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Each head consisted of a long piece of pith, to which the grain was thickly attached, the whole sheathed in broad oblong leaves, which protect them from injury, till the seed is perfectly hard and ripe. Here also was a plantation of sugar-cane. They also were tall, graceful, reed-like plants, and were nearly ripe. Tanda was working in the plantation or garden, shall I call it?
In the evening Tanda arrived with the bundles of sugar-cane. Fortunately the machine which my uncle had invented for crushing them was at some distance from the house, and had escaped destruction. It was sufficient for the object, though rather roughly made. After the juice had been pressed out it was boiled, and allowed to run into a number of pots, where it was to cool and crystallise.
The bread-fruit was baked entirely in the hot embers. It tasted, I thought, very much like mashed potatoes and milk. My uncle said he always compared it to Yorkshire pudding. It was a little fibrous, perhaps, towards the centre, though generally smooth, and somewhat of the consistence of yeast dumplings and batter pudding. Tanda fried part of it in slices, and also made a curry of another part.
"We must fight like men, and not yield while life remains. If we are all killed, he will take care of the helpless ones who are trusting in him." Tanda at this time had not returned, and we were once more afraid that he had been caught by the pirates.
With the help of Oliver and Tanda we at length got them up on the rock, though not till Potto Jumbo had severely hurt his legs against the sharp points. "Heaven be praised, it is done! You all right soon, Mr Hooker," exclaimed Potto Jumbo, as he committed his charge to our hands.
Tanda and Dick Tarbox agreed to go first, and Potto Jumbo and Roger Trew were to take the second part of the night. "I think, however, you need not trouble yourselves, my friends," said Mr Sedgwick, "for they will scarcely attempt to approach this coast in the dark.
Whether Tanda saw the crocodile or not, I do not know; but he had already seized the ducks, and had once more plunged into the water, swimming towards his master. Mr Sedgwick struck out boldly. He had caught sight of the creature, but it did not unnerve his arm, nor would he let go his ducks. I heard his voice shouting. `Fire! I thought he said.
However, the appearance of the pig when we got it out was far from tempting, and as we had a supply of food in the fort, we agreed to let it remain where it was. We had been so interested in this encounter that we had almost forgotten the position in which we were placed. A shout from Mr Thudicumb, however, quickly recalled us, and we hurried up to the fort. Tanda had just arrived.
They afterwards set off to what we call Cocoa-nut Grove, as a large number of cocoa-nuts grow there. Tanda led one of the buffaloes with huge panniers on his back. After a time they returned, having procured a number of cocoa-nuts. They were very different from the cocoa-nuts we had been some time before eating, far more like those I had been accustomed to see in England.
The outer crust of the soil looked hard and dry enough; but we soon found, on digging down, that it was sufficiently soft to enable us to get our spades into it without difficulty. "What can have become of Tanda?" said Mr Sedgwick. "I hope the tiger has not carried him off," I could not help saying. "No fear of that," was the answer.
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