Lucien took possession of the fawn. He had always longed to possess one of these animals alive. He duly examined the slender legs and tapering muzzle of the poor creature, whose fawn-colored back, dotted over with symmetrically arranged spots, would change in color as it got older. "Well, Master 'Sunbeam,' in what class will you place this mammal?" asked Sumichrast, addressing Lucien. "It is not like any of those I know." "Well, then, you never can have seen goats, cows, or sheep. It is a ruminant, or an animal which has three or four stomachs. Its lower jaw is provided with eight incisors, while the upper jaw has nothing but a cushion or gum." "That's right enough," said Lucien, opening the fawn's mouth. "In all ruminants, the food, when swallowed, passes into the first stomach; it is then brought up to be chewed again; this is called 'chewing the cud.' You must often have seen a cow or a sheep sitting quiet in the sun and constantly chewing." "Yes," replied Lucien, "and l'Encuerado always told me that they had eaten some bitter herb." "His explanation is about as correct as that given by the Mexicans, who say that an animal which chews the cud is reading the newspaper. Another characteristic of these animals is, that their feet are cloven." "And they have horns!" cried Lucien. "Not all of them; for instance, the camel, llama, and musk-deer, are exceptions." It remained for us to decide how our fawn should be cooked. After a discussion on the subject, we left the point entirely to l'Encuerado, and I made my way down to the bottom of the ravine. Upon lifting up some stones and pieces of bark, I discovered several species of the _Carabus_ family. Lucien caught on a shrub some insects of a very peculiar shape; at the first glance, Sumichrast recognized them as _tettigones_. "These insects belong to the _Hemeptera_ family," said he, "therefore they are allied to the bug and the grasshopper; these insects have neither mandibles[O] nor jaws; their mouth is a sort of beak, formed of a jointed tube extending along the breast, which you can see very plainly. This order is a very numerous one, and the two species you have just found are peculiar to Mexico." "Here is one like a fowl, and another like a canoe." "You are quite right, and you will meet with others which are still more singular looking."