406 



THE ADVENTURES OF 



" I thought the lion was a beast by itself ; but, at all 

 events, it is the king of mammals ?" 



" It is rightly thought to be the strongest of all the car- 

 nivora : its head, which it carries upright, and its beautiful 

 mane, give it a majestic appearance. With regard to its 

 reputation for generosity, I scarcely know what it is found- 

 ed on ; I fancy that the famous lion of Androcles had just 

 enjoyed a plentiful meal when it spared the life of its 

 benefactor." 



It was no use to think of skinning our victim, for the 

 flies were already swarming on the dead body, although it 

 was still warm. L'Encuerado wished to attribute to Lu- 

 cien the honor of killing the puma ; but the boy, although 

 he had always longed to achieve such a feat, said at once 

 that he had missed his aim. 



I stopped in front of a tree (hymencea) belonging to the 

 leguminous family, the pods of which contain a sweet pulp, 

 and from its trunk oozes out a resin, which is much sought 

 after by the Indians, who use it as a cure for stomach-ache. 

 A little farther on, a mango-tree tempted l'Encuerado, who, 

 like all his countrymen, was fond of its fruit. I disliked 

 the nauseous smell and taste of them, which reminds me of 

 turpentine, although in some countries, where care is taken 

 in their cultivation, they are said to be delicious. 



Sumichrast, who was our guide, had to open a passage for 

 us through a perfect net- work of purple-flowered creepers. 

 I helped him in his work, and when we had overcome this 

 obstacle, we found ourselves in a small plain, in the middle 

 of which rose a clump of palm-trees. Gringalet ran off to 

 the right, and soon returned with his muzzle all wet. Lu- 

 cien, who was in front of us, first reached what was a wide, 

 deep, and slowly-flowing stream. At this sight, l'Encuera- 

 do turned three somersets in succession, and struck up a 

 chant ; our manifestations of delight, if less noisy than his, 

 were, at all events, no less sincere. 



