Roote

In the wild countrey of the South, wherein the sunne beateth mightily upon the sandes, there liveth a people both ancient and wise, that feed upon divers creatures, such as the stranger would marvell at. For whereas our tables are garnished with bread, with fleshe, and with wine, their sustenance is found in the very bowels of the earth and in the flights of the aire. Chiefest among these meats is the Witchetty Grubbe, the fat larva of a moth, which hideth it selfe in the roote of the Acacia. With a staffe the women digge the grounde, and plucke forth this white worme of notable bignes. Some eat it raw, even then when it is taken from the roote, saying it hath the taste of almond or of the yolke of an egge. Others do cast it into the fire, so that the skinne is made crisp and the inside savoury, like unto the flesh of a bird well roasted. Thus doth the desert yeeld a dish both wholesome and strong. No lesse esteemed is the Honie Ant, whose belly is swolne with sweet licour, for shee serveth as a living vessel of nectar. The children plucke them gently from the earth, and at the biting of their bellies they finde a drinke more pleasant than the cuppe of grape. A small thing it is, yet of great delight.

And in the high mountayns swarmeth the Bogong Moth, dark pilgrim of the night. In caves they gather as a living carpet, a multitude without number. Then come the tribes, with fire and song, roasting the wingèd throng till they be crisp, nut-brown, and rich with fat. Here feast they all together, in fellowship and rite, as though at some great faire where man and moth alike are destin'd to commune. What saith this banquet of worme, of ant, of moth? That Nature, stern though she appeareth, is yet a tender mother; that in the barren sand she spreadeth a table, in the hollow roote she hideth bread, in the wing of night she provideth flesh. The stranger may mock, yet the wise man shall reverence: for he that tasteth these meates tasteth the very bounty of the earth unclad, and learneth that where man hath faith, no desert is desolate.