Page:Adrift in the Pacific, Sampson Low, 1889.djvu/101

Rh three feet high, and Service, Wilcox, and Webb gathered some of the flowers and stuck them in their coats. Then it was that a discovery of great use was made by Gordon, whose botanical knowledge was often to be of use to the little colony. His attention was attracted by a very bushy shrub, with poorly developed leaves, and spiny branches, bearing a reddish fruit about the size of a pea.

"That is the trulca, if I am not mistaken," said he. "It is a fruit much used by the Indians."

"If it is eatable," said Service, "let us eat it, for it costs nothing."

And before Gordon could stop him Service began to crack some of the fruit between his teeth. He made a horrible grimace, and his comrades roared with laughter, while he spit out the abundant salivation caused by the acidity on the papillae of his tongue.

"You told me it was eatable!" he exclaimed.

"I did not say it was eatable," replied Gordon. "The Indians use the fruit for making a drink they obtain by fermentation. The liquor will be of great value to us when our brandy has all gone, that is, if we mind what we are doing with it, for it soon gets into the head. Fill a bag with the trulcas, and we'll experiment with them at French Den."

The fruit was not easy to gather from among the thousands of thorns, but by beating the branches Baxter and Webb knocked enough on the ground to make a bagful, and then the journey was resumed.

Further on, the pods on another shrub were also gathered. They were the pods of the algarrobe, another South American native, which also by fermentation yield a. strong liquor. This time Service abstained from trying them, and he did well, for although the algarrobe seems sweet at first, yet the mouth is soon affected with extreme dryness.

In the afternoon, a quarter of a mile before they reached the slope of Auckland Hill, the boys made another discovery of quite as much importance. The aspect of the forest had changed. In more sheltered