inued its
meal, much to the amusement of Lucien, who hardly expected to find such
tiger-like habits in an insect so elegant in form and so harmless in
appearance.

"It is of the order _Neuroptera_," I said to him; "thus called because
of the veins on its four wings. This insect first lives in the water in
the form of a larva, in which state it remains a year--it is very much
like the insect you are holding, only, all that can be seen of its wings
are small swellings, which grow longer each time the animal changes its
skin. This swelling is a sort of sheath to the beautiful gauzy wings
which distinguish all the Neuroptera, and the dragon-fly in particular."

"What! does the dragon-fly begin its life by living in water like a
fish?"

"Yes, and they are quite as voracious in that state as when they are
perfect insects. The larva changes to a grub, and greedily devours
water-lizards and young fish; after a certain time, which varies
according to the species, it rises to the top of the water by crawling
up a reed, and remains perfectly motionless, exposed to the rays of the
sun; suddenly, the skin covering the head bursts open, and the
dragon-fly, spotted with black, blue, and green, takes flight, and loses
no time in darting upon the first insect which comes within its reach."

My lecture was interrupted by the cry of "Hallo! hallo!" from
l'Encuerado. It was his substitute for a dinner-bell.

[Illustration]

FOOTNOTE:

[O] A very hard substance placed immediately under the upper lip, which
insects use for cutting and tearing their food.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XI.

A BLUE LIZARD.--THE GUAVA-TREE.--A CATARACT.--NEST OF YELLOW
SERPENTS.--A VEGETABLE HELMET.--THE KINGFISHER.--HUNTING
WATER-FLEAS.--THE TADPOLE.--A COLLECTION OF WATER-BUGS.

The rice-soup, our every-day fare, was, on this occasion, followed by
fawn cutlets broiled on the embers, accompanied by potatoes. This
precious tubercle, in its savage state, only reminded us very slightly
of its cultivated progeny. The pulp, instead of being floury, is soft,
transparent, and almost tasteless. That, however, did not prevent us
from eating them, and doing justice to our venison.

While we were smoking a cigar, which was called by Sumichrast,
according to circumstances, the calumet of repose, of council, or of
digestion, Lucien returned to the shrub on which he had previously found
the insects. He collected a great number of these, and also discovered