th they either
furnish valuable skins or wholesome food. Moreover, here the wolf awakes
the reverberating echoes of the forest with its dismal howl; the
raccoon, opossum, and squirrel pass their lives in sportive gambols; the
wild and the ocellated turkeys strut about, pompous in manner, as if
conscious of their handsome plumage, while the timid deer and
shaggy-coated bison roam over prairies or through woodland glades, as
yet unacquainted with the report of the white man's destructive
fire-arms.

Can it, therefore, be surprising that our little hero should have craved
to be permitted to have a sight of this new land, so rich in the
prospect of adventure? How he behaved himself throughout the numerous
ordeals to which he was submitted, suffice it for me to say that his
conduct was worthy of the representative of any nationality, and such as
was calculated to make all parents proud of their offspring; for whether
suffering from thirst or hunger, being persecuted by noxious insects,
straying in the woods, even when within reach of the fiercest carnivora
or in the presence of the deadliest reptiles, he never for a moment
hesitated in performing his seniors' instructions, lost his courage, or,
better still, an opportunity of improving his mind.

That the young English reader may benefit as much by the perusal of this
work as Master Lucien, otherwise "Sunbeam," did by his journey through
the Cordilleras of Mexico, and that they may enjoy the information
herein imparted upon the wonderful works of the Creator, is the sincere
wish of

THE EDITOR.

[Illustration: Decoration]

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION Page 13

CHAPTER I.

Who we are.--Gringalet.--Sunrise.--The
Sugar-cane.--A Halt. 20

CHAPTER II.

Sugar.--Gringalet in the Molasses
Tank.--L'Encuerado's obstinate Idea.--An Indian
Supper. 34

CHAPTER III.

Waking up in the Morning.--The pigmy World of
Lilliput.--L'Encuerado and the Bottles.--Massacre
of Thistles.--The Charcoal-burning Indians. 46

CHAPTER IV.

A difficult Ascent.--The Goat.--The Indian
Girls.--The Tobacco-plant.--The
Bull-fight.--Game.--Lucien's Gun.--Our Entry into
the Wilderness. 61