“From the talk I had with the chief it does not seem that the language contains more than two or three hundred words.”
“But do we use any more in talking?”
“There are millions of our own people, fairly well educated, who have never used more than two hundred words in their whole lives. It is not the number of words, but the order of arrangement selected that is of value. Many noted authors have written whole books by the use of less than two thousand words. Under the circumstances, the hundred words you taught me were not much of a feat to memorize. As it was, I learned probably twenty words more that you did not have in your vocabulary.”
The Professor was out with the boys every moment of the time, gathering information, and investigating the nature of the country around the villages. While on one of these excursions Jim plucked a branch from a thick stem, and said:
“There are many of these nuts in this part of the island, and we have often wondered if they were good to eat.”
“By all means; you have eaten ice cream with these nuts in many times. Why, we had them on shipboard, if you remember.”
“I don’t recall it.”
“This is the Pistachio nut. Go back to the stalk where you broke off this stem and you will see the sap coming out. That is a resin or gum, and valuable in commerce. This nut is historical. It formed part of the present which Joseph’s brethren took with them from Canaan to Egypt, and in the latter country, even to this day, they are placed among the sweetmeats in all presents of courtesy.”
Fig. 12. Pistachio.