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In the Terre-Tempérée, a root called amoli is a substitute for soap; in the Terre-Chaude a bulb named amolito is used for the same purpose; lastly, in the Mistec province of Oajaca, the poor find a natural soap in the bark of the Quillaja saponaria, a tree belonging to the rose tribe.
"It is the dew, Chanito; it is almost as abundant as the night dews in the Terre-Chaude." "Are not morning and night dews the same thing?" "Not exactly," I replied; "the morning dew is generally of a beneficial nature; but the Mexicans dread the other, which falls after sunset, and is said to be productive of fever." "But from whence does all this moisture come?"
"Don't you find that the mosquitoes in the Terre-Chaude bite much sharper than those in the Terre-Tempérée?" asked the boy, addressing l'Encuerado. "No, Chanito; they are all alike, for they belong to the same family, as your papa says." "Then they must be more numerous here, for every instant one receives a fresh pinch."
The women in the Terre-Chaude, by passing a pin through this natural ring, can fix this brilliant insect as an ornament in their hair, without injuring it in the least. Now, then, place it on its back." "It's pretending to be dead!" cried Lucien. "Yes; it does that, like many other kinds of insects, in order to deceive an enemy about to seize it." "Oh, how it jumps!" exclaimed Lucien.
"The mosquito, that terrible scourge of the Terre-Tempérée and the Terre-Chaude, renders these regions inaccessible to the inhabitants of the Terre-Froide. They can not get accustomed to their bites, which cover their bodies with large red pustules, causing fever and want of sleep, and giving the victims the appearance of having just recovered from small-pox."
The winters of the Mexican Terre-Froide are like our European springs. It is, however, never warm enough to allow tropical fruit to ripen; but the Terre-Froide only deserves its name when it is compared with the Terre-Chaude and the Terre-Tempérée." "It seems to me to have been very badly named, for it is as hot now as the day when the south wind blew so strongly.
Our intention was to make our way into the Cordillera, and, passing round the volcano of Orizava, to descend into the savannahs beyond, slanting off to the left so as ultimately to reach the sea. Then we thought of traversing the prairies and forests of the Terre-Chaude, so as again to come to our starting-point through the mountains of Songolica.
No doubt it's a good thing to be brave, but you must manage to be less stupid when you are in the forests of the Terre-Chaude, unless you want to be devoured by a tiger, or scratched to pieces by an ant-eater." After listening to l'Encuerado's speech, Lucien scolded him for firing at the poor animal, and then joined us, close to the porcupine, which was dying.
Lucien wondered at the number of animated beings which surrounded us, all the more surprising when compared with the gloomy solitude we had just passed through. "In the Terre-Chaude," said I, "the water-side is always fertile, for the inhabitants both of the prairies and the forests meet there." "Why don't the Mexicans live in such a varied and beautiful country as the Terre-Chaude?"
That which has attracted your attention the Sapota achras is especially well known. It is considered the most wholesome of all the tropical fruits; and from the trunk of the tree oozes out the white gum called chicle, which the inhabitants of the Terre-Chaude and the Terre-Tempérée are so fond of chewing."
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