New-York tribune., 1910-05-08
Many eUays of Getting
Break fast Employed
By Prfmfffpe Man.
CHAPTER NJ.

- O far a the South Sea Islander has
breakfast table there is one article
of food which appears there as reg
,IIallv az does ham and eggs on the table
Of tine Eglishman-namely, the cocoanut
But no native thinks Of eating the cocoa
fut after the hard shell with which We are
familiar has formed-he considers il is then
only III for copra or the pigs. He eats
them while they are still green and tender,
and his agility IN ascending the tall palm
trees without 2 knot or branch till the
TOP is reached. is extraordinary.
There are other products of the cocoanut
ia i'm OF which the native is very fond.
These are the land crabs. which ascend the
trees, and will. II they are allowed, devour
the nuts which, in some barren islands.
gre almost the only food OF the natives.
Therefore. TO save his nuts. as well as to
get welcome change Of diet, the native
gives chase 10 these creatures whenever he
can
Sometimes he attacks them in their hole.
The crabs are enormous animals generally
about TWO and one-half feet from tip TO
tail-ard very powerful If there are two
entrances 10 the hole the native pushes in
a lighted torch at one side, whereupon the
crab hurries out on the other, and is dis
puts his hand right into the burrow and
labs at the crab with his knife; but this is
rather risky
The favorite plan is TO hide in cocoa
nut grove till q crab is seen ascending
tree When he reaches the top and is
comfortably browsing the native climbs UP
halfway and fastens g. band of grass
round the trunk. He then slides down
again and makes a heap of sharp coral
stones at the base Of the tree. Presently
the crab comes slithering down backward.
feeling with the unprotected end of his tail
whether he has reached terra frma or not
FALL MAKES HIM EASY PREY
When his tail comes in contact with the
belt Of grass he thinks he has come 10 the
bottom, and lets himself go. and comes
down crash on the heap of stones made
ready 10 receive him forty feet below.
This usually severely Injuries him. and &he
native finishes him of and returns ri
umphantIy homo with his succulent prey.
The native of the South Seas would be
as much at q loss without yams as the
ordinary Engiishman without bread. Now,
varne-wl1ich form such an important part
in domestic economy below the line"-are
roots. something like giant and misshapel
potatoes in appearance, and the amount OF
yam which the native can stow away Is
something amazing
The Motuans OF New Guinea have a
curious story about the origin Of yams-
They think that yams first grew from
bones. This was how ii happened.
Motuan girl who had FIVE brothers married
e csnnibal who lived some distance away
The brothers came by turns 10 visit her
and four OF them were eaten by the can
pihaf hushan nd The wife. however, kept
their bones, and when the fifth brother
game, instead Of being eaten Ike the
others. he succeeded In killing the caDni-
bal husband and returned 10 mis- home with
the bones Of HIS brothers The bones were
tuiy EIourned over and buried. When the
relatives visited the place where the bones
were buried some time later they found a
strange plant growing upon the grave, and
On digging Up the bones found they had
turned into yams OF different colors and
sizes