I thought it more likely to be a cocoa-nut.

The fibrous covering had reminded him of the description he had read of the nests of certain birds; but, on breaking the shell, we found it was indeed a cocoa-nut, but quite decayed and uneatable.
Fritz was astonished; where was the sweet milk that Ernest had talked of?
I told him the milk was only in the half-ripe nuts; that it thickened and hardened as the nut ripened, becoming a kernel.

This nut had perished from remaining above ground.

If it had been in the earth, it would have vegetated, and burst the shell.

I advised my son to try if he could not find a perfect nut.
After some search, we found one, and sat down to eat it, keeping our own provision for dinner.