n with Canda and Minou;
they half-devoured the latter with caresses, fed him with figs and
honey, and amused him so much, that he would scarcely leave them. Canda
was not jealous of this preference, but seemed delighted with it; she,
in her turn, caressed my daughters, admired their glossy hair and fair
skin, and pointed them out to her husband; she repeated Minou after
them, but always added another _Minou_, and appeared to think this name
beautiful. After some words with Parabery, she placed Minou-Minou in
Sophia's arms, and they both departed, making signs that they would
return; but we did not see them for some time after. Sophia and Matilda
had their full enjoyment of their favourite; they wished to teach him to
walk and to speak, and they assured me he was making great progress.
They were beginning to hope his parents had left him entirely, when they
came in sight, Parabery bending under the weight of two bear-skins, and
a beautiful piece of matting to close the entrance to my grotto; Canda
carried a basket on her head filled with fine fruit; the cocoa, the
bread-fruit (which they call _rima_), pine-apples, figs, and, finally,
a piece of bear's flesh, roasted at the fire, which I did not like; but
I enjoyed the fruits and the milk of the cocoa-nut, of which Minou-Minou
had a good share. They spread the bear-skins in the midst of the grotto;
Parabery, Canda, and the infant, between them, took possession of one
without ceremony, and motioned to us to make our bed of the other. But
the bears having only been killed the evening before, these skins had an
intolerable smell. I made them comprehend this, and Parabery immediately
carried them off and placed them in the brook, secured by stones. He
brought us in exchange a heap of moss and leaves, on which we slept
very well.

"From this moment we became one family. Canda remained with us, and
repaid to my daughters all the care and affection they bestowed on
Minou-Minou. There never was a child had more indulgence; but he
deserved it, for his quickness and docility. At the end of a few months
he began to lisp a few words of German, as well as his mother, of whom I
was the teacher, and who made rapid progress. Parabery was very little
with us, but he undertook to be our purveyor, and furnished us
abundantly with everything necessary for our subsistence. Canda taught
my daughter to make beautiful baskets,--some, of a flat form, served for
our plates and dishes. Parabery mad