The San Francisco call., 1908-07-05
Autobiography of a Banana

AM only a Banana. I first awoke
to consciousness one fine December
morning in the beautiful Ulua VAL
ley. on the north coast of Honduras.
Central America The warm sun was
streaming through the irregular open
ings among the broad leaves overhead,
there was a gentle breeze. with no
sounds save the rustling OF the leaves
and the song of birds, all of which made
me glad to be alive.
I found myself sticking straight out
from the stem on which I grew, with
ten companions on one side of me and
eleven on the other. all of whom ap-
peared exactly as did. Other clusters
of little fellows above and below me
stood out in like manner on the same
stem. and I counted a total Of 264 of US
on that stem, all appearing as much
alike as so many peas in a pod. We
were not more than one and a quarter
inches in length. We were suspended
about twenty feet from the ground.
The stem on which we stood, rising out
of the center of the great stalk which
supported US, curved gracefully over
and pointed almost directly downward.
This stem was about six feet in length
and, at the tip of it, carried a conical
purple bulb, larger than a mans two
fists. Great leaves stood out from the
trunk of the banana stalk, reaching for
a distance of fifteen feet in every df-
rection, each leaf br;ng from two feet
to two and a half feet in width Our
tree stood in row or similar trees,
stretching as far as we could see In
either direction. and about thirty feet
away from us was another similar row
of giant banana staIKs or trees.
Visible between and beyond the
plants in this row was a vista of gently
flowing water. the surface of which
was unbroken, reaching several hun
dred feet from the embankment near
us to the one on the opposite side of
the stream. The reflection Of the suns
rays on this silvery surface shot sun
beams slanting upward through the
openings between banana stalks and
leaves to mingle with the direct rays of
the sun, which slanted diagonally down
ward. AS the sun advanced majesticaily
toward the zenith his warmth Increased.
and felt within me a corresponding in
crease of life and energy. When the
sun got overhead every banana on the
stem which 1 occupied seemed to make
an effort to look upward. There was a
feeling of well being and of content
ment, such as 1 presume a growing boy
feels after full meal. The day wore
on, the sun went down. the bright moon
arose across the river, flooding the
region with silvery light and duplf-
eating itself on the face Of the smooth
river as in a mirror
The great red monkeys which in
habit the forests in that vicinity made
the surrounding forest noisy with their
strange cries. These are said to be as
large as baboons. but have long, strong
tails, which baboons do not Several
days and nights passed as did the first
with nothing whatever to interrupt the
monotony, until one morning we heard
the voices of men These men walked
through the plantation between the
rows of banana stalks. looking upward
evidently in search of something.
Diagonally across from us stood a
large banana tree. upon which hung a
bunch. of fruit almost full. and before
this one of the men stopped and gazed
upward. He held in his hand a long
heavy, dangerous looking knife. longer
than any butchers knife, but not SO
long as a sword. With this he reached
up and struck the banana stalk a heavy
blow, Immediately after which 1t began
to bend over and a great cash opened
up at the point where his knife had
touched IL. He took several swift
backward steps. and as the top Of the
plant bowed down toward him grasped
the large bunch of bananas swung il
suddenly sidewise and, with a quick
motion of his knife. severed the stem
just where it curved out of the stalk
easing the bunch of fruit gently to the
ground. With another stroke of his
knife near the end of the bunch of ba-
nanas he severed three feet of the
point of the stem which carried the
great purple bulb at its tin. Then hf
lifted the bunch Of bananas with great
effort. carried it to the bank of the
river and there left It,
Suddenly we saw monster appari-
ton. which I later learned was q
steamboat, on each side of which were
fastened great fiat barges almost a:
large as the boat itself. These were
piled high with punches of bananas
The steamboat seemed to be alive Will