CHAPTER XVI. 



THE EARTH-NUTS. A WILD-CAT'S FEAST. - — ANOTHER EX- 

 PLORING EXPEDITION TO THE CAVE. THE BATS. EXCA- 

 VATIONS IN A TOMB. 



TTTHILE making our way through the brush-wood, in 



▼ ▼ the hopes of putting up some game of a more ap- 

 petizing nature than the opossum, our feet became entan- 

 gled in the fibrous and creeping branches of the earth-nut, 

 called by the Indians tlalcacahuatl. Although the stems 

 were still covered with white flowers, PEneuerado dug up 

 the soil in which the fruit had buried itself in order to 

 complete its ripening, and there found a quantity. The 

 tlalcacahuatl , which is classed by botanists in the legumi- 

 nous order, produces yellowish, wrinkled pods, each contain- 

 ing three or four kernels, which are eaten after being roast- 

 ed in their shells ; their taste is something like that of a 

 chestnut. It is now cultivated to some extent in Europe, 

 and the nut produces an oil which does not readily turn 

 rancid, and is used in Spain in the manufacture of soap. 



Lucien and PEneuerado were the most pleased at the 

 discovery, for they were very fond of these earth-nuts, 

 which, on the days of religious festivals, are sold by heaps 

 in front of the Mexican churches. 



"It is the day but one after Ascension-day," cried the 

 Indian ; " we certainly can not hear Mass, but, at all events, 

 we can try to please God by eating pea-nuts in His honor." 



