THE BLACK IGUANA.--ANOTHER COUNTRY.--REMINISCENCES OF CHILDHOOD.--THE
MIRAGE.--A FIRE IN THE PLAIN.
By ten o'clock in the morning we had crossed some rising ground, and
were passing through a narrow gorge carpeted with ferns. Lucien headed
the party, closely followed by l'Encuerado; and led us on to a kind of
rocky staircase, down which, in the rainy season, water doubtlessly
flowed. This steep path compelled us to halt several times to recover
our breath. The branches of the bushes formed an archway over our heads,
and their blossoms surrounded us with their rich perfume.
At length a rise in the ground impeded our path, and the heat commenced
to inconvenience us. The refraction of light, especially, affected our
eyes, and our feet raised perfect clouds of dust. Lucien, who had become
quite an enduring walker, throughout kept in front, and often gained
ground while we were stopping to take breath. Just as we reached the
ridge of the hill, I saw the boy, who was a few yards in advance,
suddenly cock his gun and fire. I ran to him, but he disappeared down
the slope, crying out to me that he had shot a dragon!
I soon came up, and found the young sportsman standing in front of a
magnificent black iguana--_Cyclura acanthura_--which does, in fact,
somewhat resemble the supposed appearance of the fabulous animal
described by the ancients. Its skin shone with a silvery-gray metallic
glitter, more particularly on the dorsal ridge. L'Encuerado joined us
when it was dying, when, rubbing his hands, he cried:
"It is a _guachi-cheve_; what a splendid supper we shall have!"
"You have seen them before, then?"
"It is an animal which belongs to my country, Chanito; it abounds in the
plains which slope down to the Pacific Ocean. They are beasts which can
live without eating; they are sometimes kept for two months with their
feet tied and their mouth sewn up."
"The mouth sewn up?"
"Yes, Chanito, so as to prevent them getting lean. When I was your age,
during the time of Lent, I used to go iguana hunting with my brothers.
We sought them in the shallow marshes which are inundated by water
during flood-time. There, in hollow trunks of trees, or in holes made in
the mud, we found the black iguanas, and pulled them out by their
tails."
"Then they don't bite?"
"Oh yes, they do, and scratch also; so we took care to catch hold of
them by the neck, and tie both their feet and their jaws. Sometimes we
used to pursue them up the trees; but then, for they don't mind falling
twenty or thirty feet, they frequently escaped."
[Illustration: "I used to go iguana hunting with my brothers."]
Sumichrast completed this information by telling the young naturalist
that the iguana, which is allied to the lizards, is generally a yard in
length; and that the female lays thirty to forty eggs, which are much
esteemed by the native epicures; also that the green species--_Iguana
rhinolopha_--has a flat, thin tail, and swims much better than the black
variety, the tail of which, being covered with spines, is not well
adapted for progression through water. Thus, meeting with a green iguana
almost always indicates the vicinity of a stream; but the black
species is frequently found away from rivers.
Lucien wanted at first to carry his game, but he was overtaxed by its
weight and gave it up to l'Encuerado. Another hill was now before us,
and the ground became at every step more and more barren, and on which
there was little or nothing growing but a few shrubs with a bluish
flower. When we had reached the summit of this second ridge, a boundless
plain lay spread out before our gaze; we were now on the central plateau
of Mexico, in the _Terre-Froide_, eight thousand seven hundred feet
above the level of the sea.
What a change there was! The white soil was so light and dry that it was
carried away by the breeze, and produced nothing but a few leafless
trees. There were also some thorny bushes smothered in sand, and, a
little farther on, some gigantic _cacti_ astonished us with their
strange shapes. The sun, reflected by the red glaring surface, much
interfered with our sight, so we directed our steps to the right, where
there appeared to be a greater amount of shade.
"Oh, what a wretched country!" cried Lucien. "Can we be still in
Mexico?"
"Yes," replied I; "but we are now on the great plateau, almost on a
level with the city of Mexico and Puebla."
"Are we going to cross that great plain? I can see neither birds nor
beasts on it; in fact, one might almost fancy the very trees were
thirsty."
"You are right, for it does not often rain here. Nevertheless, this
ground, which at first sight appears so barren, is very fruitful when
cultivated. It produces wheat, barley, potatoes, apples, pears,
cherries, grapes, peaches, and, in short, all the European fruits, which
can only grow in a temperate zone. On this plateau, too, grows the
_Maguey agave_, _Mexicana_, a wonderful plant, which is as useful to
the Mexicans as the cocoa-nut tree is to the inhabitants of the lands to
which it is indigenous."
L'Encuerado had stooped down under a pepper-tree, and his glance
wandered over the scene. The fact was, that we were now about the same
height as that at which his own country is situated, and he might easily
fancy himself near his native village.
"What are you thinking of?" said I, tapping him on the shoulder.
"Oh Tatita! why did you disturb me? Here I feel myself almost as learned
as you, and I could tell you all the names of those flowers which turn
their bright faces towards me as if they knew me! It seems as if I had
often walked on that plain, and as if I had often seen these trees,
bushes, and plants-- You are laughing at me, Chanito; it's all very
well, but you'll see! Tatita will set me right if I tell you any thing
that is not true. Look here, for instance," continued the Indian, rising
up and plucking a plant with slender and whitish stems; "this is the
_alfilerillo_, which mothers give their children to cure them of sore
throats. Such shrubs are lost here; for their fruit would be useful in
my country. Here too, Chanito, is a _mizquitl_, a thorny tree on which
we shall be certain to find some gum. Indeed, here are three morsels of
it. You may safely suck it; it will not seem very nice at first, but you
will soon like it. Oh Tatita! you have really brought me back into my
own country."
"We are certainly on the same line, and it is not to be wondered at that
you find here the same kind of vegetation as in that in which you spent
your childhood."
The Indian was silent, and seemed musing. Sumichrast and I observed him
with some curiosity, and Lucien, surprised at his emotion, looked at him
anxiously.
"Here is the 'angel-plant,'" resumed l'Encuerado, suddenly. "How pleased
my mother used to be when I found one of them."
"What are its good properties?" I asked.
"Oh! it produces beautiful dreams, which seem to lift you to heaven."
The Indian again became pensive, sometimes casting a glance over the
vast prospect, and sometimes pulling up pieces of the turf which grew at
his feet.
"It only needs a palm-tree to make the landscape quite complete," said
he, thoughtfully.
In a minute or so he advanced towards the bushes, and, kneeling down,
plucked a tuft of yellow marigold, which are called in this country "the
dead man's flower." Afterwards I heard him sobbing.
"Oh Chema! what is the matter?" cried Lucien, running up to his friend.
The Indian raised himself and took the boy in his arms.
"Once I had a mother, brothers, and a country," he said, sadly; "and
this flower reminds me that all those are now sleeping in the grave."
"Then you don't love me?" replied Lucien, embracing him.
The only answer l'Encuerado made was pressing the boy so tightly against
his breast as to draw from him a slight cry.
This scene quite affected us, and I and my friend, side by side, walked
back to the hut deeply sunk in thought.
Hunger soon brought with it more commonplace ideas. The white and juicy
flesh of the iguana was quite a feast for us all. Our meal we sat over a
longer time than usual; for in conversation we entered upon the subject
of our native countries, and the theme appeared inexhaustible. I
reminded my friend that, only a few days before, he had shown as much
emotion as the Indian on seeing two butterflies which he fancied
belonged to a Swiss species; and I brought forward these feelings to
oppose the intention he so often expressed of taking up his abode in the
midst of the wilderness, so as to live and die in solitude.
On the great plateau the sun shines rather later than in the lower
regions. As the luminary approached the earth, the sky was lighted up
with a purple color, and I saw standing out on our left in bold relief
the jagged outline of the Cordilleras of l'Encuerado's country. The
whitish ground gradually assumed a transparent appearance; our eyes
deceived us to such an extent that we fancied we saw an immense tract of
water, above which the trees, appearing as if they were submerged,
raised their green heads.
The moon rose, and, far from destroying the mirage, it rendered the
illusion still more striking. I resolved to descend from the hill in
order to convince Lucien how much our vision was deceived.
"There is no mistake about the plain being dry," said he, as we returned
to the bivouac, "and yet one might fancy that, as we were mounting the
hill, the water was rising behind us."
"The layers of the air," I replied, "are unequally warmed, and their
refraction, which causes the rays of light to deviate in their course,
reverses the objects which cover the plain, and, on the other hand,
causes them to appear more elevated than they really are."
"So we see water in a place where in reality there is none."
"You don't take the sky into account, which is reflected on the ground
beneath us as in a mirror. But the air is becoming cooler, and you will
soon see the phenomenon slowly disappear, as if some invisible hand was
pushing the mist back towards the horizon."
[Illustration: "The moon rose, . . . and rendered the illusion more
striking."]
While we were looking down over the plateau, and watching the mirage
gradually fade away, a distant light suddenly shone out. Loud
exclamations hailed the sight of this unknown bivouac; and, fixing our
eyes on it, we all formed endless conjectures. We had not expected to
meet with any habitation before the next day; and the cry of "land!" on
board ship after a long voyage could not have made a stronger impression
than the sight of this fire. The air was cool; still l'Encuerado was not
allowed to kindle a light, which would perhaps have betrayed us to foes.
It was now twenty days since we had met with a human being, and our
first feeling, after the instinctive joy at the idea of seeing our
fellow-creatures, was, alas! one of distrust.
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