CHAPTER XIV.
THE METEOR.—GOD ALMIGHTY'S LANTERNS.—THE SKUNK.—THE JALAP-PLANT.—AN AERIAL JOURNEY.—THE ORCHIDS.—BIVOUAC IN THE MOUTH OF A CAVE.—GRINGALET AND THE BEETLES.—A WHITE ANTS' NEST.
The sun left us soon afterwards, and we sat talking by the fire. At last l'Encuerado took away Lucien towards the rocks, and set up one of those interminable chants with which his memory was stored. Our fire lighted up with its red gleam the stone on which they were sitting, making it look like an immense pedestal, surmounted by two bronze statues. Any traveller suddenly entering the valley would have recoiled in terror before this fantastic apparition; and if any wild beast had been prowling near us, our gigantic shadows would certainly have made it keep its distance.
We were just thinking of calling Lucien to come and lie down under the hut, when l'Encuerado shouted out to us. Towards the east, a large luminous disk was shining brilliantly above the mountain peaks. This luminous globe, lengthening out into the shape of an ellipse, appeared to move along.
In fact, it was descending slowly over the wooded crests. Lucien and l'Encuerado kept plying us with questions in reference to it, which we were unable to answer.
"What is it?" cried Sumichrast.