st, which ought to be very common
in this part of the new continent; it was the caoutchouc-tree. In fact,
the "ficus primoides," the "castilloa elastica," the "cecropia
peltats," the "collophora utilis," the "cameraria letifolia," and above
all, the "syphonia elastica," which belong to different families,
abound in the provinces of South America. And meanwhile, a rather
singular thing, there was not a single one to be seen.

Now, Dick Sand had particularly promised his friend Jack to show him
some caoutchouc trees. So a great deception for the little boy, who
figured to himself that gourds, speaking babies, articulate
punchinellos, and elastic balloons grew quite naturally on those trees.
He complained.

"Patience, my good little man," replied Harris. "We shall find some of
those caoutchoucs, and by hundreds, in the neighborhood of the farm."

"Handsome ones, very elastic?" asked little Jack.

"The most elastic there are. Hold! while waiting, do you want a good
fruit to take away your thirst?" And, while speaking, Harris went to
gather from a tree some fruits, which seemed to be as pleasant to the
taste as those from the peach-tree.

"Are you very sure, Mr. Harris," asked Mrs. Weldon, "that this fruit
can do no harm?"

"Mrs. Weldon, I am going to convince you," replied the American, who
took a large mouthful of one of those fruits. "It is a mango."

And little Jack, without any more pressing, followed Harris's example,
He declared that it was very good, "those pears," and the tree was at
once put under contribution.

Those mangos belonged to a species whose fruit is ripe in March and
April, others being so only in September, and, consequently, their
mangos were just in time.

"Yes, it is good, good, good!" said little Jack, with his mouth full.
"But my friend Dick has promised me caoutchoucs, if I was very good,
and I want caoutchoucs!"

"You will have them, Jack," replied Mrs. Weldon, "because Mr. Harris
assures you of it."

"But that is not all," went on Jack. "My friend Dick has promised me
some other thing!"

"What then, has friend Dick promised?" asked Harris, smiling.

"Some humming-birds, sir."

"And you shall have some humming-birds, my good little man, but farther
on--farther on," replied Harris.

The fact is that little Jack had a right to claim some of these
charming creatures, for he was now in a country where they should
abound. The Indians, who know how to weave their feathers artistica