Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. III.djvu/302

Rh down upon us. Many of the oranges which grew here were as large as small infants' heads. These oranges are sour, but very juicy, and of an agreeable acid, and these golden chalices of the wilderness afforded us a real refreshment. The captain's store of sugar diminished rapidly, but the good, kind man, said not a word, and so he had as much lemonade as he liked to drink. I had four of the huge projecting spines of the orange-tree, which are sometimes two ells long, hewn off for sticks for some gentlemen friends at home (brother-in-law, Q., and Fabian W., are of the elect). These sticks are very handsome when they are stained; they are very strong, and greatly valued by the American gentlemen. As memories of the orange-grove, we took away with us, besides oranges and sticks, a multitude of small insects of the species here called tick, and with which we became personally acquainted at home, as small, ugly, flat creatures, which eat into the skin. I was particularly infested by these inhabitants of the orange-grove, and laboured the whole day in getting rid of them. Among the adventures of our return, was the taking fire of our sun-scorched vessel in one of the lakes, which gave our dominant lady a great deal to do with her tongue. She made the quarter of an ell long flames two ells long, and if it had not been for her there would have been an end of us all! The captain and his men, in the meantime extinguished the fire so quickly and silently, that I did not know of the danger until it was over.

We suffered through the night from cockroaches and musquitoes, by day from the hot sun and suffocating fumes from the engine fire. Amid all these bitter moments came moments when the cool breezes enabled us to enjoy once more, the invariably beautiful and fantastic scenery, and the intercourse and conversation of friends.

One afternoon we saw a large crane-roost, as it is