With regard to the larger hare, known farther north as the
Jackass rabbit, the Indians generally refuse to eat its flesh, under the
pretense that it feeds on dead bodies, a mistake which as yet they have
not been persuaded to abandon."

We did justice to our game like guests who have to make up for a forced
fast. The meal finished, without further delay our little coterie moved
on again. Instead of the abundant and bushy thickets of sarsaparilla, we
met with nothing but stunted shrubs. However, as we approached the
mountain the vegetation assumed a richer aspect, and the bare rocks no
longer protruded through the soil. Here and there, tanagers, with black
backs, yellow breasts, and violet-blue throats, fluttered around us;
also other variegated birds of the Passerine family. We were just
about to begin climbing the slope, when l'Encuerado, whose piercing eyes
seemed to see every thing, exclaimed:

[Illustration: "A labyrinth of rocks brought us out in front of a stony
rampart, more than a hundred feet in height."]

"There are some potatoes!"

Lucien ran towards the Indian, who, with his _machete_, had already
cleared away the earth round a small plant with oval-shaped leaves,
covered with soft greenish berries. Some wrinkled tubercles were ere
long discovered, which we could easily crush between our fingers. This
is the origin of the valuable plant for which Europe is indebted to
America.

After climbing some time, we came upon a mass of rocks all heaped up in
a perfect chaos. Some obstacle or other incessantly obliged us either to
jump over or make a circuit so as to get forward. The temperature,
however, was refreshing, and rendered our exertions less fatiguing.

The chances of our journey brought us out once more upon the plateau.
All the mountain crests we could see were barren, and a profound silence
reigned on every side. We stopped to take breath, and the sight that met
our eyes impressed us with its stern grandeur. It reminded Sumichrast of
the Swiss mountains which he had so often traversed; and some flowers he
gathered further recalled his home. While thus occupied, two butterflies
fluttered over our heads.

"It is an Alpine species!" eagerly cried my friend.

The locality prevented him from following these capricious insects for
any distance: for one moment he leaned over the abyss, bristling up with
rocks, and followed, with a longing eye, the two winged flowers which
had recalled to him a fleeting