 Frontispiece. | ADVENTURESOFA YOUNG NATURALIST.BYLUCIEN BIART.EDITED AND ADAPTED BY PARKER GILLMORE,AUTHOR OF "ALL ROUND THE WORLD," "GUN, ROD, AND SADDLE," "ACCESSIBLE FIELD SPORTS," ETC. WITH ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS.  NEW YORK: HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE. 1871. |
PREFACE.
There is no country on the face of the earth that possessesgreater interest in the eyes of the scientific ortravelled than Mexico, the scene where the adventures sographically and clearly narrated in this volume transpired:nor is this partiality to be wondered at when we recall tomemory what a lavish hand Nature has subtended to her.
Although several of our most celebrated naturalists haveclimbed its lofty volcanic mountains, explored its lagoonsand giant rivers, and traversed its immense forests, still,from the vast extent of that country and variety of climate—causedby difference of elevation—much yet remains tobe done ere the public become thoroughly conversant withits arboreal and zoological productions.
The elephant, hippopotamus, lion, and tiger, the largestand most formidable of the terrestrial mammals of the OldWorld, are not here to be found; but their places are wellsupplied by the swamp-loving tapir, the voracious alligator,the stealthy puma, and the blood-thirsty jaguar, all wellworthy of the sportsman's rifle, or of the snake-visionednative warrior's weapons—for the power of destruction inthese animals during life is great, while after death theyeither furnish valuable skins or wholesome food. Moreover,here the wolf awakes the reverberating echoes of theforest with its dismal howl; the raccoon, opossum, and squirrelpass their lives in sportive gambols; the wild and theocellated turkeys strut about, pompous in manner, as if conscious[6]of their handsome plumage, while the timid deer andshaggy-coated bison roam over prairies or through woodlandglades, as yet unacquainted with the report of thewhite man's destructive fire-arms.
Can it, therefore, be surprising that our little hero shouldhave craved to be permitted to have a sight of this newland, so rich in the prospect of adventure? How he behavedhimself throughout the numerous ordeals to which he wassubmitted, suffice it for me to say that his conduct wasworthy of the representative of any nationality, and such aswas calculated to make all parents proud of their offspring;for whether suffering from thirst or hunger, being persecutedby noxious insects, straying in the woods, even whenwithin reach of the fierce