“Well, my dear,” said her father, glad of the interruption, “I was about to call a council of war. What we have can’t last us very long, at our present rate of consumption. We shall have to eke it out, as far as it is practicable, by the native products of the island.”
“That’s snow and pumice-stone, as fur as I ken see,” put in Mr Lathrope; “and I guess I must be durned peckish fore I tackle those!”
“You forget the seals and the penguins,” said Mr Meldrum.
“Waal, mister,” rejoined the American, “we’ve only seed one seal, as I reckon. That was that air ‘Sea Olly-fant,’ as the Norwegee called it, and the animile’s meat warn’t ’zackly what this child ken stomach! As for them penguins, I guess they’re kinder fishy.”
“My dear sir, we can’t be squeamish,” said the other. “Perhaps we’ll be only too glad to get anything we can presently! Besides the seals and birds, however, there’s something else I shall have to look after to-morrow. It is what I should have thought of before, only we were so busy about the house—some vegetable food to eat with our salt beef. We must use some antiscorbutic; and we haven’t a tin of our preserved stock left, I think.”
“And whar’ll you find vegetables haar, mister?”
“Why, there’s one specially distinctive of the island and I daresay we’ll not have to hunt far for it. From the accounts I’ve read it ought to grow quite close to the seashore.”
“And what’s that, mister?” asked the American.
“Kerguelen cabbage,” promptly answered Mr Meldrum.
“Snakes and alligators, mister! Do you expect to find sich kitchen stuff haar?”