These thoughts did not
prevent the men from taking advantage of what nature had to offer
them.
"We landed in rowboats, amid, and after the cessation of the
bombardment of the little hamlet and coast by the men-of-war and
battle-ships," writes a brave soldier of the Twenty-fifth Infantry,
and adds immediately: "We then helped ourselves to cocoanuts which we
found in abundance near the landing." Ordinarily this statement, so
trivial and apparently unimportant, would not merit repetition, but in
its connection here it is significant as showing the immediate
tendency of the men to resort to the fruits of the country, despite
all warnings to the contrary. The two weeks' experience on board the
transports had made the finding of cocoanuts an event to be noted, and
the dry pulp and strongly flavored milk of this tropical fruit became
extremely grateful to the palate, even if not altogether safe for the
stomach. If ripe, however, the cocoanut could scarcely be more
ungenial to many, than the raw, canned tomatoes upon which they had in
part subsisted during the voyage. It is to be added that this report
of the finding of the cocoanuts is not the report of an old soldier,
but of a young and intelligent, first enlistment man.
Lawton's Division soon after landing, was ordered to move forward in
the direction of Santiago, on the road leading past Siboney.
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