I must also add that the poor old cat which we had brought home had
always a liberal share of our good things, and so well was it looked
after, especially by Peterkin, that it recovered much of its former
strength, and seemed to improve in sight as well as hearing.
The large flat stone, or rock of coral, which stood just in front of
the entrance to our bower, was our table. On this rock we had spread
out the few articles we possessed the day we were shipwrecked; and on
the same rock, during many a day afterwards, we spread out the
bountiful supply with which we had been blessed on our Coral Island.
Sometimes we sat down at this table to a feast consisting of hot rolls
--as Peterkin called the newly baked bread-fruit--a roast pig, roast
duck, boiled and roasted yams, cocoa-nuts, taro, and sweet potatoes;
which we followed up with a dessert of plums, apples, and plantains
--the last being a large-sized and delightful fruit, which grew on a
large shrub or tree not more than twelve feet high, with light-green
leaves of enormous length and breadth. These luxurious feasts were
usually washed down with cocoa-nut lemonade.
Occasionally Peterkin tried to devise some new dish--"a conglomerate,"
as he used to say; but these generally turned out such atrocious
compounds that he was ultimately induced to give up his attempts in
extreme disgust--not forgetting, however, to point out to Jack that his
failure was a direct contradiction to the proverb which he (Jack) was
constantly thrusting down his throat--namely, that "where there's a
will there's a way.
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