THE ADVENTURES OF A YOUNG NATURALIST. 401 



flock of cardinals, with crested heads, flew around us and 

 settled on a magnolia, which then looked as if it was cover- 

 ed with purple flowers. Farther on, some paroquets, no 

 bigger than sparrows, greeted us with their varied cries. 

 L'Encuerado, after tossing his head several times, and 

 shrugging his shoulders, at last stopped, and could not re- 

 frain from answering them. 



"Come and carry it yourselves!" he cried; "come and 

 carry it yourselves, and prove that you are stronger than a 

 man !" 



" What are you asking the birds to do ?" demanded Lu- 

 cien. 



" They are making fun of my load, Chanito ; a set of lazy 

 fellows, who all of them together would not be able to move 

 it !" 



Sumichrast made his way into the forest, cutting away 

 the creepers with his machete in order to clear a passage. 

 In less than an hour we had crossed five or six glades. 

 Suddenly I noticed that Gringalet had disappeared. I call- 

 ed him 3 and a distant barking answered me. 



" Can he have met with a stream ?" said Sumichrast. 



I advanced in the direction in which I had heard the 

 voice of our four-footed companion, and suddenly came 

 upon him baying furiously at a young cougar, which ' Su- 

 michrast ran towards, but the animal fled into the wood. 



" Where did you turn out this fellow, Gringalet ?" asked 

 l'Encuerado, quite seriously. " Don't trust too much to 

 his friendship, for it might be the worse for you ; lions sel- 

 dom fondle any thing without hurting it." 



" Was it a lion ?" asked Lucien. 



" Yes," I answered ; " but an American lion, or cougar, 

 known by savants as the Fells pumaP 



" How I should like to have seen it ! Had it a mane ?" 

 " No \ the puma is without one." 



