I was wiping the tears from my eyes as Mr Ebony, as uncle called him,
came up, carrying something in a great palm leaf, while his companions
had something else in a basket.
Mr Ebony was grinning tremendously. Then he said something, and the
two others went away, while our black guest, for that he evidently meant
to be, sniffed at the pigeons, rubbed himself, and danced with delight.
But we had wronged him, for he was not going to behave shabbily, for,
taking the basket, he rolled out of it a dozen great fruit, half being
cocoa-nuts, the other something nearly as large that I had never seen
before.
Then he nodded and grinned, and had another bit of a dance before
unrolling the huge palm leaf, and showing us four good-looking fishes,
each twice as big as a large mackerel, and so fresh that one was hardly
now dead.
Mr Ebony grinned and danced again, nodding at us both, and saying
something in his tongue which sounded to me like, "Now we'll have such a
jolly tuck-out;" but of course it was not that, though it evidently
meant as much.
The next minute with wonderful skill our visitor had cut some bamboos
with a kind of adze he had in the cord round his waist, slit open and
cleaned the fish with a sharp-pointed piece of wood, and then got each
one stuck on a piece of bamboo to roast before the fire.
He was like a man on springs; he did things so jerkily and quick,
jumping up and rushing off, to come back laden with wood for the fire,
some of which he carefully put on, and then nodded and grinned and
rubbed himself.
"Well, Mr Ebony," said my uncle, smiling, "you are really not a bad
fellow after all; and as you have come to dinner in full dress I am very
glad to see you, and let's fall to. By all the rules of etiquette, my
dear sir, soup comes first, sir. We have no soup. Fish follows next,
but, my dear carbonaceous-looking friend, the fish is not done, while
the pigeons are, so sit down. Nat, my boy, give our honoured guest a
tin plate and a biscuit. Monsieur Ebony--pigeon?"
As my uncle spoke he pulled up his bamboo spit, and, taking hold of the
sandy end, he presented the other to our visitor, who took hold tightly,
watching my uncle the while as he drew his hunting-knife, and, with a
dexterous chop, divided the bamboo in two, leaving each with a pigeon.
"Come, Nat, boy, fall to. That other pigeon will have to be divided."
Then there was silence as I helped myself to the great pigeon, and we
began to eat with such a sense of enjoyment as I never felt before; but
when my uncle and I were half through our pigeons Mr Ebony had finished
his, and was casting furtive glances at the one still frizzling and
browning before the fire in company with the fishes, which our guest
carefully turned.
"Give him the other pigeon, Nat," said my uncle, "and we will make up
with fish;" so I offered it to our visitor, but he shook his head, and
began chattering, pointing to the fish, which he kept turning; and as
soon as one was done, looked with a good deal of natural politeness to
see if we were ready; but as we were not, he threw his bones over his
head--of course I do not mean his own bones, but the bones of the
pigeon, which he had crunched up with his white teeth, like a dog, and
began at once upon his fish.
Leaving the fourth pigeon stuck upon the spit, we now in our turn each
tried a fish, which Uncle Dick said were a kind of perch, and very
delicious they were, especially with the addition of a little pepper, of
which, after the first taste, our visitor showed himself to be very
fond; and taken altogether, we made a most delicious repast, without
thinking of the dessert which had yet to come.
This our visitor commenced after he had eaten a second fish, chattering
away to us, and opening the nuts with great skill, giving one to each of
us, so that for the first time I tasted what cocoa-nut really was like.
Not a hard, indigestible, sweet, oily kind of woody kernel fast round
the shell, so that it was hard to get it off; but a sweet, soft pulp
that we cut and scraped out like cream-cheese, while it had a refreshing
slightly acid flavour that was most delicious.
I never saw anyone before like our black friend, for no sooner did he
see by our looks that we enjoyed his cocoa-nuts than he jumped up and
danced, laughing with pleasure, but stopping every now and then to have
a taste himself, till we had finished, when he took one of the other
great nuts, which I saw were thorny, and marked down the sides with
seams, as if ready for opening by means of a knife.
"That is not cocoa-nut, is it, uncle?" I said, looking curiously at the
great wooden fruit, as the black proceeded to split it open with his
hatchet, inserting the blade very cleverly so as to get it open, with
the result that a very unpleasant odour arose.
"It don't seem to be good, whatever it is," said my uncle. "Why, it
must be the durian, Nat," he said eagerly. "I wanted to see that
fruit."
"But it does not seem good to eat, uncle," I said, as I looked at the
portion given to me, which appeared to be full of a kind of custard with
big seeds inside, about as large as a chestnut.
"They say it is delicious," he replied, helping himself to a little with
the blade of his knife. "Taste away."
I tasted, and he tasted, the black watching us attentively; and no
sooner did he see the face I made than he became tremendously excited,
jumping about, making smacking sounds with his lips, and rubbing himself
to show how good it was. Then, still seeing that we did not get on, he
opened another, and taking half began to eat rapidly, dancing about with
delight and rolling his eyes, to explain to us that he was having a most
delicious feast.
"Perhaps this is a better one," said my uncle, stretching out his hand
for the untouched half, but upon tasting it he did not find it so
satisfactory as that which we had, and we made a very poor dessert, as
far as the durian was concerned, greatly to our friend's chagrin.
The meal being at an end, we each took a hearty draught of the pure
water, and offered the tin to our guest, but he shook his head and kept
on making signs as he cried out:
"Rack-rack-rack-rack!"
"What does he mean, uncle?" I said. "Look, he is pretending to pour
something into the water. He means arrack."
"Yes, and he will not get any, Nat--neither arrack nor brandy. Those
are for medicines, my boy; but go and get one of those small bottles of
raspberry vinegar, and I'll give him some of that."
The black watched me intently as I fetched the little bottle of rich red
syrup, and kept his eyes upon his host, when, after emptying all but
about half a pint of water out of the tin, my uncle poured out a
table-spoonful of the syrup into the clear water and stirred it up,
offering it afterwards to the black, who took it, smelt it suspiciously,
and then handed it to me.
I drank a portion, and found it so good that I finished it, to our
guest's amazement and disgust; but the cup was soon replenished, and now
he tasted eagerly, drinking it up, and then indulging in a fresh dance.
"Now for work," said my uncle. "Let's clear away, Nat;" and the remains
of the dinner having been carried into the tent, the box of requisites
was brought out, and with the black squatting down upon his heels to
watch us attentively, I helped Uncle Dick prepare his first skins.