"When young," said I, "I used to read all the books that fell in my
way; and those that told of strange lands and what was to be seen in
them had for me as great a charm as they have for Ernest, who has read
a great deal, and knows more of plants than you do."

"Well," said he, "I will do the same if I but get the chance. Can you
tell what is the name of that huge tree on the right? See, there are
balls on the bark."

We went close to it, and found that these balls were of thick gum,
which the sun had made quite hard. Fritz tried to pull one of them off,
but felt that it clung tight to the bark, though he could change its
shape with his warm hands. "Look," said he, "I feel sure that this is
the IN-DI-A RUB-BER which we used to clean our school books." I took a
piece of it in my hand, and said, "To be sure it is. What shall we not
find in this rich land?" I then told him how the men in the New World
made flasks of this gum, in which form it is sent to all parts of the
world. "And I do not see why we should not make boots of it in the same
way. We have but to fill a sock with sand, then put gum all round it,
while in a soft state, till it is as thick as we need, then pour the
sand out, and we shall have made a shoe or a boot that will at least
keep out the damp, and that is more than mine do just now."

Not far from this we came to a bush, the leaves of which were strewn
with a white dust; and close by were two or three more in the same
state. I cut a slit in the trunk of one of these, and found it full of
the white dust, which I knew by the taste to be SA-GO. We took all of
this that we could get out of the tree, for it would add to our stock
of food; and when our bags were full we laid them on the back of the