty birds are rarely met with in Mexico, 

 at least in the part where we were. 



I now returned towards the bivouac, taking a path 

 through the forest. 



" Oh papa, here's a great sponge !" cried Lucien, sud- 

 denly. 



On our right there was a shapeless, porous, yellowish 

 mass, rising three or four feet above the ground. I saw at 



