several teas which have a very nice taste, and I can produce very fair
coffee from the root of the dandelion. If I was in Canada, I could
manufacture excellent sugar from the maple-tree. Here I could make it
out of beetroot, but it would be troublesome. I can give you as a
dessert some delicious strawberries, and raspberries, and filberts, and
I could get plenty of chestnuts, and no one would accuse me of stealing
them; indeed, with a little consideration and trouble, I could place
before you a first, second, and third course, which ought to satisfy the
taste of the most fastidious. For my own part, I do not object to
frog's legs and snails; and if I was hungry, and could get nothing else,
I would eat a snake without hesitation; but I do not ask others to
entertain my views."

"Oh, oh! Greggy, you cannibal! you would eat grubs and caterpillars, I
suppose? Why, you are no better than an Australian savage," exclaimed
Bouldon, with a look of ineffable disgust.

"That is the worst of you, Gregson, you go into extremes," observed
Ernest. "We tried once, at home, for curiosity's sake, just the dinner
you describe, and a very good dinner we had, though it was more suited
to a Frenchman's than an Englishman's taste. My father says that if
people studied the subject, many more things would be found fit for food
than are now used. For instance, if two people were cast on shore on an
uninhabited island, or were travelling through the wilds of America or
Australia, one might starve from ignorance of what was fit to eat, while
the other, from having a thorough knowledge of botany and natural
history generally might find an abundant supply of nutritious food.
When fruits are not in season, there are nearly always roots to be found
under ground, and various herbs, and even the leaves, and gum, and stems
or bark of trees. The inhabitants of Terra del Fuego live on mushrooms
which are found growing on the stems of the evergreen beech; indeed, I
might multiply instances without end. The naturalist not only knows
that such things exist, but, from having studied their habits, knows
exactly where to look for them. I have often read of poor fellows
starving in the midst of plenty, simply from their ignorance that food
was close around them. Others have been afraid to eat what they found
for fear of being poisoned. I tell you what, Greggy, I think that you
are perfectly right, only you should take care not to disgust people by