The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1889-04-19
Feasting On CahOon and Monkey.

We worked our way through q sandy,
worthless region, covered with q va
riety OF red pine and growing so closely
as to permit one to see but a short
distance through, but still furthesrs IN
Land Ell. s-oIa.-. rcrruCc = succeeueu Dy
what IS called the "Cahoon ridge" or
that section in which the ''cahoon palm"
grows. This ''cahoonn palm requires the
very richest soil, but it abounds only in
Belize, Central America. Though wild,
these ''cahcon1 forests appear as If
planted with the regularity of coffee
plantation. The trees are at such dis
tar, apart thet the foliage at the top Of
one joins that of its four nelghbors, i'm
pressing one walking underneath as an
immense system OF groined arches. The
main trunk to height of twenty five feet
from the ground seldom has a green
sprig on il. The trees grow about IF
teen feet from each other, and the ever
green roof is so impervious to the sun
that the rich soil underneath bears but
little heritage. The Hcahoonn grows
each year a crop of nuts, each one a
little larger than ducks egg. They
grow in lunches very much as grapes
do, and with proportionately short
stems. Some large punches shown as
curiosities had as many as 1000 nuts.
The natives extract a valuable oil from
the nuts n very crude manner. The
meat Of the nut tastes like the Brazil
nut. but is much richer in oil The hard
shell is cracked between stones, then the
kernel IS mashed by rubbing 1t between
rough stone surfaces; this Is boiled IN
water until nearly all the water has gone
of in steam and vapor; then this pro-
duct is heated in pans to drive of any
remaining water, and then 1t is placed
IN bottles for market The commercial
value Of the oil IS about equal to that Of
cOcoanut oil, but no advantage seems to
be taken Of its abundance From 400 to
125 nuts produce one quart, but with de-
cent machinery the yield would be one
third greater. In the higher lands the
natives use no other light than the 'fat-
pine torch, but along the coast 1 saw
nothing burned but ''cahoon" oil, and
it is said to burn twice as long as that
from the eocoanEt.
These forests are the home of hundreds
Of varieties OF bright plumsged birds, as
well as small deer about the size of our
antelope A small black monkey, with
long hair, lives in the ''cahoonn tree, and
the natives who accompanied US pre-
fsrred that TO anything we had to offer
them. Among the dozen natives who
came with us were two very old shot
guns. and with these they brought down
four fat monkeys in about dozen shots.
VIII some were skinning and cleaning
the game the others built q circular fire
A sick about four feet long is then cut
and stripped OF its bark and pointed
sharp at one cad. The stick is then run
in and cut 81 the skin down the back
bone, aud when the monkey Is thus firmly
impaIed the stick is planted In the
ground near enough to the fire to roast,
and one native turns the monkey around
the stick TO equalize the cooking. II the
monkey himself does not furnish enough
fatto cook IN his flesh is well rubbed
with 'scahoon" nut. When thus pre-
pared the meat tastes not unlike chicken,
but when one is not very hungry such
meal comes rather too close TO cannibal-
ism for enjoyment.-Neso York TINES.