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The trapper, though he was not deceived as to the state of Dr.
Battius' mind, was, however, greatly in error as to the exciting
cause. While imitating the movements of his companions, and toiling
his way upward with the utmost caution, and not without great inward
tribulation, the eye of the naturalist had caught a glimpse of an
unknown plant, a few yards above his head, and in a situation more
than commonly exposed to the missiles which the girls were unceasingly
hurling in the direction of the assailants. Forgetting, in an instant,
every thing but the glory of being the first to give this jewel to the
catalogues of science, he sprang upward at the prize with the avidity
with which the sparrow darts upon the butterfly. The rocks, which
instantly came thundering down, announced that he was seen; and for a
moment, while his form was concealed in the cloud of dust and
fragments which followed the furious descent, the trapper gave him up
for lost; but the next instant he was seen safely seated in a cavity
formed by some of the projecting stones which had yielded to the
shock, holding triumphantly in his hand the captured stem, which he
was already devouring with delighted, and certainly not unskilful,
eyes.
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