Adventures of a Young Naturalist

CHAPTER XVI

While making our way through the brush-wood, in the hopes of putting up some game of a more appetizing nature than the opossum, our feet became entangled in the fibrous and creeping branches of the earth-nut, called by the Indians tlalcacahuatl. Although the stems were still covered with white flowers, l'Encuerado 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 leguminous order, produces yellowish, wrinkled pods, each containing three or four kernels, which are eaten after being roasted 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 l'Encuerado were the most pleased at the discovery, for they were very fond of these earth-nuts, which, on the days of religions 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."

The sun was beginning to sink, and hunger dictated to us that we should hasten our steps. I therefore led my companions towards the bivouac. We had but just started again, when five or six hares came giddily running almost between our legs. Lucien was skillful enough to shoot one, and Sumichrast knocked down another. L'Encuerado loaded with the game, we proceeded to our hut.

Being now reassured as to our bill-of-fare for dinner by this unexpected windfall, I kept on walking towards the entrance of a glade, the soil of which, being quite burrowed, betrayed the presence of the moles. Each of us lay down under the shade of a tree. Chance led me under a robinia or iron-wood tree, the trunk of which will defy the best-tempered axe. In front of me stood a tepehuage, a kind of mahogany-tree, with dark-colored foliage, which will become, some day, the object of considerable trade between Europe and Mexico; the beauty of this red wood, veined with black, renders it highly fitted for the manufacture of furniture.

Gringalet had followed the Indian. I advised Lucien to keep silence, so as to observe the operations of the moles, who would be certain to come out of their burrows as soon as the sun set. In fact, first one, then two, and at last twenty made their appearance; and in less than a quarter of an hour I counted more than a hundred engaged in throwing up the ground, playing about, and fighting, all the time uttering shrill cries. Lucien was much amused as he watched them squatting down on their hinder parts, making grimaces, and gnawing the roots and bark.

A single gunshot would have enabled us to double our store of grease, but it would have been a waste of our powder and shot. In fear of yielding to the temptation, I was thinking of giving the signal for departure, when it became evident that the animals whose games were enlivening us were actuated by a sudden panic. All the moles, which were solemnly seated, nodded to and fro their enormous heads, showing their long yellow incisors, and seemed to sniff the air. Suddenly they all rushed towards their burrows. A jaquarete had scattered them by springing in among them. The new-comer, a species of wild-cat, with a coat of the darkest black, left two or three victims dead upon the ground, and then set up a plaintive mewing.

This call soon attracted two young ones, which darted at once on the first mole they came to. Each of them seized hold of one side of their prey, spitting just like cats, and trying to tear it with their formidable claws. The mother was obliged to put a stop to the quarrel by an energetic display of authority, allotting a separate victim to each of her ferocious offspring; then she lay down and yawned several times, while the young ones were tearing to pieces the bodies of their prey. When they had eaten all they required, the mother gluttonously devoured all that was left, without ceasing to watch a third mole, round which the two young carnivora were prowling. Whenever they came near her prey, she gave a growl; and they seemed to know the meaning of this maternal injunction, for they crouched down to the ground, and drew back, lowering their heads, as if from fear. As soon as her repast was finished, the jaquarete caught up in her mouth the untouched mole, and made off without noticing us.

"What do you think of these little ogres?" asked Sumichrast, addressing Lucien.

"How very pretty they are, with their black shiny coats! They are just like big cats."

"That's very likely, for cats are their first cousins."

"Do jaquaretes ever attack men?"

"No; but, still, if we had tried to touch her young ones, the mother would perhaps have flown at us."

"To eat us?" asked Lucien, opening his eyes very widely.

"She would bite and tear us with her claws, or otherwise injure us. But seriously, as a general rule, wild beasts, or carnivora, as the savants call them, are always formidable, and, whatever may be their size, it is unsafe to provoke them. If one of us, unarmed, had to fight hand to hand with a wild-cat, it is probable that he would receive more injury from the contest than the animal."

Night was now falling fast; but, fortunately, our fire guided us to our resting-place. When we were yet some distance off, we were amused at seeing the Indian prowling round, or gravely sitting down face to face with the dog, with whom, no doubt, he was chatting. Suddenly the dog jumped up, pricking up his ears, and ran out to meet us, while l'Encuerado raised over his head a burning branch to throw a light upon our path.

At day-break we were awakened by the voice of the Indian. The gloomy appearance of the weather threatened us with one of those fine rains which appear to last forever. Sumichrast went off to cut some long switches covered with leaves, one of which light boughs he handed to each of us before he would allow us to enter the cave.

"What are these switches for?" asked Lucien, in surprise.

"M. Sumichrast wants to catch some bats, Chanito."

"Does he intend to eat them?"

"Oh no; though I have no doubt they would be very good."

"Their flesh is delicious," interposed Sumichrast; "the wing especially is a tidbit which I can highly recommend."

But my friend could not keep a serious face when he saw Lucien's frightened look; so his joke partly failed in its effect.

L'Encuerado entered the cave on tiptoe. The rest of us, taking up a position at the entrance, made every preparation to enrich our collections. Two bats soon fell, beaten down by our switches. Lucien examined them without much repugnance, but the shape of their muzzles surprised him even more than their wings. One of those which he examined had lips cloven in the middle and doubled back; the other had a flat nose and still more hideous visage, and possessed, instead of ears, two enormous holes, at the bottom of which were situate its black and brilliant eyes. Added to this, the membrane of its wings was so thin and transparent that it seemed as if it must tear with the slightest exertion. The poor little animal gradually recovered itself, and showed its delicate and sharp teeth. Sumichrast took it up, and hung it by the claw at the end of its forearm, in order to show Lucien the way in which these creatures cling to the rough places which form their usual resting-place; but it suddenly let go its hold, and disappeared in the dark cave open in front of us.

The bat, apparently an imperfectly-formed creature, was for a long time a puzzle to naturalists. Fontaine makes it say:

"I am a bird; look at my wings!

I am a mouse; the mice forever!"

Savants, also, used to describe it as a bird provided with hair instead of feathers, and with teeth instead of a bill. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire was the first to teach that the wings of the bat are nothing but the fingers of the animal joined together by a thin membrane. I had thus another opportunity of proving to Lucien the wisdom of our Creator, and the simplicity of the means He employs in producing the infinite variety of beings which people the universe.

"This is the first time," cried l'Encuerado, indignantly, "that I have heard the devil made use of as a means of bestowing praise upon Almighty God."

"Bats have no connection with your devil," said Sumichrast; "they are nothing but animals, rather more curiously constructed than others."

"Oh! M. Sumichrast, then you can never have examined their wings? The Satan that St. Michael is treading under his feet in the beautiful picture in the convent at Orizava has wings just like the bats. And as to these caverns, every one knows that they are the residences of bad spirits."

"Let us make our way at once into it, then," said Lucien, who in no way shared his friend's superstition.

As on the day before, we descended to its bottom, and, skirting the left-hand wall, entered a wide chamber, in which water fell in a continual shower. We were inconvenienced by the icy drops which ran down our clothes, and I therefore advised Sumichrast to turn back; but instead of doing so, he pushed on into a winding passage. Before long the roof became so low that Lucien alone could stand upright. I brought up the rear, watching my guides, who kept on ascending or descending, according to the inequalities of the ground. Sometimes it was necessary to halt, to climb over a rock, or cross a pool of water. At last I saw my companions again resume their upright position; we were now in a hall, so vast that our torches were quite powerless to throw a light up to the roof.

Surrounded by hundreds of bats, flitting round the torches like immense moths, and yet always avoiding them, we had ample opportunity for observing the precision of their flight. At length, stunned by their shrill cries, I again proposed to beat a retreat, but Sumichrast insisted upon continuing our search. He urged that the bats, who went out every night into the open air to seek their food, would not be likely to follow the narrow winding path we had followed; there must therefore be some other outlet. My friend and l'Encuerado set off in search of it; but I did not dare to venture farther with my boy over the damp and sticky ground. Our two scouts, however, climbed some enormous heaps of rock many feet above us; and we suddenly lost sight them.

The bats still swarmed round us, pushing their familiarity so far as to brush us with their wings. My prudence rather vexed Lucien, who had become very intrepid. After about five minutes, Sumichrast's voice summoned us, and we bent our steps towards the heap of rocks which had been scaled by our companions.

The ascent was difficult, and, in spite of remonstrances, I would not let go Lucien's hand. Fortunately I did not do so, for suddenly he slipped, and, while trying to save him, I dropped my torch; and there we were, perched up on this pile of débris, in utter darkness.

"Don't move!" I cried; "you know that we are surrounded by precipices."

"How dark it is! One might fancy that the darkness was solid, and weighed down upon our eyes."

"The fact is, that we are in a darkness in which the light does not penetrate, even by reflection, and, like you, I could readily fancy that I was blindfolded. Call l'Encuerado."

The vaulted roof above us re-echoed the name of the Indian, who immediately replied.

The bats now ceased their flight; but when the light reappeared the uproar began afresh. Lucien related our accident to his friend, who, in his hurry to come to our rescue, fell several times over the rocks. At last he reached us, and, lighting our torches, he guided us over the dangerous ground. When we cleared the fallen rocks, we entered a chamber studded with stalactites, on which Sumichrast's torches threw a light, and the walls of the cave glittered as if they had been covered with crystal stars. From the ground, from the roof, and from the walls, clusters of variegated rays were reflected in every direction, as if emanating from ten thousand diamonds. The beauty of this scene was quite sufficient to dazzle far less enthusiastic spectators than we were. But it was not long before a repulsive, oppressive, thick smoke compelled us to move on, and a few paces through a passage brought us into the centre of an immense hall, lighted by an aperture into the open air.

I joyfully hailed the blue sky, and then closely examining the ground we were treading on, noticed that it was covered with fragments of baked clay. Removing this, it was not long before we came to a layer of damp charcoal. L'Encuerado went outside and cut some branches, which, when pointed at the end, helped us in our digging. After two hours of hard work, we succeeded in laying bare more than a square yard of black and greasy mould.

Thoroughly exhausted, in spite of my curiosity being excited, I was compelled to follow Sumichrast out of the cave in order to breathe the fresh air. A fine rain was falling, and I was so devoted to the idea of my excavation in the cave, that I was very glad to use the state of the weather as a pretext for putting off our departure to the next day.

My companions had hardly recovered their breath before I summoned them back to work. L'Encuerado, as the hole became larger, was quite excited, and soon fancied that he could perceive gold. The fact is, that every Indian believes that all caves and grottoes contain unheard-of treasures, either the work of nature or buried by man, and that these treasures are guarded by some malicious genius, who allows the searchers just to catch a glimpse of the hidden riches, but never permits their being carried away.

"Don't laugh, Tatita," said the Indian to me, with a mysterious air; "especially just at this moment."

He then went on to tell us that a friend of his, who was tending his flocks on the mountain, ran into the thickets in pursuit of one of his goats. The animal continued to retreat before him, and led him to the mouth of a cave. The Indian, hesitating at first, at length took off all his clothes, so as to be sure that he carried no iron about him, and entered the cavern. But he soon drew back, startled by the sight of fifty broken boxes overflowing with coined money. Instead of profiting by this windfall, and taking possession of the fortune by appropriating some of it which had fallen out on the ground, the stupid fellow returned to his village as quick as he could, and communicated his discovery to his friends. That very evening five of them set out, provided with sacks, intending to convey the treasure to a safe place. They camped in the vicinity of the cave, and the night wore away in drinking to the health of the good genius. As soon as day appeared, they followed their guide. First they ascended, and then they descended; but they never succeeded in finding the spot where all this enormous wealth lay.

"He was not able to find his way back to the spot?" said Lucien, much interested by the story.

"No, Chanito; the cave had become invisible."

"Invisible! but why?"

"Because they had some iron about them!"

"But you have just told us that he stripped off all his clothes?" interposed Sumichrast.

"Ah! but, unfortunately, he kept his flint and steel in his hand."

The afflicted tone in which l'Encuerado pronounced this last phrase drew a smile even from Lucien.

Again we entered the cavern, and picking over with care the layer of charcoal which had already been laid bare, I discovered a small vase of burnt clay, full of ashes. On one of the faces of the urn was depicted a grinning visage, and in the interior was found one of the so-called pilgrim's scallop-shells with the skull of a bird. Accustomed as I was, by long apprenticeship, to such discoveries, I had no doubt whatever but that a skeleton would soon present itself, and a skull was soon discovered; then the vertebræ and tibiæ of a human being. Next we found some obsidian arrow-heads; and, last of all, some small broken clay figures. Unfortunately, it was no use thinking about carrying away all these relics; so I made up my mind to give up further labor. Directly after dinner we busied ourselves in putting our baggage in order, so as to be ready to start the next morning at day-break.

CHAPTER XVII

It rained all night, and I awoke about seven o'clock in the morning shivering with cold. It was Ascension-day, and l'Encuerado, before making up the fire, chanted a canticle, and, after the manner of Roman Catholics, piously crossed himself. We were soon comforted with some coffee, and then, each of us resuming his burden, started off to reach the foot of the mountain. Before plunging into the forest, I could not help looking back with regret at the cave we had scarcely explored, and in which so many archæological curiosities remained buried. The sun only showed itself at intervals through grayish-looking clouds driven violently along by the east wind. The state of the earth, moistened by rain which had lasted twenty-four hours, rendered our progression very difficult, for we were traversing a ferruginous soil. Such wretched walking put the finishing-stroke to our ill-humor by smearing and soiling our clothes; for my part, I inwardly anathematized travelling in general, more especially in rainy weather.

Just as we were emerging from this miserable ravine, Gringalet, who had no doubt scented something, suddenly rolled himself upon the ground, frantically. We had proceeded some distance before he rejoined us, covered with a coating of red clay, which gave him as singular an aspect as can well be imagined. The dog ran up and down, bounded about and barked, as if he was making it a business to amuse us. Nor were his efforts without success. We now reached a small plain, in which the sun flooded us with its warm rays. This had the effect of putting us into better humor; for our clothes dried, and with the warmth the feelings of discomfort to which we had been a prey departed.

We were again entering among trees, when l'Encuerado suddenly stopped.

"What is that moving down below there?" he said.

"Some deer," I replied, after looking at them through my glass.

Each of us hurried to hide behind a bush, in hopes that the beautiful animals would come within gunshot. Several times l'Encuerado expressed a wish to move round to the other side of the plain; but I opposed his idea, as the distance was too great. We spent more than an hour in watching the flock browsing, playing about, and licking themselves; but not one of them ventured in our direction. Tired with this inaction, Sumichrast emerged from his hiding-place, and the deer scampered off. Upon the whole, however, this delay had not been altogether useless; for, thanks to the heat of the sun, the ground had become more traversable, and my friend actually hummed a tune as he took the lead.