those stiff pinnated plumes which young ladies--
when they can obtain them--are only too happy to wear in their hats.
He, after being civil enough to wait on a bough till one of us got a
sitting shot at him, heard the cap snap, thought it as well not to
wait till a fresh one was put on, and flapped away. He need not
have troubled himself. The Negroes--but too apt to forget something
or other--had forgotten to bring a spare supply; and the gun was
useless.

As we descended, the left bank of the river was entirely occupied
with cocos; and the contrast between them and the mangroves on the
right was made all the more striking by the afternoon sun, which, as
it sank behind the forest, left the mangrove wall in black shadow,
while it bathed the palm-groves opposite with yellow light. In one
of these palm-groves we landed, for we were right thirsty; and to
drink lagoon water would be to drink cholera or fever. But there
was plenty of pure water in the coco-trees, and we soon had our
fill. A Negro walked--not climbed--up a stem like a four-footed
animal, his legs and arms straight, his feet pressed flat against
it, his hands clinging round it--a feat impossible, as far as I have
seen, to an European--tossed us down plenty of green nuts; and our
feast began.

Two or three blows with the cutlass, at the small end of the nut,
cut off not only the pith-coat, but the point of the shell; and
disclose--the nut being held carefully upright meanwhile--a cavity
full of perfectly clear water, slightly sweet, and so cold (the
pith-coat being a good non-conductor of heat) that you are advised,
for fear of cholera, to flavour it with a little brandy. After
draining this natural cup, you are presented with a natural spoon of
rind, green outside and white within, and told to scoop out and eat
the cream which lines the inside of the shell, a very delicious food
in the opinion of Creoles. After which, if you are as curious as
some of us were, you will sit down under the amber shade, and
examine at leisure the construction and germination of these famous
and royal nuts. Let me explain it, even at the risk of prolixity.
The coat of white pith outside, with its green skin, will gradually
develop and harden into that brown fibre of which matting is made.
The clear water inside will gradually harden into that sweetmeat
which little boys eat off stalls and barrows in the street; the
first delicate dep