them, so far, at
least, as I know.

About two o'clock in the afternoon, Lucien remarked that the trees grew
farther apart, which was a sign that we were approaching an open glade
or the foot of a mountain. Sumichrast made the boy walk in front as
leader--a reward for the sharpness of his eyes. Proud of this duty, our
little guide led us to an opening edged with a rampart of wood at a
short distance off.

"Halt!" cried I.

The butts of the guns were dropped upon the ground at this order; our
hut was soon constructed, and l'Encuerado immediately afterwards busied
himself preparing our meal.

[Illustration: "A tiger-cat bounded forward and seized the pheasant."]

Sumichrast, who, from the state of his hand, was condemned to idleness,
remained with the Indian, while I proceeded, in company with Gringalet
and Lucien, to reconnoitre the vicinity of our bivouac. Almost
immediately, a _yoloxochitl_, a species of magnolia, met our eyes. I
called l'Encuerado, who climbed the tree in order to throw us down some
of its beautiful sweet-smelling flowers; they are externally of a
pinkish-white color, yellow on the inside, and the petals, before
they are full-blown, assume the form of a cross, and afterwards that of
a splendid star. The Indian did not fail to remind us that an infusion
of the glittering leaves of the _yoloxochitl_ is a remedy against
diarrh[oe]a, and that its flowers, as their shape indicates, cure
palpitation of the heart. A little farther on we recognized a
nutmeg-tree, a shrub about ten feet in height, and covered with
half-formed fruit. The nutmeg is not cultivated in Mexico, and the tree
that produces it is rather rare. The Indians, however, use an enormous
quantity of the Molucca nutmegs, either as a remedy or as a
condiment--nutmegs, camphor, and asaf[oe]tida being the principal Indian
remedies. I next pointed out to my young companion a plant named the
_blue herb_, the leaves of which stain the water in which they are
soaked with a lovely azure tinge. In Mexico a variety of this vegetable
is cultivated, in order to extract from it the coloring matter commonly
known under the name of _indigo_.

"But how do they manage," asked Lucien, "to obtain from a plant those
dark-blue stones that I have seen sold in the market?"

"About the month of March," I answered, "are gathered the fresh leaves
of the indigo-plant, which is one of the leguminous family, and pound
them in mortars made out of the trunks of trees