We had still some eggs, which
we ate; but I saw with fear that the time approached when we must have
more food, which I knew not where to find. I saw, indeed, some fruits on
the trees, but I did not know them, and feared to give them to my
children, who wished to have them. I saw also cocoa-nuts, but quite out
of my reach; and even if I could have got them, I did not know how to
open them. The tree under whose branches we had found protection was, I
conjectured, an American fig-tree; it bore a quantity of fruit, very
small and red, and like the European fig. I ventured to taste them, and
found them inferior to ours,--insipid and soft,--but, I thought, quite
harmless. I remarked that the little green monkeys ate them greedily, so
I had no more fear, and allowed my children to regale themselves. I was
much more afraid of wild beasts during the night; however, I had seen
nothing worse than some little quadrupeds resembling the rabbit or
squirrel, which came in numbers to shelter themselves during the night
under our tree. The children wished to catch one, but I could not
undertake to increase my charge. We had a quiet night, and were early
awaked by the songs of the birds. How delighted I was to have escaped
the noise of the waves, and to feel the freshness of the woods, and the
perfume of the flowers, with which my children made garlands, to
decorate my head and their own! These ornaments, during this time of
mourning and bereavement, affected me painfully, and I was weak enough
to forbid them this innocent pleasure; I tore away my garland, and threw
it into the rivulet.
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