Thomas County cat., 1889-09-12
SIGHTS IN MEXICO.
Jumbo Snails, Wonderful Butterflies and
TOOthsOme AFmadillos.

Jumbo snails, Wonderful Butteraies and
Toothsome Armadillos.
The trees are covered with orchids,
lovely in form and hue. exquisite OF
odor, infinite in variety. In the course
of one afternoon l gathered more than
one dozen species, besides whole
fower-press full of ferns and blossoms.
as an incidental in the collection OF
butterflies and land-shelIs.
OF the latter there are over one hun
dred varieties in the neighborhood OF
Xalapa. from the tiny strebeling. new
Undiscovered by my hostess. who IS
full-blooded Totonac Indian. to the
great hermaphrodite glandina sower-
byana, whose shell reaches a length of
eleven centimeters, or five inches.
while the extended snail not infre-
quently measures eight and one-half or
nine inches. And the butterflies! oh.
the butterflies! remember once cavil-
ing at Edwin Arnold's smile in The
Light of Asia" wherein he speaks OF
butterflies as 'jeweled objects" The
term seemed inappropriate to the vel
ve:y texture of the butterfly; but l bow
to accurcy. having sSeu the butterflies
of Xalapa. White, black. red. purple.
brown, golden they shine. and many
of them glitter with the brilliancy of
gems. One particularly beautiful va
riety is familiarly known as 'the fig
hn h0
side of its wings. The spread of wing
of some of these gorgeous creatures is
often eight or ten inches, and the night
moths have wings larger than those OF
doves in many species.
Armadillos are, if not abundant, not
rare hereabouts and they find ready
purchasers at from thirty to fifty cents.
The flesh is very delicate and savory.
The favorite mode of cooking is by a
sort of barbecue in its own she'll This
shell is slightly object. with its grad
uated bosses and cOrrugatiOns, and it
has been utilized by deft needle-women
for the ground work of many pretty
bags and boxes. The poems employed
in field labor use these shells to hold
the seed for sowing. To meet
these purposes the lateral edges are
bent together while green and laced
fast by cords or hide-thongs. Although
it would appear to be cleaner animal
than the armadillo the opOssum. it
seems, is disdained as food element
by the Mexicans. although it is so
plentiful hereabouts that it is large
ly trapped for its depradations in the
poultry yard. Strange that the dis
elimination should exist, for the anna
dillO is somewhat OmnivOrous and it is
asserted that it has been known to
make ghoulish raids on graveyard's
while the favorite of the Southern
darkies is more fastidiOus creature.
There exists hereabouts a belief
that the tail of the opossum. dried and
pulverized and drunk in wine. is
sovereign remedy for chills and fever.
Another animal considered tidbit by
the people of the lOwlands makes a
decidedly repulsive impression upon
iguana, or lizard. which the natives
catch and confine in the thatched-
rooted peaks of their houses. Some
people declare that in order to
fatten properly the mouth of the
iguana must be closed by
few stitches to prevent it from
eating The truth probably is that
the wider the poor creatures mouth is
left open the sooner it completes the
process of fattening. as it doubtless
lives on the various Larvae and beetles
bred in the straw or palm of the
thatching. Another of the resources
of the commissary department is
shrub which is called bequinite, or
else pitos (whistles), from the shape
of the flowers, which are OF deep
scarlet, some three inches in length.
growing in clusters. These conical
heads are cooked either as green's or
in the shape of force-meat balls. and
they have, it is said. all the flavor of
good meat. l have not tasted them.
1t is vel that there are to be had
| such toothsOme varieties in the food
line, for the Xalapa market is dear
and poor, and on Fridays in Lent tho
question of butchers meat is vexed
one. Xalapa is closely akin to some
places in California in the matter of
the lively flea, his tenure of Office and
antics. There are also mosquitoes in
abundance and a vicious little gnat
called rodador or ''rounder." whose
sting burns like fire and leaves a tiny
speck of scarlet in the flesh of its VIC
tim. Happily this pest is not common.
There are scorpions and other venom
Gus insects, but their sting is only
painful. not fatal. There is also q
rattlesnake which is not venomous.
and horned serpent, and another
snake which the wiseacres were fain to
find realization of the tabled amphis-
bnna. which was said to have a head