do went
off with Lucien in quest of some flexible creepers, to be used for
binding together the various portions of it. When our companions joined
us, Sumichrast was squaring out the last trunks. Lucien, laden with
creepers wound all round his body, carried besides, at the end of his
stick, the carcass of a horned snake--_Atropos Mexicanus_--which has
scales standing erect behind its eyebrows, like little horns, which have
obtained for it its Indian name of _mazacoatl_. The reptile was nearly
two feet long, and of a grayish color, and gaped with formidable jaws,
more than usually dilated by the blows, I suppose, which l'Encuerado had
given it.

Sumichrast, with infinite precaution, showed to his pupil the tubular
fangs, by means of which serpents inoculate the terrible venom with
which some of them have been endowed by nature.

"When the reptile bites," said my friend, "its two fangs press on a
small bladder at their base, and the poison is thus injected into the
wound."

Our naturalist rendered his explanation still clearer by pressing on one
of the fangs, from the end of which oozed out an almost imperceptible
drop of liquid.

"How is it that the serpent does not poison itself?" asked Lucien.

"In the first place, it does not chew its prey; and, secondly, its venom
is only dangerous when it penetrates direct into the blood; and a man,
if there is no scratch in his mouth or in the digestive tube, can
swallow the poison with impunity, although a very small quantity
introduced into his veins would cause immediate death."

After our meal, which consisted of turtle and some palm cabbage, which
in flavor resembles an artichoke, I set the example of commencing work.
In less than two hours the materials for the raft had been carried to
the edge of the stream, and the frail bark which was to carry us down to
the plains was constructed and afloat. A little before sunset,
l'Encuerado, provided with a long pole for a boat-hook, pushed it out on
the water to ascertain its powers of buoyancy; and the trial having been
judged satisfactory, the raft was moored, and we all lay down in front
of our "Villa" to enjoy a siesta.

At last, when every thing was arranged for the voyage, l'Encuerado,
naked down to his waist, went behind as pilot. We gave a farewell salute
to the "Villa," by a loud hurrah, which seemed to frighten our
menagerie, and with a last look at the forest in which I had spent so
many miserable hours the mooring