Like all natives of these islands, they were experts at spitting the meats. The most delicious was a[p. 75] species of ground hog, that the boys frequently caught on Wonder Island. The boys had watched the method of roasting these animals.
A strong green tapering stick, about four feet long was selected, and the bark was peeled off, so as to give it a smooth surface. The small end of this was sharpened, and driven through the animal, from end to end, so that it was held firmly on the stick, midway between its ends.
Two forked posts were then driven into the ground, about three feet apart, and the stick laid in the forks. A fire of wood, previously built between the posts was permitted to accumulate a quantity of coal, and when a hot fire was thus generated, one of the natives would continuously rotate the stick, so that the heat affected all sides evenly, and the result would be the most tempting roast imaginable. This is a practice common with savages all over the world, varying only in the details of the preparations.
All the vegetables were roasted, in hot coals. In[p. 76] this respect their custom was different from the practice followed in Venture Island, for there they knew how to make stews. Here they knew nothing about pottery, but like all islanders in the South Seas, the wrecks would, occasionally cast cooking utensils, like pots, or pans, ashore, and these highly-prized articles were sure to be taken by the Chiefs, or by the Krishnos themselves, where they could get them by stealth.
Unlike the natives of Wonder Island, they had potatoes, the wild variety which the boys found the second day after they were cast ashore. The Taro root, that vegetable which grows in the greatest abundance in every section south of the Equator, to the lower border of the south temperate zone, was the chief dish, and was also roasted in like manner.
What surprised them most was a drink that pleased John, who at once recognized its origin. They called it Arialad, and George declared it was a fine quality of Sarsaparilla.