New-York tribune., 1900-04-15

acquires II, early in life and parts with II only
through stern necessity, as for example, when
funds needed for gambling for betting on
a favorite fighting cock. With the pachete the
peon hews down the trees for corner posts to his
hut. lops off the leaves of palm for thatch and
bedding, digs holes for setting out tubers and
plants, and sometimes. though rarely removes
the weeds from mis- garden. Fingers were made
before forks is an axiom so sef-evident that
no peon ever gives it a thought. and the little
toddlers that in time gather around the
household hearth or the fire bed in the centre
of the hut follow the example of their elders
and eat without any other assistance than their
own chubby fists, which they dip into the pot
like the others
The only expense for garments is incurred by
the adult members Of the family, and probably
does not aggregate 50 a year. Until the age of
seven to ten, the children go about naked
as they were born.
FOOD PRODUCTS.
The first reliance of the gibaro in the matter
of food is the pantain which, with the banana
grows almost spontaneously at his doorway. 1t
has been most patheticaIy set forth that, the
supplies of pantains and bananas having been
destroyed by the hurricane of last August, the
poor peon has nothing wherewith to feed him
self. AS if those two fruits were the sum and
substance of his dietary
Let inquire now into the range of food
plants that the gibarO has might have
course to, aside from bananas and plantains.
First of all. 1t may well be assumed that the
peOn is shiftless and mprOvdent. even If not
actually lazy. More than time enough for the
raising of a crop has now elapsed since the great
hurricane, yet if we may believe the reports,
nothing has been done in that direction.
And. by the way whatever has happened un-
toward since the great cyclone. the Porto
Rican 'blames it on" the hurricane, until the
impression has Of late gained ground that as
a scapegOat it has served TO the limit Of its
capacity. However had the gibaro been pos
sessed of ordinary energy, he would have had
sufficient food plants in bearing to insure
himself and family against the pangs Of hunger.
at least. before this. His claim has been that
the hurricane not only blew down his hut, but
also al the same time blew away the heads of
the royal palms. upon which he relied for
thatching purposes But, falling the palm
leaves, there were left grasses and reeds enough
10 serve as substitutes while again, thousands
Of trees were felled by the storm which were,
might have been, available al building material.
1t was easier though, to sit down under tree
and await the coming Of succor from abroad
TO BE HAD FOR THE PICKING.
His first recourse after finding that there was
nothing left in his own or his neighbor's gar
den would have been the wild plants and tubers
of the fields and woods and the terminal bud or
cabbage" Of the royal palm which is either
eaten raw is boiled like cauIiiower. In the
PROSTATE palms, again, he might have found
the fat and delicate grubs OF the palm beetle
Wnlch are SAID 10 be delicious fried crisp,
eaten raw like a radish. Birds and mammals
are scarce, and there is great abundance Of
animals to be hunted: but in the streams are
crayfsh and mussels, while great land crabs
sometimes swarm in the woods along shore
where also various kinds Of shellfish abound
and in the sea are many kinds Of fish. like red
snapper. groupers. ''medicos" and mullets
But the main diet of the native is a vegetable
one, and consists Of whatever can be most easily
raised or raVaged. If he had bestirred himself
ne might have had peas and beans within a
month or planting. and maize or Indian
within eight weeks. Within three months the
native mountain rice would have matured a
crop, and the Carolina rice within four or five
the latter requiring about the same time as
Guinea corn. If sweet potatoes had been set
out soon after the hurricane they would have !
been ready for harvesting in December and /
these alone would have Sufficed 10 sustain the
family until the ripening Of fruits such as the /
mango and orange, the banana and plantain /
which require not less than from six to nine /
months for maturing. The wonderful cassava
which has been a source Of food supply for the !
natives from time imTnemoriaI requires eight |
ten months in the ground the delicious |
"tanias" mature in ten months and the arrow /
roots also, while yams Of all varieties demand /
the same length Of time.
These are the great staples of food supply in !
the tropics; but add to these, numerous fruits /
such the pineapple, which ripeus in from six
all the time in evidence the trees; the /
bread fruit in its season the CaCao or chocolate /
and more than a score Of minor fruits such as |
the guaVa, caSheW, avocado pear, niSpero gren-
adilla and star apple. Thus II will become an
parent that no man, woman or child with
spunk enough TO crawl out into the groves and /
keep his or her mouth open. could fail of having
something edible drop into il,
1t is true, doubtless, that most Of the coffee |
plantations We're destroyed being in the most |
exposed places in the mountains; but on the /
trees that remain flowers and fruit are now