noon
We also had some pleasant drinks , made , I suppose , from the juices of fruits , but the delicious alcoholic sting was not in them . We had fruits , too , of unfamiliar flavors , and a confection of crushed nuts and honey . We sat at table -- or tables -- a long time , and the meal was enlivened with conversation ; for all now appeared in a cheerful frame of mind , notwithstanding the melancholy event which had occupied them during the day . It was , in fact , a kind of supper , and the one great meal of the day : the only other meals being a breakfast , and at noon a crust of brown bread , a handful of dried fruit , and drink of milk . At the conclusion of the repast , during which I had been too much occupied to take notice of everything that passed , I observed that a number of small birds had flown in , and were briskly hopping over the floor and tables , also perching quite fearlessly on the heads or shoulders of the company , and that they were being fed with the fragments . I took them to be sparrows and things of that kind , but they did not look altogether familiar to me . One little fellow , most lively in his motions , was remarkably like my old friend the robin , only the bosom was more vivid , running almost into orange , and the wings and tail were tipped with the same hue , giving it quite a distinguished appearance .