MOST GROTESQUE ATTIRE. 207

rition. The third day our friend had consumed all
his provisions, and finding only a little fruit in the
woods, was beginning to feel the cravings of hun-
ger, when he descried columns of smoke proceed-
ing from a clearing. He at once turned his steps
in that direction. Some redskins had pitched
their camp on the spot, but, at the sight of this
strange pedestrian, they began to yell, and prepared
at once for flight. The worthy man employed the
most significant signs for arresting their flight and
tranquillising their fears, and succeeded in the end
in making them understand he was dying of
hunger. The Indians, not daring to offend the
unknown divinity, tremblingly placed before him
coffee, maize, and some mule’s flesh, which he ate
with great avidity, and hke a starved mortal.
His meal gave him strength enough to reach
Fredericksburg, which he did on the third day
without accident.”

The Abbé himself seems, among his various ac-
complishments, to have dabbled in natural history ;
and he tells us that a collection of minerals and
curious animals constituted his principal riches.
In this repertory might be seen a centipede 11
inches long, and a caterpillar 18 inches in length
and 2 in circumference. As for serpents, he had
them of all sizes and of every variety! ‘Selection
was easy, as they were everywhere underfoot, and