210 AFRICAN ADVENTURE STORIES 



knew he had not studied Latin, but, neverthe- 

 less, the name and the taste were near enough for 

 him to guess the common term. He promptly 

 stalked to the brink of the river and, tossing the 

 body far out, spent the afternoon sullen and 

 silent. But the agility with which he came to, 

 hustled off his clothes and dived into the water 

 to recover that crow's body when we sighted 

 two visitors coming up the river proved be- 

 yond doubt that he considered the joke good 

 enough to be played on some one else. 



Our friends soon arrived and, following the 

 demands of all boys' stomachs, asked for some- 

 thing to eat. Corvus americanus was once more 

 brought forth and divided equally among 

 them. Again I am unable to publish the com- 

 ments that were made when our guests discov- 

 ered the trick. 



Ten years later, while stopping at a large es- 

 tate in Belgium, I was repaid for this deed in 

 my own coin, but instead of eating in ignorance, 

 the dish was prepared for my special benefit 

 and at no little trouble. The European rook 

 corresponds to our crow and in that section of 

 the country is considered a great delicacy. I 

 was told that thousands of them were killed 



