shouted to him to come back. Fortunately for itself, my
shouts startled the iguana, which took to the water, and swam away,
sculling itself forward by meant of its long tail at a rapid rate.

Arthur had manufactured a net for catching insects. As soon as we were
seated in front of our hut, enjoying the cool air after the sun had set,
Ellen exclaimed, "Oh, see what beautiful fireworks!" At a short
distance from us there appeared suddenly to rise thousands of sparks of
great brilliancy. Arthur ran forward with his net, and quickly
returned, placed the hoop on the ground, and lifted up the end, when so
bright was the light which came from the interior that we could without
difficulty read a page of the book on natural history we had been
examining a short time before. On taking out some of the insects he had
caught to look at them more narrowly, Arthur placed one on its back,
when it sprang up with a curious click and pitched again on its feet.
On examining it we found that this was produced by the strong spine
placed beneath the thorax, fitting into a small cavity on the upper part
of the abdomen. It brings this over its head, and striking the ground
with great force, can thus regain its natural position. The creature
was about an inch and a half long, and of a brown colour. The light
proceeded from a smooth, yellow, semi-transparent spot on each side of
the thorax. We found that even with a single one passed over the page
we could see the letters clearly. Ellen ran and brought a vial, into
which we put a dozen, when it literally gave forth the light of a bright
lamp, sufficient to write by. It is known in the country as the cocuja.
It is the elater, or still more scientifically, the _Pyrophorus
noctilucus_. The forest behind the hut was literally filled at times
with brilliant sparks of light, now vanishing, now bursting forth with
greater brightness than at first. The Brazilian ladies wear these
beetles alive secured in their hair, and sometimes on their dresses,
which thus glitter brightly as they move about in the dusk.

The next morning at daylight Duppo was busily employed hunting about in
the neighbourhood, and at length shouted to us to bring a basket. We
found he had just discovered the nest of an iguana, filled with eggs.
He assured us that they were excellent. On boiling some for breakfast,
we agreed with him. Like those of the turtle, they did not harden by
boiling, but only became somewhat th