And how
shall we eat our soup without plates or spoons? We cannot possibly raise
this large boiling pot to our heads, and drink out of it."
It was too true. We gazed stupified at our pot, and, at last, all burst
into laughter at our destitution, and our folly in forgetting such
useful necessaries.
"If we only had cocoa-nuts," said Ernest, "we might split them, and make
basins and spoons."
"_If_!" replied I--"but we have none! We might as well wish for a dozen
handsome silver spoons at once, if wishes were of any use."
"But," observed he, "we can use oyster-shells."
"A useful thought, Ernest; go directly and get the oysters; and,
remember, gentlemen, no complaints, though the spoons are without
handles, and you should dip your fingers into the bowl."
Off ran Jack, and was mid-leg in the water before Ernest got to him. He
tore down the oysters, and threw them to his idle brother, who filled
his handkerchief, taking care to put a large one into his pocket for his
own use; and they returned with their spoil.
Fritz had not yet appeared, and his mother was becoming uneasy, when we
heard him cheerfully hailing us at a distance. He soon came up, with a
feigned air of disappointment, and his hands behind him; but Jack, who
had glided round him, cried out, "A sucking pig! a sucking pig!" And he
then, with, great pride and satisfaction, produced his booty, which I
recognized, from the description of travellers, to be the _agouti_,
common in these regions, a swift animal, which burrows in the earth, and
lives on fruits and nuts; its flesh, something like that of the rabbit,
has an unpleasant flavour to Europeans.
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