L'Encuerado then laid Lucien down in front of the fire, and began to rub him after the Indian method, vigorously shampooing the whole of his body. Next he made him walk and run with the longest strides he could take; and, after repeating this process, brought him a cup of boiling coffee. Having been revived and strengthened in this way, the lad quite recovered his sprightliness, and soon asked when we were going to start. I gave a small present to the old couple who had so kindly accommodated us, and our little party began its second day's work; Gringalet sniffing the breeze, and evidently enjoying the excursion as much as any of the party. When the sun rose, the sky was covered with grayish clouds, driven along quickly by a north wind; but the weather was cool, and well adapted to walking. A limestone mountain rose right in front of us, the slope of which we had to climb; but ere we reached the top, we halted at least twenty times to take breath. Our little companion, with his head bent down towards the ground, struggled to retain his place by our side. At last we reached the summit, and felt at liberty to rest. Casting a glance on the plain beneath us, the boy surveyed a vast prairie, dotted over with clumps of bushes. He silently contemplated the panorama which was spread out beneath, although he failed to completely comprehend all that he saw. "Look at those black spots moving about over the plain," said he. "They are oxen," I replied. "Oxen! Why they are scarcely as big as Gringalet." "Don't you know that you must not trust to appearances? Recollect the trees you saw yesterday, which you thought were a forest." "But if, from this height, the oxen appear no larger than sheep, the sheep ought not to look greater than flies." "You can easily judge; there is a flock of goats down below." "A flock of goats! It is like a swarm of ants." "Exactly; but look at them through the telescope." Availing himself of the glass, which he used rather unskillfully, Lucien raised a sudden cry. "I see them! I see them!" he exclaimed. "How pretty they are! They are running about and crowding together, in front of a little boy who is driving them." "It is most likely a man, who is diminished by the distance." "The idea of men of that size!" "Well, look at the foot of that wooded hill; the thin line which you might easily take for a mere pathway is the main road. Perhaps you may see an Indian family travelling along it." [Illustration: "The basket and its bearer chased one another down the hill."] Lucien kept shifting his telescope about for some minutes without descrying any thing; but at last he broke out in a fresh exclamation. "Have you discovered any men?" I asked. "Oh yes!--men, horses, and mules; but they are regular Lilliputians." "You are quite right," said Sumichrast; "how do we know that Dr. Swift did not first form his idea of 'Gulliver's Travels' from looking at the world from the top of a high mountain?"