I threw a tin canister over to them, and they returned me a shower of roasted Nymphaea fruit.

It seems that the seed-vessels of Nymphaea and its rhizoma form the principal food of the natives; the seeds contain much starch and oil, and are extremely nourishing.

I then gave them some pieces of dried meat, intimating by signs that it must be grilled; soon afterwards they retired.

Mr.Roper came in with sad tidings; in riding up the steep bank of the river, his horse, unable to get a footing among the loose rocks, had fallen back and broken its thigh.

I immediately resolved upon going to the place where the accident had happened, and proposed to my companions, that we should try to make the best of the meat, as the animal was young and healthy, and the supply would greatly assist in saving our bullocks to the end of our long journey; and they declared themselves willing at all events to give a fair trial to the horse-flesh.