266 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES 



too, grew on small bushes, and could easily be mistaken 

 for the genuine. But how different were the insides 

 of these fruits, both in appearance and flavor : the 

 cucumber was full of little nuts , the red pepper, look- 

 ing ready to blister one's tongue, was a pleasant, juicy 

 fruit, mild enough for a baby; the chestnut was as 

 hard as a stone ; the grapes, poisonous ; the blueberries, 

 sour as limes ; the cherries, tough, fibrous, bitter, and 

 full of small seeds ; the plums were plums of some 

 kind, I think, but not very good ; the apples, which 

 closely resembled our baldwins, had a large nut for a 

 core ; the oranges had skins an inch thick ; and the 

 peaches, though looking ripe and juicy, were nearly as 

 hard as billiard-balls. 



After dinner, we went farther up the mountain, and 

 at length came to a grove of banyan-trees. Here, 

 under the spreading branches, among the columns 

 they send down to take root, to send up more life- 

 giving sap to increase the size of the already gigantic 

 tree, the light was so completely shut out that I could 

 not tell the time by my watch, until my eyes had be- 

 come accustomed to the darkness. A sharp exclama- 

 tion from one of my companions caused me to listen, and 

 a long clear whistle, followed by a short one, could be 

 distinctly heard. " Wad a bin?" (what is it?) asked I. 

 " Oogoo" (bird), replied he. " Namo oogoo?" (good 

 bird?) "Namo coole coole oogoo" (very good bird). 



Away we went, up and down the steep ravines, 



