nd forests of the Terre-Chaude, so as again to come to our
starting-point through the mountains of Songolica. This circuit would
represent a journey of a hundred and fifty leagues as the crow flies, or
at least three hundred leagues, reckoning all the circuits and bends we
should be obliged to make. During this long expedition, we had made up
our minds to seek, when opportunity offered, the hospitality of any
Indian villages that might come in our road, and only when absolutely
necessary to camp in the open air.

About eleven, the heat became overpowering, and Lucien began to inquire
about breakfast. We were just then passing through a plantation, I might
almost say a forest of sugar-canes. The stems of the plants were either
of a yellowish hue or veined with blue, and were more than six feet
high. The latter kind will ultimately supersede its rival; for the
cultivators assert that, although not so large, it affords a much more
certain crop. L'Encuerado, seizing his _machete_ (a straight and a short
cutlass, indispensable to the inhabitants of the Terre-Chaude), cut down
a magnificent stem, and, peeling it, offered each of us a piece. The
sugar-cane is extremely hard, and it is necessary to cut it up in order
to break the cellules in which the sweet juice is contained. My
companions set to work to chew the pith of the valuable plant; and even
Gringalet seemed to be just as fond of it as they were.

Not far from the cane-field, some Indians were working on a new
plantation. The ground was covered with ashes. The foreman explained to
us that when the canes are cut down, the first thing is to pull off the
long leaves, which are left on the ground. In eight days this rubbish is
dried by the tropical sun; they then set them on fire, and the ashes
which result serve as manure. Five or six Aztecs were cultivating this
apparently sterile ground by means of a primitive kind of plough, made
of a mere stake attached to circular discs of wood forming spokeless
wheels; it was drawn by two oxen yoked together.

Sumichrast took Lucien by the hand.

"In future," said he, "when you crunch a lump of sugar, you shall know
something of the manufacture of what you are eating. The sugar-cane is
called, in Latin, _Saccharum officinale_, that is, 'druggist's sugar,'
because the product of this plant was so rare that it was sold only at
the druggists' shops. The plant itself is said to be a native of India,
and is, as you see, a tuft of vege