The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1891-03-07

The Morsel Set Before Hungry American
by = brazilian Planter.


1T was two or three years ago. In
an upper province of Brazil. that j had
the pleasure OF breakfasting with one
of the most genial old estancicros il
was ever my lot 10 meet writes C.. III.
Pratt. THE houses in that part of the
country are not sumptuonsly furnished.
and IL one were TO Judge the wealth of
his various entertainers by the amount
of IL on display he would commit some
disastrous plumbers. Plantation own
crs worth millions. but who have never
learned TO enjoy the use of luxuries,
will live all their lives in "A ono-room
house whose furniture consists OF a
table and two chairs. once met an
electric door-bell pcddler who had tried
that country and found il poor field.
He said that he had invariably to ex.
plain TO house-owners, first. the nature
OF electricity; second. the nature of
door-bell. and, third. what possible use
they could make of the two when com.
bined. The last was too much for him
and he left in despair.
II found the aforementioned genial
estanciero sitting on his front doorstep
ia the shade Of large palm tree; which
same employment, by the way, engages
the time of most farmers i'm tropical
America. / had been tramping along
the dusty roadway since daybreak,
and was tired; the place looked
rather clean and inviting so | accepted
the cordial invitation which Southern
gentleman will always extend To
stranger TO come in and rest.
las | sat aud chatted in the cool
shade of the palm tree found that my
friend was mol Brazilian. but native
of Spain. He had crossed the sea TO
this country with $75 ia his pocket
when young man. and had been n
pretty successful cultivator OF sugar
cane from that day TO this. He seemed
quite proud OF his house. 1t was SUI.
ficiently large. he said. to enable him
90 entertain with that bounteous hos
pitality which he so much enjoyed. and
was rendered still more commodious
by the convenient nature of the beds,
which. in common with all in that part
OF the country consisted simply OF
mats of straw which could easily be
rolled up or kicked into corner when
not in use. These woven mats, spread
upon the earth iloor, are much cooler
during summer nights than mattresses
would be. This Is very desirable. but,
what is of vastly greater Importance.
they can DO put bodily into "A tub OF
scalding water. There arc ileas in
Brazil.
Eleven o'clock. the Spanish break
fast hour. having arrived. was invited
10 sit down ut the table. The meal
was more sumptuous than / had ex-
pected to find. After soup their fol-
lowed, instead of pechero, u dish whose
nature i was puzzled 10 make out. IL
seemed 20 be small animal little
larger than rabbit; the meat was dark
and rich and had, as | remembered af-
terward. that rare deectable quality
which enables thing To melt in tho
mouth. Such being the case. / ate
without stint. enjoying IL exceedingly.
Sometimes thought that ! could detect
slight and rather peculiar gamy
flavor but as there was no game OF
that size within hundreds OF miles this
seemed hardly possible. / tried in
vain TO imagine what the animal could
be-
after the meal was over | thanked
my host in my poiitcst Spanish for his
hospitality aud asked that as a parting
favor he would tell me what it was that
had so much enjoyed. He looked at
me queerly for moment and then led
me out through the back door of his
cottage. He said nothing but merely
pointed to the ground.
1T may or may not have been OAR
winianism. bnt as my eye followed the
direction OF the old mans gesture
there came over my conscience feel
ing OF guilt so strong that II even cx-
tended 10 my stomach. For there on
the ground before me. in the serene
and silent dignity Of death, lay the bead
of one OF those pests Of Brazil--a black
monkeYir