ing some
wood, l'Encuerado cleared the ground, and Sumichrast cut down two or
three shrubs which impeded the view. I then ordered the Indian to light
the fire, which would assist us to reconnoitre the entrance to the
cavern; which being done, it was necessary for us to go in search of
game for our dinner.

Looking from the plain, I could well judge of the feat we had
accomplished in our descent. Up to the level of the cave there were
shrubs and brush-wood. Higher up, orchids, with their bright flowers and
opal-green leaves; higher still rose a perpendicular and almost smooth
rampart, utterly impassable except through the fissure which had
afforded us egress. Sumichrast guided us through the thicket, where the
frangipanni-plants, covered with their sweet-scented flowers,
predominated, announcing our approach into the _Terre-Chaude_, and of a
completely altered nature of vegetation. Soon an immense mahogany-tree
(_Swietenia mahogoni_), with its thick boughs and dark-green foliage,
rose before us; a little farther on a fallen ceiba had crushed four or
five shrubs. The ceiba (_Eriodendron anfractuosum_) called _Pochotl_ by
the Indians, is one of the largest trees known; its fruit, of a pod-like
shape, contains a silky down, which possesses a singular property of
swelling in the sun. I was pointing out this peculiarity to Lucien, when
a formidable buzzing noise met our ears; a whole flock of Hercules
beetles had flown out of a bush and struck heavily against the branches
of a tree. Lucien caught one and wanted to hold it down on the ground,
but the insect got away from him and continued its flight.

[Illustration: "I then ordered the Indian to light the fire."]

"Oh!" cried the boy, "this beetle is stronger than I am!"

"It is not for nothing that it bears the name of _Hercules_," replied
Sumichrast, smiling; "as you have just found out, it is as remarkable
for its strength as for its size. It is a native of Brazil, and is only
occasionally found in Mexico."

"Do they always travel in flocks like this?"

"No; the occurrence is so rare that I shall make a note of it."

"I smell something like snuff," said Lucien, sneezing.

"It proceeds from the beetles," said Sumichrast.

And so powerful was this odor, that it caused Lucien several times to
sneeze. This was another fact to note down.

"Papa, do look at them hanging one on to another, and forming something
like an immense bunch of grapes. Do they bite with those po