FOOD TN THE TROPICS 
81 
All animals are good to eat ; the flavor of some may not be all 
that you would desire but they are edible. Monkeys are good if 
you can shoot or catch them. 
Should you be fortunate enough to get a sizable animal and 
have more meat than you can use at one time, the extra may 
be preserved for future use by drying. One method of making 
this jerked meat is to cut the flesh into long, thin strips not more 
than an inch in width and a half an inch in thickness. Soak 
these strips in brine, if salt is available to make it, an hour or 
two. String the strips of salt-soaked meat on the limb from a 
small tree and hang over a smoking fire until thoroughly dry. 
Where sea water or salt is not available the meat can be dried 
by exposure to the sun. Under such conditions the strips may 
be tied to long cords and thrown over a branch or some other 
high support, such as a line tied between two trees, where they 
will receive the full sun. The higher they are from the ground 
the less danger there is that the meat will become fly-blown 
before it is cured. If it is not convenient to hang the meat, it 
is possible to dry it on flat rocks or hot sand. In such cases, 
however, it must be turned from time to time so as to cure 
evenly and must be protected from flies, ants, and other insects. 
There are other living things that also may be used as food. 
The white grubs of the palm weevils and other wood-infesting 
beetles are highly prized by many native people. Their larvae, 
often as big as your thumb, are found in rotting wood and 
around freshly cut places on palm trees. Sfclit and broiled over 
the coals of a fire, they are quite palatable and have a flavor 
somewhat like that of oysters. Natives rarely bother to cook 
them, preferring to pop them into their mouths as they find 
them. Large grasshoppers and cicadas with the legs and wings 
