noon
After some hours ' walk , he began to observe that his silk stockings were inconvenient for traversing a forest . A large branch of thorny wood had made a great hole in his coat ; his breeches were not irreproachable by any means ; and more than once , feeling his long sword embarrass him by catching in some plants which obstructed his path , he involuntarily turned to chastise the importunate object which took the liberty of interfering with his progress . Either by chance , or thanks to the frequent use of his staff , with which he beat the bushes continually , the chevalier had the good fortune not to encounter any serpents . Toward noon , worried and fatigued , he paused in order to pick some bananas , and climbed a tree in order to breakfast at his ease . To his joy and surprise he found that the leaves of this tree , rolled into cornucopias , held clear water , fresh and delicious to the taste ; the chevalier drank several of those , put his remaining bananas into his pocket , and continued his journey . According to his calculation , he must have traveled nearly four leagues , and could not be very far from Devil 's Cliff . Unhappily the chevalier 's calculation was not exact , at least , as to the direction in which he believed himself to have gone ; for he had estimated the distance traversed correctly enough , but he was , at midday , a little further from Devil 's Cliff than he had been when he entered the forest .