Wild Berries 



sea. At length we reached a small bay, where we 

 beached the boats and unloaded them, and took 

 the contents into the hut. The two boats were 

 now hauled high and dry, and turned over bottom 

 up amongst the bush to protect them until we 

 required them for our return journey. The rest 

 of the day was spent in getting ready the 

 loads. 



Just outside the hut were enormous quantities 

 of dwarf cranberries, and it was not long before 

 two of the boys had collected enough to make 

 a splendid feed for all hands. When stewed, 

 with a small amount of unsweetened canned 

 milk added to them, these berries make a dish 

 fit for the gods, which was especially welcome 

 at this time, owing to the fact that we had been 

 living for the last week on bacon and beans, a 

 very excellent dish in its way, but one that I 

 was apt to get tired of. These berries flourish 

 everywhere, and I feel sure they would do ex- 

 cellently well in our woods at home, growing as 

 they do under the bushes and trees. The plant 

 is very dwarf, being not more than three inches 

 high, and must not be confounded with the tall 

 cranberry, a bush that grows quite two feet in 

 height, the berries of which are much lighter in 

 colour and far more acid to the taste. Whilst 

 on the subject of berries, I may mention the 

 blue, or bilberry, that is common in the moor- 

 land districts of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 



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