midday
As cocoanuts must be over-ripe before they fall naturally from the tree , it was not without difficulty that we obtained one in which the kernel was not dried up . It was a little oily and rancid , but this was not the time to be too particular . We were so refreshed by the fruit that we could defer the repast we called our dinner * until later in the day , and so spare our stock of provisions . * In this book , ` dinner ' refers to the midday meal . Continuing our way through a thicket , which was so densely overgrown with lianas that we had to clear a passage with our hatchets , we again emerged on the seashore beyond , and found an open view , the forest sweeping inland , while on the space before us stood at intervals single trees of remarkable appearance . These at once attracted Fritz 's observant eye , and he pointed to them , exclaiming : ` Oh , what absurd-looking trees , father ! See what strange bumps there are on the trunks . '