| By Author | [ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | Other Symbols ] |
| By Title | [ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | Other Symbols ] |
| By Language |
|
Download this book: [ ASCII ] Look for this book on Amazon Tweet |
Title: The curiosities of food : The dainties and delicacies of different nations obtained from the animal kingdom
Author: Simmonds, P. L. (Peter Lund)
Language: English
As this book started as an ASCII text book there are no pictures available.
Copyright Status: Not copyrighted in the United States. If you live elsewhere check the laws of your country before downloading this ebook. See comments about copyright issues at end of book.
*** Start of this Doctrine Publishing Corporation Digital Book "The curiosities of food : The dainties and delicacies of different nations obtained from the animal kingdom" ***
THE
CURIOSITIES OF FOOD;
DAINTIES AND DELICACIES OF DIFFERENT
NATIONS
OBTAINED FROM THE
ANIMAL KINGDOM.
BY
PETER LUND SIMMONDS, F.R.G.S., F.S.S.,
AUTHOR OF “A DICTIONARY OF TRADE PRODUCTS,”
“THE COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM,”
ETC., ETC.
_Cassius._ Will you dine with me to-morrow?
_Casca._ Ay, if I be alive, and your mind hold, and your dinner worth
the eating.
JULIUS CÆSAR.
_Horatio._ O day and night, but this is wondrous strange!
_Hamlet._ And therefore as a stranger give it welcome.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
HAMLET, Act 1, scene 5.
[Illustration]
LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET.
1859.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY G. PHIPPS, RANELAGH STREET, EATON SQUARE.
PREFACE.
The sustentation of the body, and the repairing of its waste by
an adequate supply of wholesome and nutritious daily food, is a
subject of general importance, and necessarily occupies a large share
of attention. But all nations have not the advantages of skilful
cattle-breeders, slaughter-houses, well-supplied meat and poultry
markets, and butchers’ shops graced with all the tempting joints of
beef, mutton, and pork, which gladden the eyes of an Englishman, and
keep up his stamina for labour. The traveller, the settler, and the
savage, must be content to put up with what they can most readily
obtain, and to avail themselves of many an unusual article of food,
which would be rejected under more favourable circumstances, and with a
greater choice for selection.
The subject of Food, in a physiological point of view, has been often
discussed. Popular and learned treatises on all the art and mysteries
of Cookery have been sold by thousands. We have had pleasant details
furnished us too on the Food and the Commissariat of London.--But
with respect to the animal substances, eaten by other people in
foreign countries, we have known little--except from mere scraps of
information.
The basis of the present volume is a lecture on the Curiosities of
Food, which I delivered at several of the metropolitan literary
institutions. Having been favourably received,--from the novelty of the
subject, and the singularity of the specimens from my private museum
by which it was illustrated,--I have been led to believe that it might
prove generally interesting in a more amplified shape.
In order, however, to bring the details within a convenient compass, I
have limited myself to a description of the Curiosities of Animal Food;
but should the work be well received, I may follow it up hereafter by a
companion volume, on the Curiosities of Vegetable Food.
In the arrangement of the materials for this work, one of two modes
of description was open to me, either to dress up the details in
characteristic pictures of the food-customs and viands in use in
different quarters, and by different people; or to group the whole
scientifically under natural history divisions. As the subject is
curious and striking enough in its simplicity without the aid of
fiction or embellishment, I have preferred adopting the latter
arrangement, and have followed it as closely as the miscellaneous
character of the selections and quotations would permit.
Many of the articles of food named are so outrageously repulsive, and
the consideration of the subject, in a collected form, is altogether so
new, that I have preferred citing authorities in all instances, so as
to relieve myself from the charge of exaggeration, or the imputation
of untenable assertions. For this reason, and from the varied and very
extended nature of the field of enquiry, I can claim no merit for
original writing in this work. I have merely desired to present the
public with a readable volume; and I think its perusal will show that
in this, as in other cases, truth is often stranger than fiction.
After a perusal of these pages, it can scarcely be said that, ‘there is
nothing new under the sun,’ for many of the articles of food which I
have described as being served up in different parts of the world, will
be certainly new to many. Probably, some of the hints thrown out will
make the fortune of any restaurateur in the city or at the west-end,
who chooses to dish up one or more of the reputed delicacies, under a
proper disguise, and with a high-sounding name.
P.L.S.
_8, Winchester Street, Pimlico,
December 1858._
CONTENTS.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS.
John Bull’s partiality for Beef, 2. Comparative quantities of meat
eaten in Paris, New York, and London--Different parts of Animals eaten
by choice, 5. Want of courage to taste new Food, 6. Various kinds of
Food eaten in different countries--Man’s omnivorous propensities, 7.
Weight of Food eaten in a man’s life-time--instances of gluttony,
10. Ethnological view of the question, 11. Jerked beef consumed in
Cuba--Varieties of--_tasajo_, _rebenque_, _charqui_, _sesina_, 12.
Mode of preparing the sun-dried meat in Chile--_Grasa_ or melted fat,
13. Biltonge or dried meat of the Cape Colony--_Pastoormah_--dried
Elephant’s flesh--Hung Beef, 14. Mode of preparing Pemmican, 15.
Gelatine--Beef and Bone Soup, 17. Jellies unnutritious--Portable
Soup, 18. Meat Biscuit--Mode of making it, 19. Utilization of the
Blood of Animals for food, 21. M. Brocchieri’s experiments--Anecdote
of an unlucky Pig doomed to perpetual blood-letting, 23. Arctic
luxuries--Climatic difficulties, 25. A Tuski Feast, 27. A Greenland
Banquet, 29. Animal Food in the Arctic Regions, 30. A Sledge made of
frozen Salmon, 34. Frozen Food brought to the St. Petersburg Market,
35. A Russian Dining-room, 36. Cooking at Cape Coast Castle--Food
customs and delicacies of the Aborigines of various Countries, 38.
Raw-flesh eaten in Greenland and Abyssinia, 42. Australian Food
delicacies, 45.
QUADRUMANA.
Monkeys eaten in South America, Africa, and the Eastern Archipelago,
46. Mode of cooking them. _Cheiroptera_, or hand-winged Animals--The
Fox Monkey, and Bats eaten in the East, 50. _Carnivora_--Hyena
eaten by Arabs--Pole-cat in North America--Foxes in Italy--Prairie
Wolf in North America, 51. The Lion by the Arabs--The Tiger by the
Malays--The Puma by the Americans, 52. No reason why Carnivorous
Animals should not furnish wholesome and palatable Food--Bear’s
Flesh--A draught of a Quart of Bear’s Grease, 53. Bear’s Paws
and Steaks--Flesh of the Badger, 54. Dogs eaten in olden times
by the Greeks and Romans, and still considered a delicacy in
China, Zanzibar, Australia, and the Pacific, 57. Anecdote of a
Dog Feast. _Marsupialia_, or Pouched Animals--The Kangaroo--Food
delicacies from it--Mode of cooking, 58. Aboriginal practices
and Food in Australia, 60. Kangaroo-Rat--Opossum--Wombat, 63.
_Rodentia_--Marmot--Mouse--Musk-Rat, 64. Field-Rat--Rats eaten in
West Indies, Brazil, Australia, China, &c., 65. Chinese Dishes and
Chinese cooking, 66. California bills of fare, 69. Abundance of Rats
in Hong Kong and in Scinde, 62. Salted Rats an article of export
from India to China, 70. Bandicoot, Coffee Rat, Dormouse, Lemming,
and Jerboa eaten as Food, 71. Beaver--Porcupine, 72. Anecdote on
Rabbits, 73. Arctic Hare--Water Dog--Guinea Pig--Agouti--Paca and
Viscascha, 74. _Edentata_, or Toothless Animals--Native Porcupine of
Australia--Ant-eater and Armadillo, 76.
PACHYDERMATA, OR THICK-SKINNED ANIMALS.
Baked Elephants’ Paws--Mode of cooking them, 76. Cutting-up the
Elephant, 78. African Haggis--Hippopotamus Flesh and Fat--Zee-koe
Speck, 80. Products of the Hog--Reading Bacon and eating Bacon, 81.
Swine feeding on Corpses in the Ganges, 82. Pigs fed on Mutton, 83.
Acres of Pork in America, 84. ‘Going the whole Hog,’ 85. Origin of
roast Pig, 86. Spanish Pigs, 90. _Toucinho_, or fat Pork, used in
Brazil--Peccary, Rhinoceros, and Tapir eaten, 92. Horse-flesh, the
recent endeavours to popularize it as an article of Food, 94. M. St.
Hilaire’s exertions in the cause--Historical progress--Horse-flesh
eaten in Africa, America, Asia, and Europe, 97. Experimental trials
and cooking, 100. Horse-flesh eaten unknowingly in many cases,
104. Anecdote of Sausages--Evidence before Parliamentary committee
respecting Horse Sausages, 105. Unwholesome Meat, 106. Blowing Veal,
109. Asses’ Flesh--The Quagga 110.
RUMINANTIA AND CETACEA.
Camel’s Flesh, 111. Axis Deer--Moose Deer--Caribboo--Venison
not _Meat_ in North America--Reindeer, 112.
Giraffe--Eland--Hottentot cooking--Antelope Tribe--The
Hartebeest--Sassaby--Ourebi--Boshbok--Rheebok--Gnu, &c., 113. Alpaca
Tribe--Sheep’s Milk--Large Tailed Cape Sheep--Dried Flesh of the
Argali--Goat’s Flesh, 115. Bison Beef--Buffalo Humps--Musk-Ox, 116.
_Cetacea_--Manatus, 117. Flesh and Tongue of the Sea-Lion, 118. Walrus
Meat--Sea-Bear--Seal Flesh, 119. Flesh of the Whale eaten in various
quarters--Porpoise, an ancient dainty--Mode of serving it at the
tables of English Nobility, 120.
BIRDS.
No Carnivorous Birds eaten--_Insessores_ or Perching
Birds--Becafico--Edible nest of the Eastern Swallow or Swift, 122.
Mode of collecting, localities, statistics, and details in the
Eastern Archipelago, 123. The Guacharo Bird, 128. The Diablotin
or Goat-sucker--Spitted Larks, 129. Crows, Thrushes, and Robin
Redbreasts eaten in Italy--The Rice Bunting, 130. The Toucan--Parrot
Pie--GALLINACEOUS Fowls--Peacock Enkakyll, 131. Wild Turkey of New
Granada--Value of Poultry and Eggs consumed, 132. Fixed Tariff for
Poultry and Game, &c., in London in 1272--Price of Eggs, Pigeons,
&c., in 1313, 133. Prices of Poultry and Game in 1575, 134. Prices
of Food and Poultry in 1531, 135. Ancient Receipt for making a Game
Pie in 1394, from the Books of the Salter’s Company--Prices of
Cattle and Dairy produce in 1548, 137. Consumption and Statistics of
Eggs--Comparative use in Paris and London--Imports from Ireland--Modes
of testing the quality of Eggs, 138. Preservation of Eggs--Salted
Eggs--Pickled Eggs--Painted Eggs--Condensed Egg, 140. Roman
Preserves for fattening Poultry--Wild Game in Jamaica, 142. Canadian
mode of cooking Partridge, 143. Red-legged Partridge run down on
foot--Quail--Turtle Dove--Passenger Pigeon, 144. Hogs fed upon the
Squabs--Canvas-back Duck, 146. Cock of the wood--Wild Birds of New
Zealand, 147.
GRALLATORES.
Ostrich and Emu Eggs, 148. Bustards, 149. Clucking Hen and Mangrove
Hen of Jamaica, 150. Bittern--Snipe Woodcock--Flamingoes’ tongues, 152.
NATATORES.
Sea-gulls eaten by the Chinese--Livers and Hearts of Penguins--Puffins
pickled with Spices, 153. The Mutton-Bird of Australia--Habits of the
Bird--Mode of taking them by the New Zealanders, 154. Birds eaten in
the Arctic Regions--Grouse Pie--Dovekey and Auk Pie--Guillemot Soup,
156. Eggs of Sea Fowl--Large sale of them in San Francisco, and at
the Cape of Good Hope, 158. Penguins’ Eggs in Tristan d’Acunha, 160.
The Rookeries--Exciting Sport, 161. Annual Egg gathering visits to
the Pedro Keys from Jamaica--Description of the Islets--Birds which
frequent them--Recognised customs among the Boatmen--The Egg Bird,
163. Turtle Eggs, 167. Wild and Domestic Geese--Half-hatched Eggs
eaten by the Esquimaux, 168. Cygnets--Pintail Duck--Widgeon and Teal,
169.
REPTILIA.
Enumeration of the Reptiles in the Four Orders, eaten as Food, 169.
Land Tortoises and their Eggs, 170. Terrapin or Box Tortoise--Cruel
mode of killing them, 171. Tenacity of Life--Fluviatile Tortoises--The
Hiccatee of Honduras, 172. Shooting a Turtle--Abundance of large
Land Tortoises in the Gallipagos Islands--Very generally eaten
in the Pacific, Australia, South America, and Europe--Tortoise
oil, 174. Salted Turtle--Chasing the Turtle--Horrible process of
removing the Shell, 175. Dampier’s Description of Land Tortoises
in the West Indies in 1684--First Introduction of Turtle to
England--Statistics of Consumption--Noted City Houses for Turtle
Soup, 176. Turtling in the Grand Caymans, West Indies, 177. Mock
Turtle and Real Turtle--Ascension the Head Quarters for keeping
Turtle, 178. Adventures of Old ‘Nelson’--Turtle should be sent
home in a Sealed Cask--Jaguars of South America fond of Turtle
and their Eggs--A Brazil Native will eat 20 or 30 Turtle Eggs at
a meal, 180. Description of the Eggs--Hawk’s-bill Turtle eaten,
but sometimes unwholesome--Collecting Turtle Eggs on the Orinoco,
by the Indians--Preparation of an Oil called ‘Mantega’ from
them--Gives Employment to several thousand Persons, 181. Quantity
made and Value--Not very pure--Uses of Turtle Oil for Culinary and
Illuminating Purposes, 182. The Iguana--Description of it--Repulsive
Appearance--Very Delicate Eating, 183. Mode of cooking it--First
Repugnance of the Early Spaniards to it, as related by Peter Martyn,
184. Mode of Catching the Reptile by Natives, 185. Hunted by Dogs
in the Bahamas Islands--Met with and esteemed in Australia, 186.
Aboriginal Appreciation of it--Eaten by Natives of Ceylon, 187. Eggs
of this Lizard an esteemed Delicacy--Should be introduced to our
Tables--All kinds of Lizards eaten by the Blacks of Australia, 188.
Lizard Family obnoxious to Poisons--Lizards brought to the Rio Janeiro
market--Hatching a Crocodile by a Fancy Poultry Breeder, 190. Eggs of
the Alligator eaten--Effect of Imagination on the Stomach, at a Dinner
given by Dr. Buckland, 191. Australian Crocodile eats like Veal, 192.
Origin of the Australian ‘Bunyip’ Fiction--Flesh of the Crocodile
musky, 193. Various Opinions of Alligator Meat, 194. An Alligator
Hunt in South America, 195. Eggs and Skin of the Alligator eaten--Oil
prepared from the Fat, 196. Lizards, Serpents, and Snakes, 197.
Swallowing Live Lizards supposed to cure the Cancer--Boa-constrictor
eaten, 198. Fried Rattlesnake or ‘Musical Jack,’ 199. Roasted Snakes
in Australia, 202. Extending use of Frogs for Food in Europe, America,
and the East--Toads frequently sold for frogs, 204. Mode of skinning
and preparing them--Eaten boiled in Brazil, without any Preparation,
206.
FISH.
Abundance of Fish--Modes of preserving them--Analyses of their
Flesh, 208. Presence of Iodine, 210--Fish Chowder--Fish Glue and
Isinglass--Fish-maws, immense Trade in, 211. Caviar and the dried Roes
of Fish, 212. Ancient Customs, Prices, and Kinds of Fish used, 215.
Fish Ordinaries, 216. The Russian _Piroga_, an oily Fish-cake--Dried
loaves of putrid pounded Fish eaten in Africa and South America, 218.
Bony Fishes--Unwholesome and Poisonous Fishes--Assumed Causes for
the Fish Poison, 219. Fish Liver and Gall, 221. Classification of
Fishes--Neglect of our Fisheries, 222. Ocean Fishes dry eating--Mode
of drying the Bonito--The hard horny pieces, under the name of
_Cummelmums_, used to rasp over Rice, 223. Shark’s Flesh sold in the
Havana Market--Shark Hunting--Excitement of the Sport, 224. The Picked
Shark--Spotted Dog-Fish--Pigs fed on them--Shark oil, 228. Fisheries
for the Sharks in India for the Fins--Extensive Trade in these to
China--Dogs trained to bring Sharks ashore, 229. Anecdotes of Sharks,
231. The Sturgeon, a Royal Fish--Flesh not much esteemed--Sturgeon’s
Skull-cap and Shark’s Fin Stew, Chinese Delicacies, 236. Lampreys--Eel
Pies and stewed Eels--Spearing Eels--Jews prohibited from eating
them, 238. Comparison between British Fish and Mediterranean Fish,
240. Finnon Haddock--Fresh Herrings--Pickled Herrings--Red Herrings
and Bloaters--Origin of Smoked Herrings--Herring Pies sent from
Yarmouth periodically to the Queen, 242. Conger Eel dried and grated
to powder for making Fish Soup--Congers formerly reared in Vivaria
by the Romans, 244. The Sand-Eel and Sand-launce--Smelts--Whitebait,
245. Substitutes for Whitebait in distant Seas, 246. The Anchovy--An
Irishman’s Blunder, 249. The Sardine Fishery, 252. West Indian
Fishes--Hog Fish--Snapper--Queen Mullet--Paracuta--Callipeva--Red
Mullet--King Fish, &c., 253. The Sun Fish--Pacou--Gourami--Caffum,
256. The Pirarucu--The Sheep’s Head--The Green Cavalla--The John
and Goggle-Eye--The Flying Fish, 259. Sprats--Coveeching Fish--Mud
Fish, 261. Lut-fisk of Sweden--Fish exported from New Brunswick--The
Sea-perch--The striped Bass--Brook Trout and Sea Trout, 263.
Gaspereaux or Alewives--Salmon-trout--Skate--Capelan--Halibut
Fins--Smoked Eels in New Brunswick and Port Phillip, 266. White
Fish of the North American Lakes--Gizzard Fish--Mashkilonge--Trout
and other Lake Fish, 268. Modes of Fishing--Scoop Nets and Gill
Nets--Angling through the Ice, 271. Extreme Fatness of Lake Fish,
274. Fish Soup, 275. Fish of the Pacific Coasts--Robalo, Corvino,
Lisa, Bagre, 227. A Hawaiian Restaurant--Raw Fish eaten--Salmon
the King of Fresh-water Fish, 278. Salmon Fisheries of Oregon and
California, 279. Chinese Fisheries--Fish of the Australian and Indian
Seas--Tamarind-fish--Mango-fish--Black and white Pomfrets--Bombay
Duck, 284. Fish of the Cape Colony--Géelbeck or Cape Salmon, Snook,
Silver fish, Harders, Jacob Evertsen, Kabeljauw, Hottentot Fish,
Windtoy, Bamboo Fish, Galleon, Lake, &c., 286.
INSECTS.
Insects furnish many good Delicacies--Fairy Cates, 292.
_Coleoptera_--Larvæ or Grubs of Beetles eaten in various
localities--Roman Epicures used to Fatten them, 293. Goliath Beetles
eaten in Africa--Turkish Women cook Beetles in Butter to fatten
themselves, 295. _Orthoptera_--Locusts extensively eaten in Africa
and Arabia--Modes of Collecting and Cooking them, 296. Animals
and Birds feed greedily on them--Descriptions given by various
Travellers, 300. Locusts eaten in Eastern Asia--Grasshoppers tried
and found to be good eating--A Grasshopper Roast in California, 304.
_Neuroptera_--Termites, or White Ants, eaten by the Africans and
South American Indians--Yellow and Red Ants in Brazil--Ants Distilled
for Brandy in Sweden--Cocoons of the Wood Ant collected and sold for
Feeding Birds, 305. Caviar of Insect Eggs in Mexico--_Axayacat_--Mode
of Collecting--Cakes and Bread, called Hautle, made from them--Curry
of Ants’ Eggs, 306. _Hymenoptera_--Bees eaten in Ceylon--Caterpillars
of the Butterfly--Silk-worm Chrysalids Bugong Moth, a great Delicacy
to Natives of Australia--Sage-Apples or Galls, in the Levant, 311.
_Hemiptera_--The Cicada or Chirping Flies eaten in America and
Australia--Caterpillars eaten like Sugar Plums, 314.
ARACHNIDA.
Spiders eaten in Various Quarters as Centipedes are in others, 316.
CRUSTACEA.
Flesh of Crustaceans Difficult of Digestion--Varieties of
Consumed--Land Crabs--Their Habits--Varieties--Mode of Cooking
them--An Ingredient in the Famous ‘Pepper-pot,’ 316. Abundance of
Land Crabs at the Bahamas--mentioned by Virgil--Mason Crab of Chile
eaten, 321. The Lobster--Where principally Caught--Preserved Fresh
Lobsters, 322. Salted Lobsters--Pond or Saltern, for keeping them,
at Southampton--A Tale with a Moral, 327. Turning Lobsters on their
Backs, 328. Live Crablets eaten by the Chinese, 329. Shrimps and
Prawns--Enormous Consumption of them--Instructions for Cooking them,
350. Dried Prawns and Shell-fish--Large Trade in them in the East,
332. _Balachong_ or _Gnapee_, 333.
MOLLUSCA, &c.
Oysters--‘Natives and Scuttlemouths’--Racoon or Parasitic
Oysters, 334. Large Trade in Oysters in America, at New York,
Baltimore, Boston, and New Orleans, 335. Bottled Oysters at the
Cape--Mussels--‘Old Maids’--Scallops--Clams and Clam Digging--Largely
used for Bait, 342. Periwinkles--Large Consumption of, in
London--Whelks, Boiled and Pickled, 345. Snails a Fashionable
Article of Diet--Roman Taste for them--A Snail Pie--The Vineyard
Snail--Modes of Dressing them, 346. Attempt of Two Philosophers
to relish them, 347. Snail Soup--The Parrot’s-bill Barnacle
eaten, 349. _Annelida_--Palolo, a Pacific Delicacy, 350. Diet
of Worms--Cuttle-fish eaten, 352. _Arcas_ and _Monodonta_
eaten--Sea Eggs or Urchins, 353. _Holothuria_--the Sea Slug Soup
of the Chinese--_Bêche-de-mer_ or _Tripang_, 354. The _Times’_
Correspondent’s Opinion of this Dish, 355. Extensive Fisheries for the
Animal, 356. Details of the Preparation and Statistics of the Trade,
358. Varieties and Prices, 364.
CONCLUDING REMARKS.
Ignorance as to some of our Common Food--Ox
Tongues--Polonies--Confidence inspired by the Pie-man eating one
of his own Pies, 367. We eat many things which would be refused
by others, 368. Bounty and Wisdom of the Creator in providing for
Man--Difficulty of determining what are Food Delicacies, 369. New
Varieties of Food may be Provided Artificially--Fresh Hides of Cattle
a Delicacy in Java--Buffalo Hides and other Skins made into Jellies
at Home--Buckskin Breeches, boiled and stuffed with Sea-weed for
Food--Resumé of the Dainties of Different People--Verification of the
Proverb--‘One half the world does not know how the other half lives.’
THE
CURIOSITIES OF FOOD.
What is the prevailing food of the people? Is it chiefly animal or
vegetable, and whence is it derived in the two kingdoms? Do they
trust to what the bounty of Nature provides, or have they the means
of modifying or controlling production, whether in the cultivation of
vegetables, or the rearing of animals? Describe their modes of cooking,
and state the kinds of condiments they employ. Have they in use any
kind of fermented liquor? What number of meals do they make, and what
is their capacity for temporary or sustained exertion?
These are some of the enquiries to which a traveller is directed to pay
attention, if he wishes to furnish and diffuse useful information.
I do not intend to go over this wide field of investigation in the
systematic and scientific manner shadowed forth by these enquiries, but
merely desire to assist the reader to pass a leisure hour, although he
may probably glean some useful information at the same time.
I propose bringing under notice some of the Animal food in which people
in various countries indulge, not that I wish persons to test these
meats, or to live upon them, unless they please. I do not deal in
them, and have no interest in their collection or sale, but I merely
desire to introduce them to notice that the reader may ascertain the
opinions entertained of them, think over them, and know how much better
an Englishman is fed than any one else in the world. So that, despite
our habit of grumbling, there is at least this undeniable fact before
us, that the middle classes are in very easy circumstances; and that
English workmen earn good wages, or they could not consume the quantity
of animal food they do at the present prices.
According to Vauban, Bossuet, and La Grange, the richest and most
comfortable nation is that which eats the most meat. At the present
prices of this article here, it certainly must be so, for a poor nation
could not indulge in the luxury.
Beef and mutton, and mutton and beef, no matter what their price, John
Bull will not dispense with; and although they are 40 or 50 per cent.
dearer now than they were ten years ago, and although we import animals
largely from abroad, and our cattle-breeders do their best to meet the
demand, cattle and sheep will not increase and multiply fast enough to
bring down the price for the consumer.
A writer in _Household Words_ thus alludes to our national
weakness.--‘Next to the Habeas Corpus and the Freedom of the Press,
there are few things that the English people have a greater respect
for and a livelier faith in than beef. They bear, year after year,
with the same interminable, unvarying series of woodcuts of fat oxen
in the columns of the illustrated newspapers; they are never tired
of crowding to the Smithfield Club cattle-show; and I am inclined to
think that it is their honest reverence for beef that has induced
them to support so long the obstruction and endangerment of the
thoroughfares of the metropolis by oxen driven to slaughter. Beef is
a great connecting link and bond of better feeling between the great
classes of the commonwealth. Do not Dukes hob and nob with top-booted
farmers over the respective merits of short-horns and Alderneys? Does
not the noble Marquis of Argentfork give an ox to be roasted whole on
the village green when his son, the noble Viscount Silvercoral, comes
of age? Beef makes boys into men. Beef nerves our navvies. The bowmen
who won Cressy and Agincourt were beef-fed, and had there been more
and better beef in the Crimea a year or two ago, our soldiers would
have borne up better under the horrors of a Chersonesean winter. We
feast on beef at the great Christian festival. A baron of beef at the
same time is enthroned in St. George’s Hall, in Windsor’s ancient
castle, and is borne in by lacqueys in scarlet and gold. Charles the
Second knighted a loin of beef, and I have a shrewd suspicion that the
famous Sir Bevis of Southampton was but an ardent admirer and doughty
knight-errant in the cause of beef. And who does not know the tradition
that even as the first words of the new-born Gargantua were ‘A boyre, à
boyre,’ signifying that he desired a draught of Burgundy wine--so the
first intelligible sounds that the infant Guy of Warwick ever spake
were ‘Beef, beef!’ When the weary pilgrim reaches the beloved shores
of England after a long absence, what first does he remark--after the
incivility of the custom-house officers--but the great tankard of stout
and the noble round of cold beef in the coffee-room of the hotel? He
does not cry ‘Io Bacche! Evöe Bacche!’ because beef is not Bacchus. He
does not fall down and kiss his native soil, because the hotel carpet
is somewhat dusty, and the action would be, besides, egregious; but he
looks at the beef, and his eyes filling with tears, a corresponding
humidity takes place in his mouth; he kisses the beef; he is so fond of
it that he could eat it all up; and he does ordinarily devour so much
of it to his breakfast, that the thoughtful waiter gazes at him, and
murmurs to his napkin, ‘This man is either a cannibal or a pilgrim grey
who has not seen Albion for many years.’
It has been well observed, that there are few things in which the
public have so great and general an interest, and concerning which
they possess so little real knowledge, as of the provision trade and
the wholesale traffic in animals live and dead, in their own and other
countries. When, where, and how raised, and what processes meat passes
through before it reaches their tables, are questions which, though
highly important, are very seldom asked by the consumers--all that they
usually trouble themselves with is, the current retail price, and the
nature of the supply.
Few of us think as we sit down to our rump steak or pork chop, our
sirloin or leg of mutton, of the awful havoc of quadrupeds necessary to
furnish the daily meals of the millions. I will not weary the reader
with statistics, although I have a long array of figures before me,
bearing upon the slaughter of animals for food in different countries.
It will be sufficient to generalize.
If the hecatomb of animals we have each consumed in the years we have
lived, were marshalled in array before us, we should stand aghast at
the possibility of our ever having devoured the quantity of animal
food, and sacrificed for our daily meals the goodly number of well-fed
quadrupeds of the ovine, bovine, and porcine races, or the fish, fowl,
reptiles, and insects, which would be thus re-embodied.
The average quantity of animal food of all kinds consumed in France is
stated on good authority--that of M. Payen--to be as low as one-sixth
of a pound per diem to each person. Even in the cities and large towns,
especially Paris, the amount of food upon which a Frenchman lives is
astonishingly small. An Englishman or an American would starve upon
such fare.
In proportion to its population, New York consumes as nearly as
possible the same quantity of meat as London, about half-a-pound a day
to each person; more beef, however, is consumed there and less mutton,
and the latter fact may be accounted for by the comparative inferiority
of quality.
It is curious to notice the various parts of animals that are eaten,
or selected as choice morsels by different persons or classes. Sheep’s
head, pig’s head, calf’s head and brains, ox head, the heads of ducks
and geese, ox tongue, reindeer tongue, walrus tongue, crane’s tongue,
&c. Fowls and ducks’ tongues are esteemed an exquisite Chinese dainty.
The pettitoes of the sucking pig, or the mature feet and hocks of
the elder hog, sheep’s trotters, calf’s feet, cow heel, bear’s paws,
elephant’s feet, the feet of ducks and geese, and their giblets; ox
tail, pig’s tail, sheep’s tail, kangaroo tail, beaver’s tail. And
the entrails again are not despised, whether it be bullock’s heart
or sheep’s heart, liver and lights, lamb’s fry or pig’s fry, tripe
and chitterlings, goose liver and gizzard, the cleaned gut for our
sausages, the fish maws, cod liver, and so on. The moufle, or loose
covering of the nose, of the great moose deer or elk is considered by
New Brunswick epicures a great dainty. The hump of the buffalo, the
trunk of the elephant, are other delicacies. Deer’s sinews, and the
muscle of the ox, the buffalo, and the wild hog, jerked or dried in the
sun, and then termed, ‘dendeng,’ is a delicacy of the Chinese, imported
at a high price from Siam and the eastern islands.
The eggs of different animals, again, form choice articles of food,
whether they be those of the ordinary domestic poultry, the eggs of sea
fowl, of the plover, and of game birds, of the ostrich and emu, of the
tortoises and other reptilia, as alligator’s eggs, snake’s eggs, and
those of the iguana, or the eggs of insects, and of fishes.
Amid all the multiplicity of special dainties, appreciated by different
peoples, the prejudices of the stomach are, perhaps, more unconquerable
than any other that tyrannize over the human mind. It is almost
impossible to get people to adventure, or experimentalize upon a _new_
kind of food. There is a great want of courage and enterprise on this
head among Englishmen. John Bull is resolved to eat, drink, and do
only what he has been accustomed to. He wants none of your foreign
kickshaws, frogs, and snails in fricassées, or sea slug, or bird’s nest
soup, or horse flesh steak. It is true he has gradually adventured
upon, and now appreciates, a few select foreign delicacies. Real lively
turtle and caviar, reindeer tongue, an imitation Indian curry, and
such like, have become luxuries; and, probably, under the mysterious
manipulations of Gunter, Soyer, and other distinguished _chefs de
cuisine_, some other foreign delicacies have found, or may yet find,
their way upon English tables.
They will probably displace ere long the four standard Scotch dishes, a
haggis, a sheep’s head, tripe, and black puddings, or the common dishes
of the Devonshire peasant and Cornish fisherman, parsley and squab
pies, in which fish, apples, onions, and pork are incongruously blended.
Queen Elizabeth and her ladies breakfasted on meat, bread, and strong
ale. Our modern ladies take tea or coffee, and thin slices of toast
or bread. The Esquimaux drink train oil, and the Cossacks koumis,
an ardent spirit made from mares’ milk. The inhabitants of France
and Germany eat much more largely than we do of vegetable diet; and
drink, at all times of the day, their acid wines. In Devonshire and
Herefordshire, cyder is the common beverage, and in the Highlands
of Scotland, oatmeal porridge is, in a great measure, the food, and
whiskey the drink of the inhabitants. The Irish peasant lives, or used
to do, chiefly on potatoes, and most of the Hindoos of the maritime
provinces on rice.
Yet all this variety, and much more, is digested, yields nutriment,
and promotes growth; affording undeniable evidence that man is really
omnivorous, that he can be supported by great varieties of food.
A recent writer speaking of human diet says, ‘it is a remarkable
circumstance, that man alone is provided with a case of instruments
adapted to the mastication of all substances,--teeth to cut, and
pierce, and champ, and grind; a gastric solvent too, capable of
contending with any thing and every thing, raw substances and cooked,
ripe and rotten,--nothing comes amiss to him.’
If animals could speak, as Æsop and other fabulists make them seem
to do, they would declare man to be the most voracious animal in
existence. There is scarcely any living thing that flies in the air,
swims in the sea, or moves on the land, that is not made to minister to
his appetite in some region or other.
Other creatures are, generally, restricted to one sort of provender at
most. They are carnivorous or graminivorous, piscivorous, or something
ivorous; but man is the universal eater. He pounces with the tiger
upon the kid, with the hawk upon the dove, with the cormorant upon the
herring, and with the small bird upon the insect and grub. He goes
halves with the bee in the honey cell, but turns upon his partner
and cheats him out of his share of the produce. He grubs up the root
with the sow, devours the fruit with the earwig, and demolishes the
leaves with the caterpillar; for all these several parts of different
vegetables furnish him with food.
Life itself will not hinder his appetite, nor decay nauseate his
palate; for he will as soon devour a lively young oyster as demolish
the fungous produce of a humid field. This propensity is, indeed,
easily abused. Viands of such incongruous nature and heterogeneous
substance, are sometimes collected, as to make an outrageous
amalgamation, so that an alderman at a city feast might make one
shudder; but this is too curious an investigation, it is the abuse of
abundance too, and we know that abuse is the origin of all evil. The
fact should lead us to another point of appreciation of goodness and
beneficence. The adaptation of external nature to man has often been
insisted on; the adaptation of man to all circumstances, states, and
conditions, is carrying out the idea. The inferior animals are tied
down, even by the narrowness of their animal necessities, to a small
range of existence; but man can seldom be placed in any circumstance
in which his universal appetite cannot be appeased. From the naked
savage snatching a berry from the thorn, to the well-clad, highly
civilized denizen of the court, surrounded by every comfort, every
luxury; from the tired traveller, who opens his wallet and produces
his oaten cake beside the welling lymph which is to slake his thirst,
to the pursy justice, ‘in fair round belly with capon lined,’ who
spreads the damask napkin on his knees, tucks his toes under the table,
and revels in calapash and calapee,--what an infinite diversity of
circumstances!
Man, with all his natural and artificial necessities, all his social
and domestic dependencies,--more dependent, indeed, upon his fellows
than the fowls of the air, from the grand exuberance of nature, and his
remarkable adaptation to it in the point alluded to, finds subsistence
under circumstances in which other animals might starve.
Perhaps we might properly urge the advice of a recent writer.--‘Make
use of every material possible for food, remembering that there are
chemical affinities and properties by which nutriment may be extracted
from almost every organic substance, the greatest art being in proper
cooking. Make soup of every kind of flesh, fish, and leguminosæ.--Every
thing adds to its strength and flavour.’
Man eats to satisfy his hunger, and to supply warmth to the body; but
the lover of good things, who finds a pleasure in eating, may also be
told that there is a beautiful structure of nerve work spread out on
the tongue, which carries upwards to the brain messages from the nice
things in the mouth.
Moderation in food is, however, one of the great essentials to health.
Sydney Smith, in a letter to Lord Murray, tells him that, having
ascertained the weight of food that he could live upon, so as to
preserve health and strength, and what he had lived upon, he found that
between ten and seventy years of age, he had eaten and drunk forty-four
one-horse wagon loads of meat and drink more than would have preserved
him in life and health, and that the value of this mass of nourishment
was about £7,000.
Sir John Ross tells us that an Esquimaux will eat twenty pounds of
flesh and oil daily. But the most marvellous account of gormandizing
powers is that published by Captain Cochrane, who in his _Narrative
of a Pedestrian Journey through Russia and Siberian Tartary_, says,
that the Russian Admiral, Saritcheff, was told that one of the Yakuti
consumed in twenty-four hours, ‘the hind quarter of a large ox, twenty
pounds of fat, and a proportionate quantity of melted butter for his
drink.’ The Admiral, to test the truth of the statement, gave him
‘a thick porridge of rice, boiled down with three pounds of butter,
weighing together twenty-eight pounds; and although the glutton had
already breakfasted, yet did he sit down to it with great eagerness,
and consumed the whole without stirring from the spot; and, except that
his stomach betrayed more than ordinary fulness, he showed no sign
of inconvenience or injury!’ The traveller I have just quoted also
states, that he has repeatedly seen a Yakut, or Tongouse, devour forty
pounds of meat a day; and he adds, ‘I have seen three of these gluttons
consume a reindeer at one meal.’
It has been well remarked by Dr. Dieffenbach, in the _Transactions of
the Ethnological Society_, that the labours of modern chemistry have
thrown a new and most interesting light on the food of the various
races of men, or inhabitants of parts of the globe which are widely
different from each other in their geographical and climatological
relations. The substances which serve as food, or the quantity which is
taken, appear to the superficial observer often of a most extraordinary
nature, because they are apparently so heterogeneous from what we are
accustomed to; so that travellers relating such facts, do not withhold
their astonishment or reprobation.
But it has been demonstrated, that the general use of certain articles,
for instance, tea and coffee, betel-nut, tobacco, and wine, depends
upon the presence in those substances of elements which are often
identical, and which are necessary to the maintenance of the animal
economy, more or less, according to the presence or absence of other
elements in the food, the different occupation, mode of living, and
so on. These points have been well illustrated and explained in the
_Chemistry of Common Life_, of the late Professor Johnston. The fact
of the Esquimaux consuming large quantities of train oil and blubber
ceases to be astonishing, when we reflect that these highly carbonized
substances serve to furnish fuel for his increased respiration.
In one word, it is necessary in the present state of chemical and
physiological science, to collect analyses of all the substances which
are consumed by a particular race, either as food or drink, or by
an habitual custom, as so called matters of luxury, or as medicine.
The ethnologist has the great merit of working here hand in hand
with chemists and physiologists, and fills up in this manner a most
important chapter in the natural history of man; as it shows how
instinct and necessity have led him to adopt different customs, and to
make use of different articles of consumption in different climates.
Among the ordinary domestic animals, there is little of novelty in
the food they supply to man. But I may notice in passing, before
proceeding to an investigation of unusual or extraordinary articles of
consumption, a few things that may not be generally known.
Jerked beef, or _tasajo_, as it is termed in Cuba, is imported to the
extent of 200 to 350 thousand quintals a year into that island, for
feeding the slaves on the plantations.
That imported from Buenos Ayres and Monte Video is preferred for
consumption on the sugar estates, to that which is received from Rio
Grande, Venezuela, Campeachy, and the United States, it being more
substantial, coming in larger and thicker pieces, better cured and
salted, and also of handsomer appearance. The class imported from
Venezuela and Campeachy, comes in thin pieces called _rebenque_,
which is not generally liked, and only bought in small parcels, for
consumption in the city of Havana. The beef which is cured in the River
Plate, from December to May, or in summer, is preferred in Cuba, by
reason of its being more nutritive than that which is cured in the
other or winter months; the colour is yellowish, and it keeps a longer
time.
In South America, the jerked beef is called _charqui_, and when salted,
and smoked or dried in the sun, _sesina_. The commerce is very large in
this species of provision.
The mode of preparing it in Chili is as follows:--When the horned
cattle are sufficiently fat, or rather at the killing season, which is
about the months of February and March, from 500 to 1000, according
to the size of the farm, are slaughtered. The whole of the fat is
separated from the meat and melted, forming a kind of lard, called
_grasa_, which is employed for domestic purposes. The tallow is also
kept separate, and the meat is jerked. This process is performed by
cutting the fleshy substance into slices of about a quarter-of-an-inch
thick, leaving out all the bones. The natives are so dexterous at this
work that they will cut the whole of a leg, or any other large part of
a bullock, into one uniformly thin piece.
The meat thus cut is either dipped into a very strong solution of
salt and water, or rubbed over with a small quantity of fine salt.
Whichever mode is adopted, the whole of the jerked meat is put on the
hide, and rolled up for ten or twelve hours, or until the following
morning. It is then hung on lines or poles to dry in the sun, which
being accomplished, it is made into bundles, lashed with thongs of
fresh hide, forming a kind of network, and is ready for market. In this
operation it loses about one-third of its original weight. The dried
meat, or _charqui_, finds immediate sale at Lima, Arica, Guayaquil,
Panama, and other places. About 6000 quintals of _charqui_, with a
proportionate quantity of tallow and fat (_grasa_) are shipped from
Talcahuana to Lima alone. Besides the large quantity consumed in
Chili, it furnishes a great part of the food of the slaves in Brazil,
the negroes in some of the West India Islands, and seamen, being the
general substitute for salt beef and pork. The _grasa_ and tallow are
also readily sold throughout South America, and are of more value than
the meat.
The slaughtering season is as much a time of diversion for the
inhabitants of that country as a sheep shearing is in England. The
females too are all busied cutting up the fat, frying it for _grasa_,
and selecting some of the finer meat for presents and home consumption.
The tongue is the only part of the head that is eaten, the remainder
being left to rot.[1] Dried meat enters largely into consumption in
several other countries.
In the Cape Colony dried meat is called _biltonge_. In the East,
especially in Siam, the dried sinews of animals are considered a great
delicacy; and dried elephant’s flesh we shall find is stored up for
food, under the name of _pastoormah_. Beef is preserved in Asia Minor
with garlic and pepper, and dried in the sun for winter food. It is
prepared in Wallachia and Moldavia, and largely shipped from Varna in
the Black Sea. Besides providing all Anatolia, Aleppo, and Damascus,
6000 cwt. or more is yearly sent from Kaissariah to Constantinople.
Hung beef from Germany is well known at our tables.
Portable and concentrated animal food is of great consequence to
explorers and travellers, and therefore it may be well to allude here
to the article _pemmican_, which is so much used by arctic travellers
and the Hudson’s Bay Company’s traders. This is meat of any kind dried
and pounded, and saturated with fat. There is as much nourishment
in one pound of pemmican as in four pounds of ordinary meat. It may
be eaten as it is, or partially cooked, and has a pleasant taste.
Sometimes it is mixed with a sufficient quantity of Indian meal and
water to cause it to adhere, and then fried or stewed.
The North American Indians dry their venison by exposing thin slices
to the heat of the sun, on a stage, under which a small fire is kept,
more for the purpose of driving away the flies than for promoting
exsiccation; and then they pound it between two stones on a bison
hide. In this process the pounded meat is contaminated by a greater or
smaller admixture of hair and other impurities.
The fat, which is generally the suet of the bison, is added by the
traders, who purchase it separately from the natives, and they complete
the process by sewing up the pemmican in a bag of undressed hide, with
the hairy side outwards. Each of these bags weighs 90 lbs., and obtains
from the Canadian voyageurs the designation of ‘un taureau.’ A superior
pemmican is produced by mixing finely powdered meat, sifted from
impurities, with marrow fat, and the dried fruit of the Amilanchier.
Sir John Richardson having been employed by government to prepare
pemmican on a large scale, at the Victualling Yard, Gosport, for the
use of the different arctic expeditions, it will be interesting to
describe the process he adopted, as given in his _Arctic Searching
Expedition, or a Journal of a Boat Voyage, &c._--
‘The round or buttock of beef of the best quality having been cut
into thin steaks, from which the fat and membraneous parts were pared
away, was dried in a malt kiln, over an oak fire, until its moisture
was entirely dissipated, and the fibre of the meat became friable. It
was then ground in a malt mill, when it resembled finely grated meat.
Being next mixed with nearly an equal weight of melted beef suet or
lard, the preparation of plain pemmican was complete; but to render it
more agreeable to the unaccustomed palate, a proportion of the best
Zante currants was added to part of it, and part of it was sweetened
with sugar. Both these kinds were much approved of in the sequel by
the consumers, but more especially that to which the sugar had been
added. After the ingredients were well incorporated by stirring, they
were transferred to tin canisters, capable of containing 85 lbs. each;
and having been firmly rammed down and allowed to contract further by
cooling, the air was completely expelled and excluded by filling the
canister to the brim with melted lard, through a small hole left in the
end, which was then covered with a piece of tin and soldered up.
‘As the meat in drying loses more than three-fourths of its original
weight, the quantity required was considerable, being 35,651 lbs.
(reduced by drying to about 8000 lbs.); and the sudden abstraction
of more than one thousand rounds of beef, from Leadenhall Market,
occasioned speculation among the dealers, and a rise in the price of a
penny per pound, with an equally sudden fall when the extra demand was
found to be very temporary.’
We import about 13 or 14 tons of gelatine a year from France, besides
what is made at home, and the greater part of what passes under this
name is, I believe, used for food. The Americans, some years ago, tried
to pass off upon us isinglass made from fish bones, but it would not go
down.
Gelatine of all kinds has usually been considered wholesome and
nourishing; and while few object to cow-heel or calf’s foot jelly, very
many are possibly unaware of the sources of much of the gelatine vended
in shapes so beautifully transparent, but which is made from bones and
hide clippings, and parchment shavings. It is said that a pair of
lady’s gloves have ere now made a ragout; and there is a hiatus in the
parchment specifications at the Patent Office, caused by an unlucky
boy, who changed them away for tarts, in order that they might be
converted into jellies.
The dust of the ivory turner in working up elephants’ tusks forms an
excellent material for jellies, and is commonly sold for this purpose,
at about 6_d._ per lb.
M. Payen has recently been at pains to disprove the vulgar notion
that bones make good soup. The celebrated _Gelatine Commission_, some
years ago, declared, as the results of many experiments, that gelatine
was not nutritious; and this result has been repeated in almost every
text-book of physiology as conclusive, and is adopted by M. Payen,
who tests it in another series of experiments. He boiled in one pot
a portion of beef completely divested of bone, and in another the
bone taken from the beef, with only a little salt. After five hours’
slow boiling, the liquid from the beef was perfectly limpid, and of
a light amber colour, leaving that aroma and delicate taste known to
belong to good beef tea. The liquid from the bones was whitish-gray,
troubled and opaque, having a very slight odour, and a not agreeable
taste. Nothing could be more opposed than the two soups thus produced.
In another experiment, he repeated this process with the addition of
some vegetables, and even some drops of caramel. The beef-soup here
maintained its delicious aroma, agreeably combined with that of the
vegetables; its limpidity was the same, but its colour of course
stronger. The bone-soup had a dominant odour of vegetables, but its
troubled and opaque aspect made it very unappetising. From these
experiments M. Payen concludes that the prejudice in favour of the
addition of bones to the soup is a prejudice, and that, in fact, bones
are not at all nutritious.
Liebig also, in his _Letters on Chemistry_, pp. 424 and 425,
says:--‘It has now been proved by the most convincing experiments,
that gelatine, which by itself is tasteless, and when eaten excites
nausea, possesses no nutritive value; that even when accompanied by
the savoury constituents of flesh, it is not capable of supporting the
vital process, and when added to the usual diet as a substitute for
plastic matter, does not increase, but on the contrary diminishes the
nutritive value of the food, which it renders insufficient in quantity
and inferior in quality; and that its use is hurtful rather than
beneficial, because it does not, like the non-nitrogenous substances
provided by nature for respiration, disappear in the body without
leaving a residue, but overloads with nitrogenous products, the
presence of which disturbs and impedes the organic processes.’ And he
further observes, that ‘the only difference between this and joiner’s
glue is its greater price.’ Jellies no doubt were considered most
nutritious during the Peninsular war, but we have learned many things
since then, of which our poor soldiers ought to have the benefit.
Portable soup is prepared in a very simple manner. The meat is boiled,
and the scum taken off as it rises, until the soup possesses the
requisite flavour. ‘It is then suffered to cool, in order that the fat
may be separated. In the next place it is mixed with the whites of five
or six eggs, and slightly boiled--this operation serves to clarify the
liquid, by the removal of opaque particles, which unite with the white
of egg, at the time it becomes solid by the heat, and are consequently
removed along with it. The liquor is then to be strained through
flannel, and evaporated on the water bath, to the consistence of a very
thick paste, after which it is spread rather thin upon a smooth stone,
then cut into cakes, and lastly dried in a stove, until it becomes
brittle. These cakes may be kept four or five years, if defended from
moisture. When intended to be used, nothing more is required to be done
than to dissolve a sufficient quantity in boiling water.’[2]
For some years past there have been imported into the Continent rather
large quantities of dried meat from the southern countries of America,
where it is known under the name of _assayo_. It gives a soup nearly
similar to that of fresh meat. Another sort of food which is prepared
in Texas, the _meat-biscuit_, is generally used in the American navy;
but, although greatly appreciated at the Great Exhibition of London,
it has not yet entered into general use in Europe. It is made of
boiled beef free from grease, the liquor of which is evaporated to
the consistency of syrup, and this is mixed with wheaten flour in
sufficient proportion to form a solid paste. This paste is then spread
out by a rolling pin, is pierced with a number of little holes, is
cut into the ordinary dimensions of sea biscuits, and then baked and
properly dried. The biscuit is eaten dry, or may be broken, boiled in
twenty or thirty times its weight in water, for from twenty-five to
thirty minutes, and then seasoned with salt or other things.
The following is the process of manufacturing this biscuit:--
There are four wooden caldrons or tubs for boiling the meat and
evaporating the liquid or broth--the two for boiling the meat, holding
2,300 gallons, will each boil 7,000 lbs. of meat in twelve to sixteen
hours. The other two, for evaporating, will contain some 1,400 gallons
each. All the tubs are heated or boiled by steam passing through long
coiled iron pipes, supplied at pleasure, either from the escape steam
from the engine, or direct from the boiler.
When the meat is so far boiled or macerated, that the liquid or broth
contains the entire nutriment, the meaty, or solid portions are
separated by a simple process of filtering, so that the broth goes into
the evaporator pure and free from fibrous matter. It is then evaporated
to a degree of consistency resembling the golden or Stewart’s sugar
house syrup, its uniform density being determined by a liquid or syrup
gauge. Two pounds of this syrup or extract contains the nutriment of
some eleven pounds of meat (including its usual proportion of bone)
as first put into the caldron. This is then mixed with the best and
finest flour, kneaded and made into biscuit by means of machines. The
biscuit is baked upon pans in an oven so constructed as to produce
an uniform firmness. The proportion is as two pounds of extract are
to three pounds of flour, but by baking, the five pounds of dough is
reduced to four pounds of biscuit, and this will make what the inventor
claims--the nutriment of over five pounds of meat in one pound of
bread, which contains, besides, over ten ounces of flour.
The biscuit resembles in appearance a light coloured sugar-cake. It is
packed in air-tight casks or tin canisters of different sizes, part of
the biscuit being pulverized by grinding in a mill for the purpose, and
then packed with the whole biscuit.
In discussing the extension of our resources of animal food, it is
strange to notice that while we eat the blood of pigs and fowls, we
throw aside as waste the blood of oxen, sheep, goats, calves, &c. Now
blood contains all the principles out of which the tissues are formed,
and must, one would therefore imagine, be eminently nutritious. Why
prejudice has excluded these, while admitting the blood of pigs, is an
anomaly which I cannot understand.
In France, where there are not, as in America, large quantities of
animals which are killed simply for the sake of their hides, it would
be impossible to prepare or supply at a low price either the assayo or
the meat biscuit; but the idea of using the blood of animals killed,
which blood is at present wasted without profit, or, at best, is used
as manure, might have occurred to some one. M. Brocchieri has conceived
this idea. In treating the blood of our slaughter-houses by means which
he has invented, and uniting to flour of the best quality, the albumen
and fibrine which he extracts from it--he makes bread and biscuits
which are easily preserved, and which may be employed to make very
nutritious soups.
At the Great Exhibition, in 1851, he produced _bon-bons_ made of the
blood of the ox, cow, sheep, and hog; biscuits and patties of the blood
of the bull, and delicacies made of calves’ blood. I have specimens of
these preserved in my private museum, although I have not ventured to
taste them.
Generally speaking in England, we do not do much with the blood of
animals, at least, in the shape of food--unless it be in those strings
of black-puddings, with tempting little bits of fat stuck in them,
which stare us in the face in some shops.
But M. Brocchieri has attempted to utilize the nutritious principles of
the blood of animals killed for food, by reducing it to a concentrated
and dried state, for preservation during long periods. The first step
is to prepare a liquid, considered innocuous and antiseptic by the
inventor, by which various bloods are kept fluid and apparently fresh.
Samples of these were shown, and the series of specimens illustrated
the solid parts forming the crassamentum or clot, in a dried and
semi-crystalline state. These solid constituents, including the
gelatine, albumen, and fibrine are next produced, combined with small
proportions of flour, in the form of light, dry masses, like loaves,
cakes, or biscuits. These are inodorous, almost flavourless, and may
be made the bases of highly nutritious soups. They are very uniform in
composition, containing half the nitrogen of dried blood, or forty-four
per cent. of dry flesh, the equivalent of double the nutritive value
of ordinary butcher’s meat. Both the bull’s and calf’s blood gave 6·6
per cent. of nitrogen, equal to forty-three per cent. of flesh-forming
principles. Combined with sugar, the cakes have been made into
_bon-bons_.
The evidence, as to the value of the process, in preserving the samples
in an undecomposed state, is now satisfactorily arrived at. It was
stated in 1851, that the preparations had been advantageously employed
in long voyages. The samples I have in my collection have now been kept
seven years, and have not shown any tendency to decay. Thus proving
that the first attempt has been successful, in rendering available for
food, and portable in form, the otherwise wasted blood of cattle.
This notice of blood recalls to my recollection a laughable story told
in a French work, of the life of an unfortunate pig.
‘A French curé, exiled to a deserted part of our forests--and who, the
whole year, except on a few rare occasions, lived only on fruit and
vegetables--hit upon a most admirable expedient for providing an animal
repast to set before the curés of the neighbourhood, when one or the
other, two or three times during the year, ventured into those dreadful
solitudes, with a view of assuring himself with his own eyes that his
unfortunate colleague had not yet died of hunger. The curé in question
possessed a pig, his whole fortune: and you will see the manner in
which he used it. Immediately the bell announced a visitor, and that
his cook had shown his clerical friend into the parlour, the master of
the house, drawing himself up majestically, said to his housekeeper:
‘Brigitte, let there be a good dinner for myself and my friend.’
Brigitte, although she knew there were only stale crusts and dried
peas in her larder, seemed in no degree embarrassed by this order;
she summoned to her assistance ‘Toby the Carrot,’ so called because
his head was as red as that of a native of West Galloway, and leaving
the house together, they both went in search of the pig. This, after
a short skirmish, was caught by Brigitte and her carroty assistant;
and, notwithstanding his cries, his grunts, his gestures of despair,
and supplication, the inhuman cook, seizing his head, opened a large
vein in his throat, and relieved him of two pounds of blood; this,
with the addition of garlic, shalots, mint, wild thyme, and parsley,
was converted into a most savoury and delicious black-pudding for the
curé and his friend, and being served to their reverences smoking
hot on the summit of a pyramid of yellow cabbage, figured admirably
as a small Vesuvius and a centre dish. The surgical operation over,
Brigitte, whose qualifications as a seamstress were superior, darned
up the hole in the neck of the unfortunate animal: and as he was then
turned loose until a fresh supply of black-puddings should be required
for a similar occasion, this wretched pig was never happy. How could
he be so? Like Damocles of Syracuse, he lived in a state of perpetual
fever; terror seized him directly he heard the curé’s bell, and seeing
in imagination the uplifted knife already about to glide into his
bosom, he invariably took to his heels before Brigitte was half-way to
the door to answer it. If, as usual, the peal announced a diner-out,
Brigitte and Gold-button were soon on his track, calling him by the
most tender epithets, and promising that he should have something
nice for his supper--skim-milk, &c.,--but the pig with his painful
experience was not such a fool as to believe them. Hidden behind an old
cask, some fagots, or lying in a deep ditch, he remained silent as the
grave, and kept himself close as long as possible. Discovered, however,
he was sure to be at last, when he would rush into the garden, and,
running up and down like a mad creature, upset everything in his way.
For several minutes it was a regular steeplechase--across the beds,
now over the turnips, then through the gooseberry-bushes--in short,
he was here, there, and everywhere; but, in spite of all his various
stratagems to escape the fatal incision, the poor pig always finished
by being seized, tied, thrown on the ground, and bled: the vein was
then once more cleverly sewn up, and the inhuman operators quietly
retired from the scene to make the curé’s far-famed black-pudding.
Half-dead upon the spot where he was phlebotomized, the wretched animal
was left to reflect under the shade of a tree on the cruelty of man,
on their barbarous appetites; cursing with all his heart the poverty
of Morvinian curates, their conceited hospitality, of which he was the
victim, and their brutal affection for pig’s blood.’
Sir George Simpson, speaking of some of the northern tribes of Indians
in America, says, the flexibility of their stomachs is surprising. At
one time they will gorge themselves with food, and are then prepared to
go without any for several days, if necessary.
Enter their tents; sit there if you can for a whole day, and not for
an instant will you find the fire unoccupied by persons of all ages
cooking. When not hunting or travelling, they are in fact always
eating. Now it is a little roast, a partridge or rabbit perhaps; now
a tit-bit, broiled under the ashes; anon a portly kettle, well filled
with venison, swings over the fire; then comes a choice dish of curdled
blood, followed by the sinews and marrow-bones of deer’s legs, singed
on the embers. And so the grand business of life goes unceasingly
round, interrupted only by sleep.
Dining within the arctic circle, when such a thing as dinner is to
be had, is a much more serious matter than when one undergoes that
pleasing ceremony at a first-rate eating house, hotel, or club.
In arctic banquets, the cheerful glass is often frozen to the lip, or
the too ardent reveller splinters a tooth in attempting to gnaw through
a lump of soup. We, in these temperate climes, have never had the
pleasure of _eating_ ship’s rum, or _chewing_ brandy and water. It is
not only necessary to ‘first catch your fish,’ but also essential to
_thaw_ it; and there is no chance of the fish being limber, although
it is not unusual for heat to bring them to life after they have been
frozen stiff a couple of days. In the arctic circle even the very
musquitoes, which, by the way, are frightfully large and numerous,
become torpid with the intense cold, and are frozen into hard masses,
which the heat of the sun, or fire, may restore to animation.
Dr. Sutherland, in his voyage in Baffin’s Bay, says--‘It was necessary
to be very careful with our drinking cups. Tin never suited, for it
always adhered to the lips, and took a portion of the skin along with
it. A dog attempting to lick a little fat from an iron shovel stuck
fast to it, and dragged it by means of his tongue, until by a sudden
effort, he got clear, leaving several inches of the skin and adjacent
tissue on the cold metal. One of the seamen, endeavouring to change the
size of the eye of the splice in his tack-rope, put the marling spike,
after the true sailor fashion, into his mouth; the result was that he
lost a great portion of his lips and tongue.’
We hear frequent jokes of the partiality of the Russians for tallow
candles, and, like all inhabitants of the polar regions, the Esquimaux
are very fond of fat, the physiology of their craving for fat is now
known to everybody. My esteemed friend, the late Mr. Hooper, one of
the officers of H.M.S. _Plover_, in his account of his residence on
the shores of Arctic America, states, that ‘one of the ladies who
visited them was presented, as a jest, with a small tallow candle,
called a purser’s dip. It was, notwithstanding, a very pleasant joke
to the damsel, who deliberately munched it up with evident relish, and
finally, drew the wick between her set teeth to clean off any remaining
morsels of fat.’
He gives also in detail, the history of a Tuski repast of the most
sumptuous nature, to which he and his companions were invited, and I
must find room for some portion of it.
‘First was brought in, on a huge wooden tray, a number of small fish,
uncooked, but intensely frozen. At these all the natives set to work,
and we essayed, somewhat ruefully it must be confessed, to follow their
example; but, being all unused to such gastronomic process, found
ourselves, as might be expected, rather at a loss how to commence.
From this dilemma, however, our host speedily extricated us, by
practical demonstration of the correct mode of action; and, under
his certainly very able tuition, we shortly became more expert. But,
alas! a new difficulty was soon presented; our native companions, we
presume, either made a hasty bolt of each morsel, or had, perhaps, a
relish for the flavour of the viands now under consideration. Not so
ourselves--it was sadly repugnant to our palates; for, aided by the
newly-acquired knowledge that the fish were in the same condition as
when taken from the water, uncleaned and unembowelled, we speedily
discovered that we could neither bolt nor retain the fragments, which,
by the primitive aid of teeth and nails, we had rashly detached for
our piscatorial share. It was to no purpose that our host pressed us
to ‘fall to;’ we could not manage the consumption of this favourite
preparation (or rather lack thereof), and succeeded with difficulty
in evading his earnest solicitations. The next course was a mess of
green stuff, looking as if carefully chopped up, and this was also hard
frozen. To it was added a lump of blubber, which the lady presiding,
who did all the carving, dexterously cut into slices with a knife
like a cheesemonger’s, and apportioned out at different quarters of
the huge tray before mentioned, which was used throughout the meal,
together with a modicum of the grass-like stuff, to the company; the
only distinction in favour of the strangers and guests of high degree
being, that their slices were cut much thinner than for the rest. We
tasted this compound, and ... we didn’t like it: at this no one will
wonder--the blubber speaks for itself; and the other stuff, which
really was not very unpalatable, we discovered in after-times to be
the unruminated food of reindeer which had been slaughtered--at least,
so we were told: but I am not quite clear on this point. Our dislike
to the dish had no offensive effect upon our host, who only seemed to
be astonished at our strange want of taste, and, with the rest of the
guests, soon cleared the board; the managing dame putting the finishing
stroke by a rapid sweep of her not too scrupulously clean fingers
over the dish, by way of clearing off the fragments to prepare for
the reception of the next delicacy. After this interesting operation
she conveyed her digits to her mouth, and, engulfing them for a brief
period, withdrew them, quite in apple pie order once more. The board
was now again replenished, this time with viands less repellent to
our unnurtured tastes. Boiled seal and walrus flesh appeared, and our
hospitable friends were greatly relieved when they beheld us assist
in the consumption of these items, which, being utterly devoid of
flavour, were distasteful only from their extreme toughness and mode
of presentation; but we did not, of course, desire to appear too
singular or squeamish. Next came a portion of whale’s flesh, or rather
whale’s skin. This was perfectly ebony in hue, and we discovered some
apprehensions respecting its fitness as an article of food; but our
fears were groundless. It was cut and re-cut crosswise into diminutive
cubes; venturing upon one of which we were agreeably surprised to
find it possessing a cocoa-nut flavour, like which it also cut, ‘very
short;’ indeed, so much astonished were we on this occasion, that we
had consumed a very considerable number of these cubes, and with great
relish too, before we recovered from our wonder. The dish was ever
afterwards a favourite with me. On its disappearance, a very limited
quantity of boiled reindeer meat, fresh and fat, was served up, to
which we did ample justice; then came portions of the gum of the whale,
in which the ends of the bone lay still embedded; and I do not hesitate
to declare that this was perfectly delicious, its flavour being, as
nearly as I can find a parallel, like that of cream cheese. This,
which the Tuski call their sugar, was the wind-up to the repast and
ourselves, and we were fain to admit that, after the rather unpleasant
auspices with which our feast commenced, the finale was by no means to
be contemned.’
A merchant at a banquet to which he was invited with several
respectable Greenlanders, counted the following dishes:--Dried
herrings; dried seal’s flesh; the same boiled; half-raw, or putrid
seal’s flesh, called Mikiak; boiled auks; part of a whale’s tail in
a half-putrid state, which was considered as a principal dish; dried
salmon; dried reindeer venison; preserves of crow-berries mixed with
the chyle from the maw of the reindeer; and lastly, the same enriched
with train oil.
Dr. Kane, enumerating arctic delicacies, says, ‘Our journeys have
taught us the wisdom of the Esquimaux appetite, and there are few
among us who do not relish a slice of raw blubber or a chunk of
frozen walrus-beef. The liver of a walrus (awuktanuk), eaten with
little slices of his fat--of a verity it is a delicious morsel. Fire
would ruin the curt, pithy expression of vitality which belongs to its
uncooked juices. Charles Lamb’s roast pig was nothing to awuktanuk.
I wonder that raw beef is not eaten at home. Deprived of extraneous
fibre, it is neither indigestible nor difficult to masticate. With
acids and condiments, it makes a salad which an educated palate cannot
help relishing; and as a powerful and condensed heat-making and
antiscorbutic food, it has no rival. I make this last broad assertion
after carefully testing its truth. The natives of South Greenland
prepare themselves for a long journey in the cold by a course of
frozen seal. At Upernavik they do the same with the narwhal, which is
thought more heat-making than the seal; while the bear, to use their
own expression, is ‘stronger travel than all.’ In Smith’s Sound, where
the use of raw meat seems almost inevitable from the modes of living
of the people, walrus holds the first rank. Certainly this pachyderm,
whose finely-condensed tissue and delicately-permeating fat--(oh! call
it not blubber)--assimilate it to the ox, is beyond all others, and is
the very best fuel a man can swallow. It became our constant companion
whenever we could get it; and a frozen liver upon our sledge was valued
far above the same weight of pemmican.’
Mr. Augustus Petermann, in a paper upon Animal Life in the Arctic
Regions, read before the Royal Geographical Society, thus enumerates
the food resources:--
‘Though several classes of the animal creation, as for example, the
reptiles, are entirely wanting in this region, those of the mammals,
birds, and fishes, at least, bear comparison both as to number and size
with those of the Tropics: the lion, the elephant, the hippopotamus,
and others not being more notable in the latter respect than the polar
bear, the musk ox, the walrus, and, above all, the whale. Besides
these, there are the moose, the reindeer, the wolf, the polar hare, the
seal, and various smaller quadrupeds. The birds consist chiefly of an
immense number of aquatic birds. Of fishes, the salmon, salmon trout,
and herring, are the principal, the latter especially crowding in such
myriads as to surpass everything of that kind found in tropical regions.
‘Nearly all these animals furnish wholesome food for men. They are,
with few exceptions, distributed over the entire regions: their
number, however, or the relative intensity of the individuals, is very
different in different parts. Thus, on the American side, we find the
animals decreasing in number from east to west. On the shores of Davis’
Straits, in Baffin’s Bay, Lancaster Sound, Regent Inlet, &c., much
less in number are met with than in Boothia Felix, and Parry groups.
The abundance of animal life in Melville Island and Victoria Channel,
is probably not surpassed in any other part on the American side.
Proceeding westward to the Russian possessions, we find considerable
numbers of animals all round and within the sea of Kamtschatka, as
also to the north of Behring’s Straits. The yearly produce of the
Russian Fur Company, in America, is immense, and formerly it was much
greater. Pribylon, when he discovered the small islands named after
him, collected, within two years, 2,000 skins of sea otters, 40,000 sea
bears, (ursine seals,) 6,000 dark sea foxes, and 1,000 walrus-teeth.
Lütke, in his _Voyage_ _Round the World_, mentions that, in the
year 1803, 800,000 skins of the ursine seal alone were accumulated
in Unataski, one of the depôts of the Russian Fur Company, 700,000
of which were thrown into the sea, partly because they were badly
prepared, and partly to keep up the prices. But in no other part of the
arctic zoological region is animal life so abundant as in the northern
parts of Siberia, especially between the Rivers Kolyma and Lena.
‘The first animals that make their appearance after the dreary winter,
are large flights of swans, geese, ducks, and snipes; these are killed
by old and young. Fish also begin to be taken in nets and baskets
placed under the ice.
‘In June, however, when the river opens, the fish pour in in immense
numbers. At the beginning of this century, several thousand geese were
sometimes killed in one day at the mouth of the River Kolyma. About
twenty years later, when Admiral Wrangel visited those regions, the
numbers had somewhat decreased, and it was then called a good season
when 1,000 geese, 5,000 ducks, and 200 swans were killed at that place.
The reindeer chase forms the next occupation for the inhabitants. About
the same time, the shoals of herrings begin to ascend the rivers, and
the multitudes of these fish are often such that, in three or four
days, 40,000 may be taken with a single net.
‘On the banks of the River Indejiska the number of swans and geese
resorting there in the moulting season, is said to be much greater even
than on the River Kolyma.’
The choicest dish of the Greenlanders is the flesh of the reindeer.
But as those animals have now become extremely scarce, and several of
them are soon consumed by a hunting party, they are indebted to the sea
for their permanent sustenance, seals, fish, and sea-fowl. Hares and
partridges are in no great estimation as delicacies. The head and fins
of the seal are preserved under the grass in summer, and in winter a
whole seal is frequently buried in the snow. The flesh, half frozen,
half putrid, in which state the Greenlanders term it mikiak, is eaten
with the keenest appetite. The ribs are dried in the air and laid up
in store. The remaining parts of the seal, as well as birds and small
fishes, are eaten, well boiled or stewed with a small quantity of
sea-water. On the capture of a seal, the wound is immediately stopped
up to preserve the blood, which is rolled into balls like forcemeat.
The intestines of small animals are eaten without any further
preparation than that of pressing out the contents between the fingers.
They set a great value on what they find in the reindeer’s maw, making
it into a dish which they call Nerukak (the eatable), and send presents
of it to their friends. The entrails of the rypeu, mixed with fresh
train oil and berries, compose another mess which they consider as
a consummate delicacy. Their preserves for winter are composed of
fresh, rotten and half-hatched eggs, crake berries, and angelica,
thrown together into a sack of seal skin, filled up with train oil.
They likewise suck out the fat from the skins of sea-fowls; and, in
dressing seal skins, they scrape off the grease which could not well be
separated in the skinning, to make a kind of pancake.
In the second voyage of Sir John Ross to the arctic regions, it is
related of the steward, that he purchased a sledge of the Esquimaux,
and on examining it, it was found to be made of salmon, with skins
sewed over them; but the cross pieces were the leg bones of the
reindeer. It was not an erroneous conjecture of some of the crew, that
when these poor creatures are driven to extremity for food, they turn
to and make a dainty meal of their sledges, as, with the exception
of the reindeer bones, the whole of them is eatable. When we refer
to the description which the late Sir John Franklin gives of the
different articles of food by which he and his party were maintained,
the component parts of the sledge of an Esquimaux would, under
circumstances of extreme want, be considered a real dainty.
There cannot be any comparison between a meal of _tripe de roche_ and
the stinking marrow of a reindeer bone, and a piece of dried salmon,
which by its exposure to the frost has been kept from putridity;
indeed, the epicures amongst the Esquimaux do not hesitate to declare,
that the flavor of the salmon is rather enhanced by its long keeping,
on the same principle we suppose that the flavour of game of this
country rises in the estimation of the epicure in proportion as the
bird or animal approaches to putridity. At all events, it must be a
novel and curious exhibition, to observe a party of Esquimaux cutting
up a sledge, and carving out pieces of salmon, according to their
respective tastes, and seasoning them with some of the oil extracted
from the blubber of the whale. The latter condiment is to the Esquimaux
what Burgess’ anchovy is to the citizen of London; and instances are
not rare, in which an Esquimaux has been known to devour four pounds of
seal flesh, or of salmon, well soaked in whale oil, at one meal, with
about half-a-gallon of water as the beverage.
Much of the animal food comes frozen to the markets of St. Petersburg.
The sledges which bring it are used as stalls to sell it. The matting
is thrown aside, and the poultry and frozen carcases are arranged so as
to attract buyers. Whole sledge loads of snow-white hares find their
way to the market. The little animals are usually frozen in a running
position, with their ears pointed, and their legs stretched out before
and behind, and when placed on the ground, look at a first glance as if
they were in the act of escaping from the hunter.
Bear’s flesh is also sometimes offered for sale in the market, and here
and there may be seen a frozen reindeer lying in the snow, by the side
of a booth, its hairy snout stretched forth upon the ground, its knees
doubled up under its body, and its antlers rising majestically into the
air. It looks as if on our approaching it, it would spring up and dash
away once more in search of its native forests.
The mighty elk is likewise no rare guest in this market, where it
patiently presents its antlers as a perch for the pigeons that are
fluttering about, till, little by little, the axe and the saw have left
no fragment of the stately animal, but every part of the carcase has
gone its way into the kitchens of the wealthy.
The geese are cut up, and the heads, necks, legs, and carcases sold
separately by the dozen, or half dozen, strung upon small cords. Those
who cannot afford to dine on the breast of a goose, purchase a string
of frozen heads, or a few dozen of webbed feet, to boil down into soup.
The frozen oxen, calves, and goats, stand around in rows. Sucking pigs
are a favourite delicacy with the Russians. Hundreds of these, in
their frozen state, are seen ranged about the sledges, mingled with
large frozen hogs.
The bones and meat being all rendered equally hard by the frost,
the animals are sawn up into a number of slices, of an inch or two
in thickness, and by this operation a quantity of animal sawdust is
scattered on the snow, and afterwards gathered up by poor children, who
haunt the market for that purpose. Fish, which is offered for sale, is
sawn and sold in the same frozen condition.[3]
‘If one is to judge from the _restaurants_ at Moscow,’ writes a
correspondent of the _Times_, ‘there is no better place in the world
to come to in order to try the temper. The best of them is dear and
bad beyond comparison, and the only things good are the wine and the
bread. It must be admitted that the latter is excellent, light, sweet,
white, and wholesome, and our London bakers would do well if they came
to Moscow for an apprenticeship in the art of making bread. It is very
hard to have to pay 1_l._ for cabbage soup, _filet du cheval_, a bit of
bad fish, one stewed pear, and a bottle of light French wine; but it
is harder still to wait for twenty minutes between every dish, while
leaden-eyed waiters are staring at you with a mixture of contempt and
compassion because of your ignorance of the Russian tongue. Tired,
cross, and dyspeptic, the stranger seeks a Russian dining room where
the arts of French cookery have never been employed to render bad meat
still worse. There, amid the odours of tobacco--for a Russian not being
able to smoke in the streets makes up for it _chez lui_--you resign
yourself to an unknown bill of fare and the caprices of your bearded
attendant. It is fair to say of the said waiter, that he is clad in a
milk-white and scrupulously clean robe, which descends in easy folds
from his neck to his heels, so that he looks like a very high priest
of the deity of gastronomy, and that you need not be as uneasy about
his fingers and hands as you have good cause to be at the Russo-French
_restaurants_. First you will be presented with a huge bowl of cabbage
soup, a kind of _pot-au-feu_, which must be eaten, however, with
several odd adjuncts, such as cakes stuffed with chopped vegetables,
a dish of guelots, chopped fat, fried brown and crisp, and lastly a
large ewer full of sour milk. Then comes a _vol-au-vent_ of fowl and
toad-stools. Next, if you are alive, porosenok, or a boiled sucking
pig, with tart sauce; then a very nasty little fish, much prized in
Moscow, and called sterlet; a fid of roast beef and a dish of birds
about the size of pigeons, called guillemots; a compote of fruit closes
the meal. I have forgotten to say how it begins. Before dinner a tray
is laid out with caviare, raw salt herrings, raw ham and sardines,
bottles of brandy, vodka, anisette, and doppel kümmel, a sweet spirit
with a flavour of mint. It is _de rigueur_ to eat some of this, and as
the caviare is generally good, it is the best part of the dinner.’
The Governor of Cape Coast Castle, in his official report to the
Colonial Office, in 1856, speaking of the food and cooking in the
interior, remarks:--‘An officer of government, who has been about two
years here, says, that he reckons he has eaten, during that time, 700
fowls, it being difficult at out-stations to cater in anything else but
fowls.
‘In cooking, the natives seem to have almost a homeopathic
prepossession for trituration. They pound and grind by hand labour,
between stones, their maize, and bake it; so with their yams, and, I
believe, cassada; they pound also their plantains and make soup of them.
‘Fish with a strong flavour and snails are favorites. The latter grow
to a large, I had almost said formidable, size. I have in my possession
the shell of one which I found buried about a foot in the ground,
within a few yards of Government house, and which measures in length
about five inches, and in circumference, in the widest part, about
seven inches. A collection of these snails was once sent to me as a
compliment, but I need hardly say, that I cannot speak of their taste
from experience, though I do not know why I should not as well as I
can of land crabs, which, when properly cooked, are, I think, general
favorites with us. On the subject of cooking, I may observe, that the
country cooked dishes (if of materials of a nature, and in a state,
admitted in the category of our edibles) brought to table in the black
native-made earthen pots in which they are cooked on the fire, are
almost without exception favorites with the Europeans.’
The African Bushmen, who have few or no cattle, live upon what they can
get. Hunger compels them to eat every thing, roots, bulbs, wild garlic,
the core of aloes, the gum of acacias, berries, the larvæ of ants,
lizards, locusts, and grasshoppers--all are devoured by these poor
wanderers of the desert. Nothing comes amiss to them.
The principal diet of the Kaffir is milk, which he eats rather than
drinks in a sour and curdled state. One good meal a day, taken in
the evening, consisting of the curdled milk and a little millet, is
almost all that he requires, and with this he is strong, vigorous, and
robust, proving that large quantities of animal food are by no means
necessary for the sustenance of the human frame.
Singularly enough a Kaffir, like a Jew, will never touch pork. To him
it is unclean, though why he thinks so I suspect he cannot tell. Fish
is likewise abstained from by him, as it is said to have been by the
Egyptian priesthood. Yet with these antipathies he will eat the flesh
of an ox, cooked or raw, when he can obtain it, not excepting portions
of the animal from which one would imagine he would turn away with
disgust.
To such tribes as the Shangalla negroes, occupying the wild tracts
bordering on Abyssinia, roots are their daily food, and locusts and
lizards their luxuries.
The Indians of Brazil do not reject any kind of food, and devour it
almost without being cooked; rats and other small vermin, snakes, and
alligators, are all accepted.
The aborigines of Australia live chiefly on the native animals they can
procure--the kangaroo, the wallaby, bandicoot, kangaroo rat, opossum,
and wombat; every bird and bird’s egg that can be procured; and in the
case of tribes near the sea, cray-fish, and shell-fish, form the staple
article of their diet.
Under the influence of Christianity, the fish, flesh, or fowl, which
the Pacific Islanders previously regarded as incarnations of their
gods, are now eaten without suspicion or alarm. One, for instance,
saw his god in the eel, another in the shark, another in the turtle,
another in the dog, another in the owl, another in the lizard; and
so on throughout all the fish of the sea, and birds, and four-footed
beasts, and creeping things. In some of the shell-fish, even,
gods were supposed to be present. A man would eat freely of what
was regarded as the incarnation of the god of another man, but the
incarnation of his own particular god he would consider it death to
injure or to eat. The god was supposed to avenge the insult by taking
up his abode in that person’s body, and causing to generate diseases.
The Sonthal, or lowlander of Bengal, being unfettered by caste, eats
without scruple his cow or buffalo beef, his kids, poultry, pork, or
pigeons, and is not over particular as to whether the animals have been
slain, have died a natural death, or have been torn by wild animals.
When the more substantial good things of life, such as meat and poultry
are scarce, he does not refuse to eat snakes, ants, frogs, and field
rats.
In Eastern Tibet regular meals are not in vogue; the members of a
family do not assemble to dine together, but ‘eat when they’re hungry,
drink when they’re dry.’ ‘We remember,’ says a writer in _Blackwood_,
‘to have heard a graphic description of the Tibetan _cuisine_, from a
humorous _shikaree_, or native Nimrod of our Himalayan provinces. The
Bhoteea folk (he said) have a detestable way of eating. They take a
large cooking pot full of water, and put in it meat, bread, rice, and
what not, and set it on the fire, where it is always a-simmering. When
hungry, they go and fish out a cupful of whatever comes uppermost,
perhaps, six or seven times a day. Strangers are served in the same
way. If a man gets hold of a bone, he picks it, wipes his hands on his
dress, and chucks it back into the pot. So with all crumbs and scraps,
back they go into the pot, and thus the never-ending still-beginning
mess stews on.’
If we visit Burmah, we find there a rather indiscriminate use of all
that can satiate the appetite, without much regard to selection.
Immense quantities of pressed fish are prepared, called _gnapee_, which
constitutes a main article of their diet. In some cases the fish is
washed and pounded, and this description generally consists of prawns.
In the coarser sorts the pieces of fish are entire, half putrid, half
pickled. They are all fetid and offensive to Europeans.
A kind of red ant is eaten fried, or with their dried fish, and a worm,
which in the lower provinces of Burmah is found in the heart of a
shrub, is considered such a delicacy, that every month a great quantity
is sent to the capital to be served up at the table of the emperor. It
is eaten either fried or roasted.
According to Sir John Bowring, the Chinese have no prejudices whatever
as regards food; they eat anything and everything from which they can
derive nutrition. Dogs, especially puppies, are habitually sold as
food. In the butchers’ shops large dogs skinned and hanging with their
viscera, may be seen by the side of pigs and goats. Even to the flesh
of monkeys and snakes they have no objection.
The sea slug is an aristocratic and costly delicacy, which is never
wanting, any more than the edible birds-nests, at a feast where honour
is intended to be done to the guests. These birds-nests are worth twice
their weight in silver. They are glutinous compositions formed by a
kind of swallow, in vast clusters, found in Java, Sumatra, and the
rocky islets of the Indian Archipelago. Dried sharks’ fins and fish
maws are also highly prized.
But while the rich fare sumptuously, the mass of the poor subsist on
the veriest garbage. The heads of fowls, their entrails and fat, with
every scrap of digestible animal matter, earth-worms, sea reptiles of
all kinds, mice, and other vermin are greedily devoured. Lots of black
frogs, in half dozens, tied together, are exposed for sale in shallow
troughs of water. The hind-quarters of a horse will be seen hung up in
a butcher’s shop, with the recommendation of a whole leg attached.
Unhatched ducks and chickens are a favorite dish. Nor do the early
stages of putrefaction create any disgust. Rotten eggs are by no means
condemned to perdition. Fish is the more acceptable when it has a
strong fragrance and flavour to give more gusto to the rice, which
forms the two meals of the population, morning and evening. In the
shops, fat pork chops will be found dried and varnished to the colour
of mahogany, suspended with dry pickled ducks’ gizzards, and strings of
sausages cured by exposure to the sun.
In Hong Kong, rice with salt fish and fat pork is the principal article
of Chinese diet; and for drink, tea and hot samshew, a spirit distilled
from rice, and very unpalatable to Europeans.
Nearly all the beasts of the forest are eaten by the Dyaks of Borneo;
even monkeys, alligators (if small), snakes, and other reptiles are
esteemed. Like the French, they regard frogs as a delicate dish, and
bestow considerable pains in procuring them.
The Greenlanders, although they do not usually eat their meat raw,
have a superstitious custom, on every capture, of cutting out a piece
of the raw flesh and drinking the warm blood. And the woman who skins
the seal, gives a couple of pieces of the fat to each of the female
spectators.
An European writer states, that he frequently followed the example
of the Greenlanders in the chase, and assuaged his hunger by eating
a piece of raw reindeer’s flesh; nor did he find it very hard of
digestion, but it satisfied his appetite much less than cooked meat.
The inhabitants of the high table-lands of Abyssinia, are also
accustomed to eat raw flesh--the climate being as cold as that of
the northern parts of Scotland. My friend, Mr. C. Johnston, in his
travels in that country, thus puts in a plea for the practice by the
Abyssinians.
In a country but poorly wooded, the chief supply of fuel being the dung
of cattle, an instinctive feeling, dependent upon the pleasures of a
state of warmth, has taught the Abyssinians that the flesh of animals
eaten raw, is a source of great physical enjoyment, by the cordial and
warming effects upon the system produced by its digestion, and to which
I am convinced bon vivants more civilized than the Abyssinians would
resort, if placed in their situation.
Travellers who have witnessed their _brunde_ feasts, can attest
the intoxicating effects of this kind of food, and they must have
been astonished at the immense quantities that can be eaten in the
raw state, compared to that when the meat is cooked, and at the
insensibility which it sometimes produces.
Eating raw meat, which among the Esquimaux is for the most part an
absolute necessity, by the Abyssinians is considered a luxury, or in
fact, as a kind of dissipation; for eating it in that state is only
indulged in by them at festivals, and it is then taken as a means of
enjoyment, and is not more barbarous or disgusting than getting tipsy
upon strong drinks.[4]
Another writer on ‘Life in Abyssinia,’ thus describes the native mode
of eating meat.--‘There is usually a piece of meat to every five or
six persons, among whom arises some show of ceremony as to which of
them shall first help himself; this being at length decided, the person
chosen takes hold of the meat with his left hand, and with his sword
or knife cuts a strip a foot or fifteen inches long, from the part
which appears the nicest and tenderest. The others then help themselves
in like manner. If I should fail in describing the scene which now
follows, I must request the aid of the reader’s imagination. Let him
picture to himself thirty or forty Abyssinians, stripped to their
waists, squatting round the low tables, each with his sword, knife, or
‘shotel’ in his hand, some eating, some helping themselves, and some
waiting their turn, but all bearing in their features the expression of
that fierce gluttony which one attributes more to the lion or leopard
than to the race of Adam. The imagination may be much assisted by the
idea of the lumps of raw pink and blue flesh they are gloating over.
But I have yet to describe how they eat the strip of meat which I
have just made one of the party cut off. A quantity of ‘dillikh’ or
‘aou-a-zé’ being laid on his bread, he dips one end of the meat into
it, and then, seizing it between his teeth, while he holds the other
end in his left hand, he cuts a bit off close to his lips by an upward
stroke of his sword, only just avoiding the tip of his nose, and so on
till he has finished the whole strip.’
Australian delicacies are somewhat different to our own. The flying-fox
(_Pteropus_), an animal of the bat family, which makes sad havoc at
night among the fruit trees of the colonists, is in return shot down
without mercy. Their flesh is delicate, and they are almost invariably
very fat, but owing to the demoniac appearance of their black leathery
wings, and to the prejudice which this appearance excites, they are
seldom eaten by the settlers. Travellers in the wilderness, however,
are frequently indebted for a hearty meal to their success in bringing
down these creatures.
The burrowing wombat, or native pig, which feeds chiefly on roots,
is not deemed bad food. When divested of its fur and tough skin, its
flesh, although red and coarse in appearance, resembles that of a pig
in flavour, and is usually cooked by the colonists like fresh pork
would be. The flesh of the porcupine ant-eater somewhat resembles that
of a young sucking pig, and is highly esteemed.
There are several other small quadrupeds, including a burrowing or
prairie-rat, which, at particular seasons, and in certain localities in
Australia, constitute the chief animal food of the natives. The flesh
of the little short-legged bandicoot is very white and delicate. Cooked
like a rabbit, it furnishes the sportsman’s table with a splendid dish.
Among quadrupeds, besides the ordinary domestic fed or wild animals
commonly eaten as food, we find apes and monkeys, the spider monkey,
the marmozet, bats, hedgehogs, bears, racoons, badgers, and dogs; many
of the carnivorous animals, as foxes, lions and tigers, the puma, &c.,
are also eaten. Then again we have the seal and the walrus.
QUADRUMANA.
African epicures esteem as one of their greatest delicacies a tender
young monkey, highly seasoned and spiced, and baked in a jar set in
the earth, with a fire over it, in gipsy fashion. Monkeys are commonly
sold with parrots and the paca, in the markets at Rio Janeiro. The
Indians, many negroes, and some whites, in Trinidad, eat of the flesh
of the great red monkey, and say it is delicious. This, however, seems
a semi-cannibal kind of repast--for it is the most vociferous and
untameable of the Simian tribe.
Several species of monkey are used as food by the aboriginal
inhabitants of the Malayan peninsula. As all kinds of monkeys are very
destructive to his rice fields, the Dyak of Borneo is equally their
enemy; and as this people esteem their flesh as an article of food, no
opportunity of destroying them is lost.
Mr. Hugh Low says, he once saw some Dyaks roasting a monkey, but did
not stay to observe whether they did not boil it afterwards, as they
generally partially roast these animals to free them from the hair.
Monkeys are eaten in Ceylon by some of the natives, and the Africans on
the Gold Coast eat them, according to the report of Governor Connor,
in his Dispatch to the Colonial Office, March 2, 1857.--_Reports on
Colonial Possessions, transmitted with the Blue Book, for the year
1856._
In South America monkeys are ordinarily killed as game by the natives,
for the sake of their flesh; but the appearance of these animals is
so revolting to Europeans, that they can seldom force themselves to
partake of such fare.
Mr. Wallace (_Travels on the Amazon_) says, ‘having often heard how
good monkey was, I had it cut up and fried for breakfast; the meat
somewhat resembled rabbit, without any peculiar or unpleasant flavour.’
The manner in which these animals are roasted by the natives, as
described by Humboldt, further contributes to render their appearance
disgusting.
‘A little grating or lattice of very hard wood is formed, and raised a
foot from the ground. The monkey is skinned, and bent into a sitting
posture, the head generally resting on the arms, which are meagre and
long; but sometimes these are crossed behind the back. When it is
tied on the grating, a very clear fire is kindled below; the monkey,
enveloped in smoke and flame, is broiled and blackened at the same
time. Roasted monkeys, particularly those that have a round head,
display a hideous resemblance to a child; the Europeans, therefore, who
are obliged to feed on them, prefer separating the head and hands, and
serve only the rest of the animal at their tables. The flesh of monkeys
is so dry and lean, that M. Bonpland has preserved, in his collection
at Paris, an arm and hand, which had been broiled over the fire at
Esmeralda, and no smell arises from them after a number of years.’
Sir Robert Schomburgk, in the Journal of his expedition to the Upper
Corentyne, and interior of Guiana, when suffering the pangs of hunger,
reports that at last their Indian hunter arrived, with heavy step,
carrying on his shoulder a large, black, female spider monkey.
‘I glanced,’ he observes, ‘at Mr. Goodall, whose countenance depicted
disappointment and disgust, but which sad necessity, and the large
vacuum that two ounces of farinha must have left in his stomach,
induced him to get the better of. He watched the preparations as the
Indians proceeded step by step, first singeing off the hair from this
human-like form, and then placing it in an upright position, with the
arms crossed; when, the skin looking white now the hair was off, the
sight proved too much for him, and I myself felt something like disgust
at the meal before us. The sound of a heavy body falling on the ground
drew my attention to a different direction, and to my great joy, I
beheld a fine young forest deer, over which young Ammon stood, leaning
on his gun with proud satisfaction. This was indeed, a happy turn in
our affairs.
‘I have tasted the smaller kind of monkeys several times, but have
never partaken of one which approached so nearly to the human form as
this. The Indians were less scrupulous.’
The ateles, as well indeed as all other American quadrumanes, are
esteemed as an article of food by the native Indians; and even
Europeans, whom curiosity or necessity has induced to taste it, report
their flesh to be white, juicy, and agreeable. Nor is it without being
strongly disposed to question the nature of the act, that European
sportsmen, unaccustomed to shooting monkeys, witness for the first time
the dying struggles of these animals; without uttering a complaint,
they silently watch the blood as it flows from the wound, from time
to time turning their eyes upon the sportsman with an expression of
reproach, which cannot be misinterpreted. Some travellers even go so
far as to assert that the companions of the wounded individual will
not only assist him to climb beyond the reach of further danger, but
will even chew leaves and apply them to the wound, for the purpose of
stopping the hemorrhage.
One of the spider monkeys, the marimonda (_Ateles belzebuth_, Desm.),
is termed _aru_ by the Indians of the Rio Guiana, and is a favourite
article of food with the natives of the borders of the Cassiquiare, the
higher Orinoco, and other rivers, and its boiled limbs are commonly to
be seen in their huts.
The howling monkeys (_Mycetes_), which are of larger size, and fatter
than some of the other species, are in great request with the Indians
as food. Mr. Gosse states that the flavour of their flesh is like that
of kid. The Aturian Indians, as well as those of Esmeralda, eat many
kinds of monkeys at certain seasons of the year, and especially the
couxio, or jacketed monkey (_Pithecia sagulati_, Traill).
Mr. Grant in his _History of Brazil_ states, that apes and monkeys are
esteemed good food by the natives.
The negroes and natives of New Granada, according to Bonnycastle, also
eat the monkey.
To prepare this dish, the body is scalded in order to remove the
hair, and after this operation has been performed, it has the exact
appearance of a young dead child, and is so disgusting, that no one,
excepting those pressed by hunger, could partake of the repast. It is
not at all improbable that many savage nations who have been accused of
cannibalism, have been very unjustly charged with it, for, according to
Ulloa, the appearance of the monkey of Panama, when ready to be cooked,
is precisely that of a human body.
CHEIROPTERA, OR HAND-WINGED ANIMALS.
The fox monkey or flying lemur (_Galeopithecus volans_) diffuses a
rank disagreeable odour, yet the flesh is eaten by the natives of the
islands of the Indian Archipelago.
The Dutch, when in the island of Mauritius are said to have been fond
of the flesh of bats, preferring it to the finest game, but I have
never heard the opinion corroborated there by others. The Indians of
Malabar and other parts of the East Indies, are said to eat the flesh
of bats.
The flesh of most bats is eaten in the Eastern Archipelago, and by
some esteemed, being compared to that of hare or partridge in flavour.
The flesh of the largest and most common, the black-bellied roussette
(_Pteropus edulis_, Geoff.), has a musky odour, but is esteemed by the
natives. They catch them in bags at the end of a pole.
Fancy a great frightful animal like a weasel, with wings two feet in
length, being served up at table. Still they must be palatable, since
one species has thus been named by naturalists, ‘the eatable’ bat.
The flesh is stated to be white, delicate, and remarkably tender,
and is regarded by the inhabitants of Timor as a dainty. The body is
ten inches long, covered with close and shining black hair, and the
extended wings are about four feet.
CARNIVORA.
Carnivorous animals,--the terrible wild hunters of the forests and
deserts,--are themselves preyed upon by man.
The low Arabs do not object to the flesh of the hyena, although the
smell of the carcase is so rank and offensive, that even dogs leave it
with disgust, yet their own voracious kindred obligingly gobble them up.
Even that pestilential animal the pole-cat, or skunk, falls a prey to
the voracity of hungry men. When care is taken not to soil the carcase
with any of the strong smelling fluid exuded by the animal, the meat
is considered by the natives of North America to be excellent food.
They eat foxes in Italy, where they are sold dear, and thought fit for
the table of a cardinal. Mr. Kennedy, a recent voyager to the arctic
regions, speaks of the delicacy of a fox pie, which was pronounced
by competent authorities in his mess to be equal to rabbit; but then
he honestly admits, that there were others to whom it suggested
uncomfortable reminiscences of dead cats, and who generally preferred
the opposite side of the table, when the dish made its appearance.
This repugnance is even shared by the brute creation, for although
Esquimaux dogs may kill a fox, they will not eat him. This is the more
extraordinary, as they are the most voracious and dirty-feeding animals
known; nothing they can possibly get at being safe. Buffalo robes, seal
skins, their own harness, even boots, shoes, clothes, and dish cloths
are sure to be destroyed.
The prairie wolf is eaten by the Indians of North America. The flesh of
the sloth is devoured with great avidity by the natives of Demerara;
and that of the lion by the Hottentots, while a tribe of Arabs between
Tunis and Algeria, according to Blumenbach, live almost entirely upon
its flesh.
The natives of the Malay Peninsula eat the flesh of the tiger,
believing it to be a sovereign specific for all diseases, besides
imparting to him who partakes of it the courage and sagacity of the
animal.
Some people have ventured to eat the _cujuacura_ or American panther,
and say it is very delicate food; and the flesh of the wild cat of
Louisiana is said to be good to eat.
The flesh of the cougar or puma (_Felis concolor_), a fierce
carnivorous animal, is eaten in Central America, and is said to be
agreeable food. The injunction of St. Paul, ‘to eat what is set before
us, and ask no questions for conscience sake,’ would hardly be a
safe maxim in Central America, at an entertainment given ‘under the
greenwood tree’ by the ‘Ancient Foresters’ of Honduras. The sylvan
dainties would not be composed of precisely the same materials as a
_petit diné_ at the _Trois Frères_, or the _Café de Paris_.
Mr. Darwin, in his _Journal of a Naturalist_, tells us that ‘once at
supper, from something which was said, I was suddenly struck with
horror at thinking I was eating one of the favourite dishes of the
country, namely, a half formed calf, long before its proper time of
birth. It turned out to be puma; the meat is very white, and remarkably
like veal in taste. Dr. Shaw was laughed at for stating that the flesh
of the lion is in great esteem, having no small affinity with veal,
both in colour, taste, and flavour. Such certainly is the case with the
puma. The Gauchos differ in their opinion, whether the jaguar is good
eating, but are unanimous in saying that cat is excellent.’
Mr. Wallace, when travelling up the Amazon, writes--‘Several jaguars
were killed, as Mr. C-- pays about 8s. each for their skins. One day
we had some steaks at the table, and found the meat very white and
without any bad taste. It appears evident to me that the common idea
of the food of an animal determining the quality of its meat, is quite
erroneous. Domestic poultry and pigs are the most unclean animals in
their food, yet their flesh is most highly esteemed, while rats and
squirrels, which eat only vegetable food, are in general disrepute.
Carnivorous fish are not less delicate eating than herbivorous ones,
and there appears no reason why some carnivorous animals should not
furnish wholesome and palatable food.’
Bears’ paws were long reckoned a great delicacy in Germany, for some
authors tell us, that after being salted and smoked, they were reserved
for the tables of princes. In North America, bears’ flesh was formerly
considered equal to pork, the meat having a flavour between beef and
pork; and the young cubs were accounted the finest eating in the world.
Dr. Brooke, in his _Natural History_, adds--‘Most of the planters
prefer bears’ flesh to beef, veal, pork, and mutton. The fat is as
white as snow, and extremely sweet and wholesome, for if a man drinks a
quart of it at a time, when melted, it will never rise on his stomach!
It is of very great use for the frying of fish and other things, and is
greatly preferred to butter.’
Tastes have naturally altered since this was written, nearly a century
ago, and it would be somewhat difficult to carry on the sport of bear
hunting on the extensive scale then practised, when we are told 500
bears were killed in two of the counties in Virginia in one winter.
The Indians seem to have shared largely in the sport and spoils of the
chase, for at their subsequent feast, the largest bear was served up as
the first course, and they ‘roasted him whole, entrails, skin and all,
in the same manner as they would barbecue a hog.’
As the paws of the bear were held to be the most delicious morsels
about him, so the head was thought to be the worst, and always thrown
away; but the tongue and hams are still in repute.
The white bear is eaten by the Esquimaux and the Danes of Greenland;
and when young, and cooked after the manner of beef steaks, is by no
means to be despised, although rather insipid; the fat, however, ought
to be avoided, as unpleasant to the palate.
The flesh of the badger (_Taxus vulgaris_, Desm.) is said to be good
eating, and to taste like that of a boar. The omnivorous and thrifty
Chinese eat it, as indeed they do that of the flesh of most animals,
and consider its hams a very great dainty.
Many nations consider the flesh of the dog excellent. The Greeks ate
it; and Hippocrates was convinced that it was a light and wholesome
food. The common people of Rome also ate it. The Turks and some of the
Asiatic citizens would thank any one who would rid the thoroughfares of
the tribes of dogs which infest the streets and courts; and there is
a reward given for their slaughter. Fine feasts might be made of them
by those who liked them, while the skins would come in for dog-skin
gloves. Many of the South Sea islanders fatten dogs for eating, but
these live wholly on vegetable food.
The domestic dog of China is uniformly one variety, about the size of
a moderate spaniel, of a pale yellow, and occasionally a black colour,
with coarse bristly hair on the back, sharp upright ears, and peaked
head, not unlike a fox’s, with a tail curled over the rump.
In China, the dog is fattened for the table, and the flesh of dogs is
as much liked by them as mutton is by us; being exposed for sale by
their butchers, and in their cook-shops.
At Canton, the hind quarters of dogs are seen hanging up in the most
prominent parts of the shops exposed for sale. They are considered by
the Chinese as a most dainty food, and are consumed by both rich and
poor.
The breeds common in that country are apparently peculiar to itself,
and they are objects of more attention to their owners than elsewhere
in Asia. The Celestials, perhaps, having an eye to their tender
haunches, which bad treatment would toughen and spoil.[5]
The Africans of Zanzibar hold a stew of puppies, as amongst us in the
days of Charles the Second, as a dish fit for a monarch.
The Australian native dog or dingo, in aspect and colour resembling a
fox, is hunted down by the colonists owing to its depredations among
the flocks. The flesh even of this animal is eaten by the blacks. The
aborigines are often driven for subsistence to the most wretched food,
as snakes and other reptiles, grubs, lizards, and the larvæ of the
white ant. When they do obtain better food, they prepare it with more
care than might be expected. In cooking fish, they wrap it in soft bark
and place it in hot ashes. By this process an acid from the bark is
communicated to the fish, which gives it a most agreeable flavour.
A traveller in the Sandwich Islands, relating his experience,
says,--‘Near every place at table was a fine young dog, the flesh of
which was declared to be excellent by all who partook of it. To my
palate its taste was what I can imagine would result from mingling the
flavour of pig and lamb; and I did not hesitate to make my dinner of
it, in spite of some qualms at the first mouthful. I must confess, when
I reflected that the puppy now trussed up before us, might have been
the affectionate and frolicsome companion of some Hawaiian fair--they
all have pet pigs or puppies--I felt as if dog-eating were only a low
grade of cannibalism. What eat poor Ponto?--
‘The poor dog, in life the firmest friend,
The first to welcome, foremost to defend;
Whose honest heart is still his master’s own;
Who labours, fights, lives, breathes for him alone.
Unhonoured falls, unnoticed all his worth--
Denied in heaven the soul he held on earth.’
‘However, the edible dog is not one of your common curs, but a dainty
animal, fed exclusively on vegetables, chiefly taro (a root), in the
form of poë (dough), and at the age of two years is considered a dish
wherewith to regale royalty. Indeed, the Sandwich Island monarch, I
suspect, would be always well satisfied to see it before him, in spite
of the assertion of Dr. Kidd, that ‘it is worthy of consideration that
the flesh of those animals, of whose living services we stand hourly
in need, as the _horse_ and the _dog_, are so unpalatable, that we are
not tempted to eat them unless in cases of dreadful necessity.’ The
doctor probably never assisted at a native luaü or feast, or associated
with the trappers upon the prairies of the Far West.’[6]
Mr. John Dunn, in his _History of the Oregon Territory_, tells a story
of a Canadian cook, who, wishing to do honour to a dear and respected
friend, whom he had been dining with on board his ship, studied long
what he could get good enough to set before him, and at last bethought
him of dog, which is, or was, a favourite dish among Canadian voyageurs
or boatmen.
At the banquet the old boatswain ate heartily of it, as did the cook.
After he had done, the cook enquired how he had enjoyed his dinner. He
said it was beautiful. He then asked him whether he knew what he had
been dining on? He said he supposed from a goat.
‘Yes,’ says the cook, ‘you have been eating from a goat with von long
tail, that don’t like grass or heather.’
‘How is that?’ inquired the boatswain.
‘Vy you see,’ replied the cook, ‘it was my best dog you have dined
from.’
The old boatswain stormed and swore; and then ran as fast as possible
to the vessel to get a little rum for his stomach. He vowed that he
never again wished to dine with a Canadian cook, or eat pet dogs.
Brooke, in his _Natural History of Quadrupeds_, tells us, that ‘in the
southern coast of Africa, there are dogs that neither bark nor bite
like ours, and they are of all kinds of colours. Their flesh is eaten
by the negroes, who are very fond of all sorts of dogs’ flesh, and
will give one of their country cows for a large mastiff. I do not know
what part of Africa this refers to.
In old medical works we are told, that the flesh of a fox, either
boiled or roasted, was said to be good for consumption; but I do not
think it is often prescribed or used for that purpose now.
MARSUPIALIA, OR POUCHED ANIMALS.
The kangaroo is _par excellence_ the wild game of Australia, and
coursing it gives active employment to its pursuers. The flesh of
all the several species is good. The fore-quarters, indeed, of the
forester, the largest of the family, an animal which frequently weighs
200 lbs., are somewhat inferior, and are usually given to the dogs; but
from the hind-quarters some fine steaks may be cut. When cooked in the
same manner, they are very little inferior to venison collops.
The brush kangaroo (_Macropus cœruleus_) is a very fleet active animal,
sometimes of about 20 lbs. weight, having fur of a silver grey colour,
with a white stripe on each side of its face.
The flesh of the larger kangaroo, as well as that of the wallaby, a
smaller animal, averaging about 12 or 14 lbs., is often hashed, and
with a little seasoning and skill in preparation, it is excellent. The
wallaby is commonly stewed for soup.
The best part of the kangaroo is its tail. Talk of ox-tail soup, ye
metropolitan gourmands! Commend us to the superb kangaroo-tail soup
of Australia, made from the tail weighing some 10 or 12 lbs., if a
full-grown forester.
The pademelon, a smaller species of kangaroo, weighs about 9 or 10
lbs., and when cooked like a hare, affords a dish with which the most
fastidious gourmand might be satisfied.
The following is the native mode of cooking a kangaroo steak:--It is
placed in a scooped out stone, which is readily found in the streams,
and pressed down by heavy stones on the top of it; the heat is applied
beneath and round the first top stone; at the critical moment the
stones are quickly removed, and the steak appears in its most savoury
state.
The aborigines of Australia always roast their food; they have no means
of boiling, except when they procure the service of an old European
saucepan or tin pot. ‘It is a very remarkable fact’ (remarks Mr. Moore)
‘in the history of mankind, that a people should be found now to exist,
without any means of heating water, or cooking liquid food; or, in
short, without any culinary utensil or device of any sort. The only
mode of cooking was to put the food into the fire, or roast it in the
embers or hot ashes; small fish or frogs being sometimes first wrapped
in a piece of paper-tree bark. Such was their state when Europeans
first came among them. They are now extremely fond of soup and tea.’
A native will not eat tainted meat, although he cannot be said to be
very nice in his food, according to our ideas. Their meat is cooked
almost as soon as killed, and eaten immediately.
The parts of the kangaroo most esteemed for eating are the loins and
the tail, which abound in gelatine, and furnish an excellent and
nourishing soup; the hind legs are coarse, and usually fall to the
share of the dogs. The natives (if they can be said to have a choice)
give a preference to the head. The flesh of the full-grown animal may
be compared to lean beef, and that of the young to veal; they are
destitute of fat, if we except a little being occasionally seen between
the muscles and integuments of the tail. The colonial dish, called a
_steamer_, consists of the flesh of the animal dressed, with slices
of ham. The liver when cooked is crisp and dry, and is considered a
substitute for bread; but I cannot coincide in this opinion.
The goto, or long bag of kangaroo skin, about two feet deep, and a foot
and a half broad, carried by the native females in Australia, is the
common receptacle for every small article which the wife or husband may
require or take a fancy to, whatever its nature or condition may be.
Fish just caught, or dry bread, frogs, roots, and clay, are all mingled
together.
Mr. George Bennett (_Wanderings in New South Wales_) thus speaks of
Australian native cookery:--
‘After wet weather they track game with much facility; and from the
late rains the hunting expeditions had been very successful; game was,
therefore, very abundant at the camp, which consisted of opossums,
flying squirrels, bandicoots, snakes, &c.
‘One of the opossums among the game was a female, which had two
large-sized young ones in her pouch; these delicate morsels were at
this time broiling, unskinned and undrawn, upon the fire, whilst the
old mother was lying yet unflayed in the basket.
‘It was amusing to see with what rapidity and expertness the animals
were skinned and embowelled by the blacks. The offal was thrown to the
dogs; but, as such a waste on the part of the natives does not often
take place, we can only presume it is when game, as it was at present,
is very abundant. The dogs are usually in poor condition, from getting
a very precarious supply of provender. The liver being extracted, and
gall-bladder removed, a stick was thrust through the animal, which was
either thrown upon the ashes to broil, or placed upon a wooden spit
before the fire to roast. Whether the food was removed from the fire
cooked, or only half dressed, depended entirely on the state of their
appetites. The flesh of the animals at this time preparing for dinner,
by our tawny friends, appeared delicate, and was no doubt excellent
eating, as the diet of the animals was in most instances vegetable.’
Another traveller in the Bush thus describes the aboriginal practices
and food:--‘We had scarcely finished the snake, when Tomboor-rowa and
little Sydney returned again. They had been more successful this time,
having shot two wallabies or brush kangaroos and another carpet-snake
of six feet in length. A bundle of rotten branches was instantly
gathered and thrown upon the expiring embers of our former fire, and
both the wallabies and the snake were thrown into the flame. One of the
wallabies had been a female, and as it lay dead on the grass, a young
one, four or five inches long, crept out of its pouch. I took up the
little creature, and, presenting it to the pouch, it crept in again.
Having turned round, however, for a minute or two, Gnunnumbah had taken
it up and thrown it alive into the fire; for, when I happened to look
towards the fire, I saw it in the flames in the agony of death. In a
minute or two the young wallaby being sufficiently done, Gnunnumbah
drew it out of the fire with a stick, and eat its hind-quarters without
further preparation, throwing the rest of it away.
‘It is the etiquette among the black natives for the person who takes
the game to conduct the cooking of it. As soon, therefore, as the skins
of the wallabies had become stiff and distended from the expansion of
the gases in the cavity of their bodies, Tomboor-rowa and Sydney each
pulled one of them from the fire, and scraping off the singed hair
roughly with the hand, cut up the belly and pulled out the entrails.
They then cleaned out the entrails, not very carefully by any means,
rubbing them roughly on the grass or on the bushes, and then threw
them again upon the fire. When they considered them sufficiently done,
the two eat them, a considerable quantity of their original contents
remaining to serve as a sort of condiment or sauce. The tails and lower
limbs of the two wallabies, when the latter were supposed to be done
enough, were twisted off and eaten by the other two natives (from one
of whom I got one of the vertebræ of the tail and found it delicious);
the rest of the carcases, with the large snake, being packed up in a
number of the _Sydney Herald_, to serve as a mess for the whole camp
at Brisbane. The black fellows were evidently quite delighted with the
excursion; and, on our return to the Settlement, they asked Mr. Wade if
he was not going again to-morrow.’
The kangaroo rat, an animal nearly as large as a wild rabbit, is
tolerably abundant, and very good eating, when cooked in the same
manner. The natives take them by driving a spear into the nest,
sometimes transfixing two at once, or by jumping upon the nest, which
is formed of leaves and grass upon the ground.
It is less sought for than its larger relatives, except by thorough
bushmen, owing to the prejudice excited by the unfortunate name which
has been bestowed upon it. Those who have once tried it usually become
fond of it; and to the sawyers and splitters these animals yield many a
fresh meal, during their sojourn amidst the heavily timbered flats and
ranges of Victoria and New South Wales. The animal is not of the rat
species, but a perfect kangaroo in miniature.
The flesh of the phalangers is of delicate flavor. The large grey
opossum (_Phalangista vulpina_) forms a great resource for food to the
natives of Australia, who climb the tallest trees in search of them,
and take them from the hollow branches. The flesh is very good, though
not much used by the settlers, the carcase being thrown to the dogs,
while the sportsman contents himself with the skin.
The common opossum (_Didelphys Virginiana_) is eaten in some of the
states and territories of America; it is very much like a large rat,
and is classed among the ‘vermin’ by the Americans. Their flesh is,
however, white and well-tasted; but their ugly tail puts one out of
conceit with the fare.
The wombat, a bear-like marsupial quadruped of Australia, (the
_Phascolomys wombat_,) is eaten in New South Wales and other parts of
the Australian Continent. In size it often equals a sheep, some of the
largest weighing 140 lbs.; and the flesh is said by some to be not
unlike venison, and by others to resemble lean mutton. As it is of such
considerable size, attaining the length of three feet, it has been
suggested that it might be worth naturalizing here.
RODENTIA.
Passing now to the rodents or gnawing animals, we find that the
large grey squirrel (_Sciurus cinereus_, Desm.) is very good eating.
The flesh of the squirrel is much valued by the Dyaks, and it will,
doubtless, hereafter be prized for the table of Europeans.
The marmot (_Arctomys Marmotta_), in its fat state, when it first
retires to its winter quarters, is in very good condition, and is then
killed and eaten in great numbers, although we may affect to despise it.
The mouse, to the Esquimaux epicures, is a real _bonne bouche_, and if
they can catch half-a-dozen at a time, they run a piece of horn or twig
through them, in the same manner as the London poulterers prepare larks
for the table; and without stopping to skin them, or divest them of
their entrails, broil them over the fire; and although some of the mice
may have belonged to the aborigines of the race, yet so strong is the
mastication of the natives, that the bones of the animal yield to its
power as easily as the bones of a rabbit would to a shark.
There is a very large species of rat spoken of as found in the island
of Martinique, nearly four times the size of the ordinary rat. It is
black on the back, with a white belly, and is called, locally, the
piloris or musk rat, as it perfumes the air around. The inhabitants eat
them; but then they are obliged, after they are skinned, to expose them
a whole night to the air; and they likewise throw away the first water
they are boiled in, because it smells so strongly of musk.
The flesh of the musk rat is not bad, except in rutting time, for then
it is impossible to deprive it of the musky smell and flavour.
So fat and sleek do the rats become in the West Indies, from feeding
on the sugar cane in the cane fields, that some of the negroes find
them an object of value, and, with the addition of peppers and similar
spiceries, prepare from them a delicate fricassée not to be surpassed
by a dish of French frogs.
There is a professional rat-catcher employed on each sugar plantation,
and he is paid so much a dozen for the tails he brings in to the
overseer. Father Labat tells us that he made his hunters bring the
whole rat to him, for if the heads or tails only came, the bodies
were eaten by the negroes, which he wished to prevent, as he thought
that this food brought on consumption! The health of the negroes was
then a matter of moment, considering the money value at which they
were estimated and sold. A rat hunt in a cane field affords glorious
sport. In cutting down the canes, one small patch is reserved standing,
into which all the rats congregate, and the negroes, surrounding the
preserve, with their clubs and bill-hooks speedily despatch the rats,
and many are soon skinned and cooked.
The negroes in Brazil, too, eat every rat which they can catch; and
I do not see why they should not be well-tasted and wholesome meat,
seeing that their food is entirely vegetable, and that they are clean,
sleek, and plump. The Australian aborigines eat mice and rats whenever
they can catch them.
Scinde is so infested with rats, that the price of grain has risen 25
per cent. from the destruction caused to the standing crops by them.
The government commissioner has recently issued a proclamation granting
head-money on all rats and mice killed in the province. The rate is to
be 3_d._ a dozen, the slayer having the privilege of keeping the body
and presenting the tail.
In China, rat soup is considered equal to ox-tail soup, and a dozen
fine rats will realize two dollars, or eight or nine shillings.
Besides the attractions of the gold-fields for the Chinese, California
is so abundantly supplied with rats, that they can live like Celestial
emperors, and pay very little for their board. The rats of California
exceed the rats of the older American States, just as nature on that
side of the continent exceeds in bountifulness of mineral wealth.
The California rats are incredibly large, highly flavoured, and very
abundant. The most refined Chinese in California have no hesitation
in publicly expressing their opinion of ‘them rats.’ Their professed
cooks, we are told, serve up rats’ brains in a much superior style to
the Roman dish of nightingales’ and peacocks’ tongues. The sauce used
is garlic, aromatic seeds, and camphor.
Chinese dishes and Chinese cooking have lately been popularly described
by the fluent pen of Mr. Wingrove Cooke, the _Times’_ correspondent
in China, but he has by no means exhausted the subject. Chinese
eating saloons have been opened in California and Australia, for the
accommodation of the Celestials who now throng the gold-diggings,
despite the heavy poll-tax to which they have been subjected.
Mr. Albert Smith, writing home from China, August 22, 1858, his first
impressions, says:--
‘The filth they eat in the eating houses far surpasses that cooked
at that old _trattoria_ at Genoa. It consists for the most part of
rats, bats, snails, bad eggs, and hideous fish, dried in the most
frightful attitudes. Some of the _restaurateurs_ carry their cook-shops
about with them on long poles, with the kitchen at one end, and the
_salle-à-manger_ at the other. These are celebrated for a soup made,
I should think, from large caterpillars boiled in a thin gravy, with
onions.’
The following is an extract from the bill of fare of one of the San
Francisco eating houses--
Grimalkin steaks 25 cents.
Bow-wow soup 12 ”
Roasted bow-wow 18 ”
Bow-wow pie 6 ”
Stews ratified 6 ”
The latter dish is rather dubious. What is meant by stews _rat_-ified?
Can it be another name for rat pie? Give us light, but no pie.
The San Francisco _Whig_ furnishes the following description of a
Chinese feast in that city:--‘We were yesterday invited, with three
other gentlemen, to partake of a dinner _à la_ Chinese. At three
o’clock we were waited upon by our hosts, Keychong, and his partner in
Sacramento-street, Peter Anderson, now a naturalized citizen of the
United States, and Acou, and escorted to the crack Chinese restaurant
in Dupont-street, called Hong-fo-la, where a circular table was set out
in fine style:--
‘Course No. 1.--Tea, hung-yos (burnt almonds), ton-kens (dry ginger),
sung-wos (preserved orange).
‘Course No 2.--Won-fo (a dish oblivious to us, and not mentioned in the
cookery-book).
‘No. 3.--Ton-song (ditto likewise).
‘No. 4.--Tap-fau (another _quien sabe_).
‘No. 5.--Ko-yo (a conglomerate of fish, flesh, and fowl).
‘No. 6.--Suei-chon (a species of fish ball).
‘Here a kind of liquor was introduced, served up in small cups, holding
about a thimbleful, which politeness required we should empty between
every course, first touching cups and salaaming.
‘No. 7.--Beche-le-mer (a dried sea-slug, resembling India rubber, worth
one dollar per pound).
‘No. 8--Moisum. (Have some?)
‘No. 9.--Su-Yum (small balls, as bills of lading remark, ‘contents
unknown’).
‘No. 10.--Hoisuigo (a kind of dried oyster).
‘No. 11.--Songhai (China lobster).
‘No. 12.--Chung-so (small ducks in oil).
‘No. 13.--Tong-chou (mushrooms, worth three dollars per pound).
‘No. 14.--Sum-yoi (birds’ nests, worth 60 dollars per pound).
‘And some ten or twelve more courses, consisting of stewed acorns,
chestnuts, sausages, dried ducks, stuffed oysters, shrimps,
periwinkles, and ending with tea--each course being served up with
small china bowls and plates, in the handiest and neatest manner; and
we have dined in many a crack restaurant, where it would be a decided
improvement to copy from our Chinese friends. The most difficult feat
for us was the handling of the chop sticks, which mode of carrying to
the mouth is a practical illustration of the old proverb, ‘many a slip
’twixt the cup and lip.’ We came away, after a three hours’ sitting,
fully convinced that a China dinner is a very costly and elaborate
affair, worthy the attention of epicures. From this time, henceforth,
we are in the field for China, against any insinuations on the question
of diet _à la_ rat, which we pronounce a tale of untruth. We beg leave
to return thanks to our host, Keychong, for his elegant entertainment,
which one conversant with the Chinese bill of fare informs us, must
have cost over 100 dollars. _Vive la China!_’
Mr. Cooke, in his graphic letters from China, speaks of the fatness
and fertility of the rats of our colony of Hong Kong. He adds: ‘When
Minutius, the dictator, was swearing Flaminius in as his Master of the
Horse, we are told by Plutarch that a rat chanced to squeak, and the
superstitious people compelled both officers to resign their posts.
Office would be held with great uncertainty in Hong Kong if a similar
superstition prevailed. Sir John Bowring has just been swearing in
General Ashburnham as member of the Colonial Council, and if the rats
were silent, they showed unusual modesty. They have forced themselves,
however, into a state paper. Two hundred rats are destroyed every night
in the gaol. Each morning the Chinese prisoners see, with tearful eyes
and watering mouths, a pile of these delicacies cast out in waste. It
is as if Christian prisoners were to see scores of white sucking pigs
tossed forth to the dogs by Mahommedan gaolers. At last they could
refrain no longer. Daring the punishment of tail-cutting, which follows
any infraction of prison discipline, they first attempted to abstract
the delicacies. Foiled in this, they took the more manly course. They
indited a petition in good Chinese, proving from Confucius that it
is sinful to cast away the food of man, and praying that the meat
might be handed over to them to cook and eat. This is a fact, and if
General Thompson doubts it, I recommend him to move for a copy of the
correspondence.’
A new article of traffic is about to be introduced into the China
market from India, namely, _salted rats_! The genius with whom the
idea originated, it would appear, is sanguine; so much so, that he
considers himself ‘on the fair road to fortune.’ The speculation
deserves success, if for nothing else than its originality. I have not,
as yet however, observed the price that rules in Whampoa and Hong Kong
nor the commodity quoted in any of the merchants’ circulars, though it
will, doubtless, soon find its place in them as a regular article of
import.
A correspondent of the _Calcutta Citizen_, writing from Kurrachee, the
chief town of the before mentioned rat infested province of Scinde,
declares that he is determined to export 120,000 salted rats to China.
The Chinese eat rats, and he thinks they may sell. He says:--‘I have
to pay one pice a dozen, and the gutting, salting, pressing, and
packing in casks, raises the price to six pice a dozen (about three
farthings), and if I succeed in obtaining anything like the price that
rules in Whampoa and Canton for corn-grown rats, my fortune is made, or
rather, I will be on the fair road to it, and will open a fine field of
enterprise to Scinde.’
Rats may enter into consumption in other quarters, and among other
people, than those named, when we find such an advertisement as the
following in a recent daily paper at Sydney:--
‘RATS! RATS! RATS!--To-night at 8 o’clock, rattling sport; 200 rats to
be entered at G. W. Parker’s Family Hotel.’
Query.--What ultimately becomes of these rats, and who are the persons
who locate and take their meals at this ‘Family Hotel?’ Probably they
are of the rough lot whose stomachs are remarkably strong.
Some classes of the Malabars are very fond of the bandicoot, or pig
rat (_Perameles nasuta_, Geoff. Desm.), which measures about fourteen
inches in length from head to tail, the tail being nearly as long as
the body. They are much sought after by the coolies, on the coffee
estates in Ceylon, who eat them roasted. They also eat the coffee rat
(_Golunda Ellioti_ of Gray), roasted or fried in oil, which is much
smaller, the head and body only measuring about four or five inches.
These animals are migratory, and commit great damages on the coffee
tree, as many as a thousand having been killed in a day on one estate.
The planters offer a reward for the destruction of these rodents, which
brings grist to the mill in two ways to the coolies who hunt or entrap
them, namely, in money and food.
The fat dormouse (_Myoxus glis_, Desm.) is used for food in Italy,
as it was by the ancient Romans, who fattened them for the table in
receptacles called Gliraria.
Dr. Rae, in his last arctic exploring expedition, states, that the
principal food of his party was geese, partridges, and lemmings
(_Arvicola Hudsonia_). These little animals were migrating northward,
and were so numerous that their dogs, as they trotted on, killed as
many as supported them all, without any other food.
There is another singular little animal, termed by naturalists
the vaulting rat, or jerboa. On an Australian species, the _Dipus
Mitchelli_, the natives of the country between Lake Torrens and the
Great Creek, in Australia seem chiefly to subsist. It is a little
larger than a mouse, and the hind legs are similar to those of the
kangaroo.
Captain Sturt and his exploring party once witnessed a curious scene.
They came to a native who had been eating jerboas, and after they met
him they saw him eat one hundred of them. His mode of cooking was
quite unique. He placed a quantity, for a few seconds, under the ashes
of the fire, and then, with the hair only partially burnt off, took
them by the tail, put the body in his mouth, and bit the tail off with
his teeth. After he had eaten a dozen bodies, he took the dozen tails,
and stuffed them into his mouth.
The flesh of the beaver is looked upon as very delicate food by the
North American hunters, but the tail is the choicest dainty, and
in great request. It is much prized by the Indians and trappers,
especially when it is roasted in the skin, after the hair has been
singed off; and in some districts it requires all the influence of the
fur-traders to restrain the hunters from sacrificing a considerable
quantity of beaver fur every year to secure the enjoyment of this
luxury. The Indians of note have generally one or two feasts in a
season, wherein a roasted beaver is the prime dish. It resembles pork
in its flavour, but it requires a strong stomach to sustain a full meal
of it. The flesh is always in high estimation, except when they have
fed upon the fleshy root of a large water lily, which imparts a rank
taste to it.
The flesh of a young porcupine is said to be excellent eating, and
very nutritious. The flavour is something between pork and fowl. To be
cooked properly, it should be boiled first, and afterwards roasted.
This is necessary to soften the thick, gristly skin, which is the best
part of the animal. The flesh of the porcupine is said to be used by
the Italians as a stimulant; but, never having tasted it myself, I
cannot speak from experience as to the virtue of this kind of food.
The Dutch and the Hottentots are very fond of it; and when skinned and
embowelled, the body will sometimes weigh 20 lbs. The flesh is said to
eat better when it has been hung in the smoke of a chimney for a couple
of days.
The flesh of the crested porcupine (_Hystrix cristata_) is good and
very agreeable eating. Some of the Hudson Bay trappers used to depend
upon the _Hystrix dorsata_ for food at some seasons of the year.
Rabbits, which form so large an article of consumption with us, are not
much esteemed as an article of food by the negroes in the West Indies,
resembling, in their idea, the cat. Thus, a black who is solicited
to buy a rabbit by an itinerant vendor, would indignantly exclaim,
‘Rabbit? I should just like to no war you take me for, ma’am? You tink
me go buy rabbit? No, ma’am, me no cum to dat yet; for me always did
say, an me always will say, dat dem who eat rabbit eat pussy, an dem
who eat pussy eat rabbit. Get out wid you, and your rabbit?’
And yet, with all this mighty indignation against rabbits, they do not
object, as we have seen, to a less dainty animal in the shape of the
rat.
Although the negroes in the West Indies do not care for rabbits, yet
their brethren in the American States are by no means averse to them.
A field slave one day found a plump rabbit in his trap. He took him
out alive, held him under his arm, patted him, and began to speculate
on his qualities. ‘Oh, how fat. Berry fat. The fattest I eber did see.
Let me see how I’ll cook him. I’ll broil him. No, he is so fat he lose
all de grease. I fry him. Ah yes. He so berry fat he fry hisself.
Golly, how fat he be. No, I won’t fry him--I stew him.’ The thought of
the savory stew made the negro forget himself, and in spreading out
the feast in his imagination, his arms relaxed, when off hopped the
rabbit, and squatting at a goodly distance, he eyed his late owner
with cool composure. The negro knew there was an end of the stew, and
summoning up all his philosophy, he thus addressed the rabbit, at the
same time shaking his fist at him, ‘You long-eared, white-whiskered
rascal, you not so berry fat arter all.’
I need not here touch upon hare soup, jugged hare, or roasted hare,
from the flesh of our own rodent; but the Arctic hare (_Lepus
glacialis_) differs considerably from the English in the colour and
quality of its flesh, being less dry, whiter, and more delicately
tasted; it may be dressed in any way. When in good condition it weighs
upwards of 10 lbs.
The capybara, or water hog (_Hydrochœrus capybara_), an ugly-looking,
tailless rodent, the largest of the family, is hunted for its flesh in
South America, and is said to be remarkably good eating. It grows to
the size of a hog two years old.
The flesh of the guinea pig (_Cavia cobaya_, Desm.) is eaten in South
America, and is said to be not unlike pork. When he is dressed for the
table his skin is not taken off as in other animals, but the hair is
scalded and scraped off in the same manner as it is in a hog.
The white and tender flesh of the agouti (_Dasyprocta Acuti_, Desm.),
when fat and well dressed, is by no means unpalatable food, but very
delicate and digestible. It is met with in Brazil, Guiana, and in
Trinidad. The manner of dressing them in the West Indies used to be to
roast them with a pudding in their bellies. Their skin is white, as
well as the flesh.
The flesh of the brown paca (_Cœlogenus subniger_, Desm.), a nearly
allied animal, is generally very fat, and also accounted a great
delicacy in Brazil.
Another South American rodent, the bizcacha, or viscascha (_Lagostomus
trichodactylus_), is eaten for food. It somewhat resembles a rabbit,
but has larger gnawing teeth, and a long tail. The flesh, when cooked,
is very white and good.
EDENTATA, OR TOOTHLESS ANIMALS.
Wallace, in his travels on the Amazon, tells us that the Indians stewed
a sloth for their dinner, and as they considered the meat a great
delicacy, he tasted it, and found it tender and very palatable.
Among other extraordinary animals for which Australia is proverbial,
is the _Echidna hystrix_, or native porcupine, which is eaten by
the aborigines, who declare it to be ‘cobbong budgeree (very good),
and, like pig, very fat.’ Europeans who have eaten of them confirm
this opinion, and observe that they taste similar to a sucking pig.
There appear to be two species of this animal, the spiny echidna and
the bristly echidna; the first attains a large size, equalling the
ordinary hedgehog. It has the external coating and general appearance
of the porcupine, with the mouth and peculiar generic character of the
ant-eater.
The flesh of the great ant-eater (_Myrmecophaga jubata_, Linn.) is
esteemed a delicacy by the Indians and negro slaves in Brazil, and,
though black and of a strong musky flavour, is sometimes even met with
at the tables of Europeans.
The armadillo, remarkable for its laminated shell, when baked in its
scaly coat is a good treat, the flesh being considered delicate eating,
somewhat like a rabbit in taste and colour. The flesh of the large
twelve-banded Brazilian one (_Dasypus Tatouay_) is said to be the best
of all. In South America there are several species of armadillo, all of
which are used for food when met with.
Mr. Gosse states, that this animal feeds upon soft ground fruits and
roots, and also on carrion, whenever it can find it; and a large
proportion of the sustenance of this, as well as of other species,
is derived from the numberless wild cattle which are caught and
slaughtered on the Pampas for the sake of their hides and tallow, the
carcases being left as valueless to decay, or to become the prey of
wild animals. Notwithstanding the filthy nature of their food, the
armadillos, being very fat, are eagerly sought for by the inhabitants
of European descent, as well as by the Indians. The animal is roasted
in its shell, and is esteemed one of the greatest delicacies of the
country; the flesh is said to resemble that of a sucking pig.
PACHYDERMATA, OR THICK-SKINNED ANIMALS.
What do our African brethren consider tit-bits? Ask Gordon Cumming.
He will enumerate a list longer than you can remember. Study his
‘Adventures,’ and you will become learned in the mystery of African
culinary operations. What are sheep’s-trotters and insipid boiled
calves’ feet compared to baked elephants’ paws?
Listen to his description of the whole art and mystery of the process
of preparing them:--
‘The four feet are amputated at the fetlock joint, and the trunk, which
at the base is about two feet in thickness, is cut into convenient
lengths. Trunk and feet are then baked, preparatory to their removal
to headquarters. The manner in which this is done is as follows:--A
party, provided with sharp-pointed sticks, dig a hole in the ground
for each foot and a portion of the trunk. These holes are about two
feet deep and a yard in width; the excavated earth is embanked around
the margin of the holes. This work being completed, they next collect
an immense quantity of dry branches and trunks of trees, of which
there is always a profusion scattered around, having been broken by
the elephants in former years. These they pile above the holes to the
height of eight or nine feet, and then set fire to the heap. When these
strong fires have burnt down, and the whole of the wood is reduced
to ashes, the holes and the surrounding earth are heated to a high
degree. Ten or twelve men then stand round the pit and take out the
ashes with a pole about sixteen feet in length, having a hook at the
end. They relieve one another in quick succession, each man running in
and raking the ashes for a few seconds, and then pitching the pole to
his comrade, and retreating, since the heat is so intense that it is
scarcely to be endured. When all the ashes are thus raked out beyond
the surrounding bank of earth, each elephant’s foot and portion of the
trunk is lifted by two athletic men, standing side by side, who place
it on their shoulders, and, approaching the pit together, they heave it
into it. The long pole is now again resumed, and with it they shove in
the heated bank of earth upon the foot, shoving and raking until it
is completely buried in the earth. The hot embers, of which there is
always a great supply, are then raked into a heap above the foot, and
another bonfire is kindled over each, which is allowed to burn down and
die a natural death; by which time the enormous foot or trunk will be
found to be equally baked throughout its inmost parts. When the foot
is supposed to be ready, it is taken out of the ground with pointed
sticks, and is first well beaten, and then scraped with an assagai,
whereby adhering particles of sand are got rid of. The outside is then
pared off, and it is transfixed with a sharp stake for facility of
carriage. The feet thus cooked are excellent, as is also the trunk,
which very much resembles buffalo’s tongue.’
Elephants’ petit(?) toes, pickled in strong toddy vinegar and cayenne
pepper, are considered in Ceylon an Apician luxury. As soon as it is
known that an elephant has been killed in Africa, every man in the
neighbourhood sets off with his knife and basket for the place, and
takes home as much of the carcase as he can manage to carry. The flesh
is not only eaten when fresh, but is dried and kept for months, and is
then highly esteemed.
The manner in which the elephant is cut up is thus described by the
author and sportsman I have already quoted:--‘The rough outer skin is
first removed, in large sheets, from the side which lies uppermost.
Several coats of an under skin are then met with. The skin is of
a tough and pliant nature, and is used by the natives for making
water-bags, in which they convey supplies of water from the nearest
_vey_, or fountain (which is often ten miles distant), to the elephant.
They remove this inner skin with caution, taking care not to cut
it with the assagai; and it is formed into water bags by gathering
the corners and edges, and transfixing the whole on a pointed wand.
The flesh is then removed in enormous sheets from the ribs, when the
hatchets come into play, with which they chop through and remove
individually each colossal rib. The bowels are thus laid bare; and in
the removal of these the leading men take a lively interest and active
part, for it is throughout and around the bowels that the fat of the
elephant is mainly found. There are few things which a Bechuana prizes
so highly as fat of any description; they will go an amazing distance
for a small portion of it. They use it principally in cooking their
sun-dried biltongue, and they also eat it with their corn. The fat of
the elephant lies in extensive layers and sheets in his inside, and the
quantity which is obtained from a full-grown bull, in high condition,
is very great. Before it can be obtained, the greater part of the
bowels must be removed. To accomplish this, several men eventually
enter the immense cavity of his inside, where they continue mining away
with their assagais, and handing the fat to their comrades outside till
all is bare. While this is transpiring with the sides and bowels, other
parties are equally active in removing the skin and flesh from the
remaining parts of the carcase.
‘In Northern Cachar, India, the flesh of the elephant is generally
eaten. The Kookies encamp in the neighbourhood of the carcase until
they have entirely consumed it, or are driven away by the effluvia of
decomposition. Portions of the flesh that they cannot immediately eat
are dried and smoked to be kept for future consumption.
‘Fat of any kind is a complete godsend to the Bechuana and other tribes
of Southern Africa; and the slaughter of an elephant affords them a
rich harvest in disembowelling the carcase, and mining their way into
the interior of the huge cavity to remove the immense layers furnished
by such a large animal if in good condition.’
Galton, the African traveller, in his hints for bush cooking, tells
us:--
‘The dish called _beatee_ is handy to make. It is a kind of haggis made
with blood, a good quantity of fat shred small, some of the tenderest
of the flesh, together with the heart and lungs of the animal, cut
or torn into small shivers, all of which is put into the stomach and
roasted, by being suspended before the fire with a string. Care must be
taken that it does not get too much heat at first, or it will burst.
It is a most delicious morsel, even without pepper, salt, or any
seasoning.’
In all the large rivers of Southern Africa, and especially towards
the mouths, the hippopotami abound. The colonists give them the name
of sea-cows. The capture of one of these huge beasts, weighing, as
they sometimes do, as much as four or five large oxen, is an immense
prize to the hungry Bushman or Koranna, as the flesh is by no means
unpalatable; and the fat, with which these animals are always covered,
is considered delicious. When salted it is called zee-koe speck, is
very much like excellent fat bacon, and is greatly prized by the Dutch
colonists, not only for the table, but for the reputed medicinal
qualities which are attributed to it. In Abyssinia, hippopotamus meat
is commonly eaten.
The hog is one of those animals that are doomed to clear the earth
of refuse and filth, and that convert the most nauseous offal into
the nicest nutriment in its flesh. It has not altogether been unaptly
compared to a miser, who is useless and rapacious in his life, but
at his death becomes of public use by the very effects of his sordid
manners. During his life he renders little service to mankind, except
in removing that filth which other animals reject.
A delicate sucking pig, a Bath chap, or a good rasher of bacon are,
however, tit-bits not to be despised.
Lord Brougham hoped to see the day when every man in the United Kingdom
would read Bacon. ‘It would be much better to the purpose,’ said
Cobbett, ‘if his lordship would use his influence that every man in the
kingdom could eat bacon.’
In British India, only Europeans and the low Hindoos eat pork, but
wild hogs are very abundant, and afford good sport to the hunter.
The avoidance of pork arises as much from religious scruples as the
deep-rooted aversion to the domestic swine all must imbibe who have
only seen it in the East, where it is a tall, gaunt, half famished, and
half ferocious-looking brute, which performs the office of scavenger.
The legend which ascribes to the eating of human flesh the origin of
one of the most loathsome of diseases, scarce offers a more horrible
picture to the imagination than is presented by a letter recently
published in the _Ceylon Examiner_. The beautiful islands of Mauritius
and Bourbon are largely supplied with pork from Patna, a province of
Hindostan that has been over-run by the cholera. Both there and at
Calcutta the bodies of the natives are consigned to the Ganges, instead
of being interred. ‘Let any person,’ says the writer in the Ceylon
paper, ‘at daybreak start from the gates of Government House, Calcutta,
and, whether his walk will be to the banks of the river or to the banks
of the canals which on three sides surround the city, he will see pigs
feeding on the dead bodies of the natives that have been thrown there
during the night. During the day the river police clear away and sink
all that remains of the bodies. Bad as is the metropolis of India it
is nothing compared to Patna. Hundreds upon hundreds of human corpses
are there strewed along the strand; and fattening, ghoule-like, upon
these are droves upon droves of swine. These swine are slaughtered, cut
up, and salted into hams, bacon, and pickled pork, and then despatched
to Calcutta.... The great market for this poisonous swine produce is
the Mauritius and Bourbon, where it is foisted on the inhabitants as
the produce of Europe. Moreover, as these swine are sold in Calcutta
at 3s. or 4s. each carcase, it is stated that the inferior class
of homeward-bound vessels are provisioned with them, and thus this
human-fed pork is introduced into Europe and America.’
Pork-eaters may believe as much of the following remarks as they
please. ‘It is said that the Jews, Turks, Arabians, and all those who
observe the precept of avoiding blood and swine’s flesh, are infinitely
more free from disease than Christians; more especially do they escape
those opprobria of the medical art, gout, scrofula, consumption, and
madness. The Turks eat great quantities of honey and pastry, and much
sugar; they also eat largely, and are indolent, and yet do not suffer
from dyspepsia as Christians do. The swine-fed natives of Christendom
suffer greater devastation from a tubercular disease of the bowels
(dysentery) than from any other cause. Those persons who abstain from
swine’s flesh and blood are infinitely more healthy and free from
humors, glandular diseases, dyspepsia, and consumption; while in those
districts, and among those classes, of men, where the pig makes the
chief article of diet, tubercle in all its forms of eruptions, sore
legs, bad eyes, abscesses, must prevail.’
These are the remarks of an American journalist, which, however, have
not, I conceive, the shadow of foundation.
‘It appears somewhat singular,’ remarks Mr. Richardson, in his history
of the pig, ‘that the flesh of the hog was prohibited in the ceremonial
of the Jewish law; the same prohibition being afterwards borrowed by
Mahomet, and introduced into the Koran.’ Great difference of opinion
prevails as to the cause of this prohibition; some alleging that this
food was unsuited to the land inhabited by the Jews. As, however, the
kinds of food to be eaten and rejected--doubtless to prevent that
luxurious epicurism unsuited to a growing and prosperous nation--were
to have a limit, this limit was fixed by two distinctive marks: they
must ‘divide the hoof, and chew the cud;’ that principle of restriction
admitting only a limited range to the food permitted. The pig, the
horse, and the camel were excluded. It was only in a state of low
nationality, or in times of great degeneracy, that the Jew ever tasted
pork.
The food of the hog varies in different localities, and probably
materially influences the flavour of the meat. In the River
Plata provinces they feed them on mutton. After describing the
purchase--8,000 at _eighteen-pence per dozen_ (?)--by a Mr. M. Handy,
a traveller adds, ‘As soon as the sheep became fattened on his own
lands, he killed about a thousand, sold the fleeces at five shillings
per dozen, and with the mutton he fed a herd of swine. Mentioning
this fact to a large party of Europeans, at the dinner table of Lord
Howden, when in Buenos Ayres, my statement was received with a murmur
of scepticism; but I offered to accompany the incredulous to the
pastures, where the remainder of the sheep were then feeding.’--(_Two
Thousand Miles’ Ride through the Argentine Provinces._) But the Yankees
beat this, according to a late American paper. In North America they
generally feed them on maize, but in some of the States, apples form
a principal portion of their food, and the ‘apple sauce’ thus becomes
incorporated with the flesh. A gentleman travelling down East, overtook
a farmer dragging a lean, wretched-looking, horned sheep along the
road. ‘Where are you going with that miserable animal?’ asked the
traveller. ‘I am taking him to the mutton mill, to have him ground
over,’ said the farmer. ‘The _mutton mill_? I never heard of such
a thing. I will go with you and witness the process.’ They arrived
at the mill; the sheep was thrown alive into the hopper, and almost
immediately disappeared. They descended to a lower apartment, and,
in a few moments, there was ejected from a spout in the ceiling four
quarters of excellent mutton, two sides of morocco leather, a wool
hat of the first quality, a sheep’s head handsomely dressed, and two
elegantly-carved powder horns.’
In America they speak of hogs as other countries do of their sugar,
coffee, and general exportable staple crops; and even when packed and
cured they occasionally compute the produce by the acre. Thus, the
_Louisville Courier_ stated recently, that there were five or six
_acres_ of barrelled pork piled up three tiers high, in open lots, and
not less than six acres more not packed, which would make eighteen
acres of barrels if laid side by side, exclusive of lard in barrels,
and pork bulked down in the curing houses, sheds, &c. Besides the above
slaughtered hogs, there were five or six acres more of live hogs in
pens, waiting their destiny.
In the Western States pork is the great idea, and the largest owner of
pigs is the hero of the prairie. What coal has been to England, wheat
to the Nile or the Danube, coffee to Ceylon, gold to California and
Victoria, and sheep to the Cape and Australia, pork has been to the
West in America.
The phrase, ‘Going the whole hog,’ must have originated in Ohio, for
there they use up the entire carcases of about three-quarters of a
million of pigs, and the inhabitants are the most ‘hoggish’ community
of the entire Union. What crocodiles were in Egypt, what cows are
in Bengal, or storks in Holland, pigs are in Cincinnati, with this
trifling difference, their sacredness of character lasts but as long
as their mortal coil; and this is abbreviated without ceremony, and
from the most worldly motives. In life, the pig is free, is honored;
he ranges the streets, he reposes in thoroughfares, he walks beneath
your horse’s legs, or your own; he is everywhere respected; but let
the thread of his existence be severed, and--shade of Mahomet!--what a
change! They think in Cincinnati of nothing but making the most of him.
Historically, socially, gastronomically, the pig demands our careful
attention. The connection with commerce, with the cuisine, and even
with the great interest of fire insurance, have all made him an object
of particular regard. In the early days of the Celestial Empire--as we
learn from the veracious writings of the witty and voracious essayist,
Charles Lamb--a wealthy Chinaman was so unfortunate as to have his
dwelling destroyed by fire. Prowling around the smoking ruins, and
seeking to save some of his valuables which the conflagration might
have spared, his hand came in contact with the smoking remains of a
poor pig which had perished in the flames; instantly, smarting with the
pain, he carried his hand to his mouth, when a peculiar flavour greeted
his palate, such as the gods (Chinese ones I mean, of course,) might
in vain have sighed for. Regardless of pain he applied himself once
more, and drew forth from the smoking cinders the remains of the pig.
Carefully brushing off the ashes, he regaled himself with the feast
before him, but closely preserved the secret he had learned. In a few
short months, however, the taste for roast pig came back so strong,
that John Chinaman’s house was burned down again, and again was a pig
found in the ashes. This was repeated so often that the neighbours grew
suspicious, and watched until they ascertained that the reason for the
conflagration was the feast that invariably followed. Once out, the
secret spread like wildfire; every hill-top shone with the flames of
a burning habitation--every valley was blackened with the ashes of a
homestead; but roast pig was dearer to a Chinaman than home or honour,
and still the work of destruction went on. Alarmed at a course which
bid fair to ruin every insurance office in the empire, the directors
petitioned in a body to the General Court of China, for the passing of
an Act that should arrest the evil and avert their threatened ruin; and
a careful examination of the revised statutes of China would probably
show stringent resolutions against the crime of burning houses for the
sake of roasting pigs.
Since the invention of the modern cooking stove, however, although
incendiarism has decreased only in a slight degree, still it has ceased
to be attributed to this cause, and a juicy crackling is no longer
suggestive of fallen rafters, or a houseless family.
‘There is an old adage, ‘Give a dog a bad name, and his ruin is
accomplished.’ Such may be true of the canine race; but the noble
family of animals of which I am treating, furnishes a striking
illustration that the proverb applies not to their numbers. A goose, it
is said, saved lordly Rome by its cackling; and had not their list of
Divinities just then been full, a grateful people would have found for
him a sedgy pool and quiet nest in Olympus. How did the ancestors of
that same people repay the pig for a service scarcely less important?
‘The veriest smatterer in the classics knows, that, when from flaming
Troy ‘Æneas the great Anchises bore,’ seeking in strange lands a new
home for his conquered people, a white sow, attended by thirty white
little pigs, pure as herself, pointed out to him the scene of his
future empire. But what did he and his people do for the pig in return?
Did they load him with honours? Did they cherish him with corn? Did
they treat him with respect? No! with black ingratitude, which still
merits the indignation of every admirer of the pig, they affixed to the
animal the appellation of _Porcus_; and ‘poor cuss’ the pig would have
been to the present day, had not the Latin tongue long since ceased
to be the language of the world. But, ‘poor cuss’ he is no longer,
when in Worcester county he spurns his classic name, and, adopting the
vernacular, he ‘grows the whole hog,’ that he may ‘pork us,’ in return
for the care which we bestow upon him.
‘For the sake of our farmers, who are anxious to make a profit from
pig-raising, it is greatly to be regretted that the thirty-at-a-litter
breed has disappeared from the face of the earth. Breeding swine with
such a rate of increase must be almost as profitable as ‘shaving’ notes
at two per cent. per month; but still the impression is irresistibly
forced upon us, that, in a family so numerous, those who came last to
dinner, at least in their infant days, would not have gained flesh
very rapidly. Indeed, in such a family it would seem almost impossible
to dispense with the services of a wet nurse, in order to bring up
profitably the rising generation.
‘The course of the pig, like that of the Star of Empire, has ever
tended westward. From China we trace him to Italy, the gloomy mountains
of the Hartz, the broad plains of Westphalia, the fertile valleys of
France, and to the waving forests of ‘Merrie England;’ all have known
him since the days when their bold barons and hungry retainers sat down
to feast on the juicy chine of the wild boar, and the savoury haunch of
venison. In green Erin, piggy has been an important member of society;
true, he has shared his master’s meal, and basked in the comfortable
warmth of his cabin; but, like a ‘gintleman’ as he is, he has ever
paid the ‘rint;’ and St. Patrick, in the plenitude of his power and
influence, never saw the day he could have banished him from that ‘gem
of the ocean.’
‘When the pig first crossed to this western world remains in doubt.
Whether he came with the Pilgrims, pressing with the foot of a pioneer
the Blarney-stone of New England, and scanning with fearless eye the
cheerless prospect before him, or whether, regardless of liberty of
conscience, and careful only of his own comfort, he waited till the
first trials and toils of a new settlement had been met and overcome,
we have no record; enough for us that he is here; how or where he came
concerns us not. He is among us and of us. From souse to sausage we
have loved him; from ham to harslet we have honoured him; from chine to
chops we have cherished him. The care we have shown him has been repaid
a hundred-fold. He has loaded our tables, and lighted our fire-sides,
and smiling plenty has followed in his steps, where hungry famine would
have stalked in his absence.
‘But still further towards the setting sun has been the arena of
the pig’s greatest triumphs; there have been the fields of his
widest influence. Beneath the vast forests of Ohio, raining to the
ground their yearly harvests of mast--through her broad corn-fields,
stretching as far as the eye can see, he has roamed, and fed, and
fattened. From him, and the commercial interests he has mainly
contributed to establish, has grown a mighty State, scarcely second
to any in this confederacy; from his ashes has arisen a new order in
society--the ‘Bristleocracy of the great West.’
‘A broad levee bustling with business, lofty and spacious stores and
slaughter-houses, crowded pens, and a river bearing on its bosom
steamboats in fleets--all attest the interest which the pig has exerted
on the agricultural and commercial interests of the great State of
Ohio. He has filled the coffers of her bankers, and has bought the
silks which cover her belles. He has built the beautiful palaces which
adorn the ‘Queen City of the West,’ and feeds the princely luxury of
those who inhabit them. _There_ he is almost an object of worship,
and his position is considered as about equivalent to a patent of
nobility. Fancy dimly paints the picture, when a few years hence, the
wealthy pork merchant, who justly boasts his numerous _quarterings_,
shall, in the true spirit of heraldry, paint on the pannel of his
carriage, and on the escutcheon over his door-way, a lustrous shield,
bearing in brilliant colours a single pig, his bristles all _rampant_,
his tail closely _curlant_, and his mouth widely _opant_, till the
lions, the griffins, and the unicorns of the Old World shall fade into
insignificance before the heraldic devices of the New.’[7]
‘Your Spanish pig, who, by the way, is a no less important character
in his country than is his cousin in Ireland, is not raised for the
vulgar purpose of being fried to lard, or salted down to pork. He has,
in fact, no more fat than he has hair on him. He is a long-legged,
long-snouted, and long-tailed fellow, and would have been described
by Plato as an animal without hairs. But though the pickings on his
ribs be small, they are sweet. The Spaniard rolls the morsels under
his tongue as he does his easily-besetting sins. It is nut-fed flesh;
and has the flavour of acorns. This taste is as much prized in the
roasted joint as that of the skin in the sherry. Pig is game in Spain.
The porker does not live there in the chimney corner, and sit in the
best arm-chair, as in Paddy’s cabin; but he roams the fields, and goes
a-nutting with the boys and girls. He eats grass, as there are no cows
to eat it; and would milk the goats, doubtless, if they would let him.
He evidently knows more than the same animal in other countries; and
is, in consequence, more willing to be driven. He will squeal when he
feels the knife, but for no other reason. Nor is his squeal the same
as that heard at the North. There are more vowel sounds in it. It is
also less through the nose than in New England; and has some gutturals
even farther down the throat than those of a Dutchman. Your wild boar
is a monster compared with him. The flesh of the latter is to that of
the former as the crisp brown of roast pig is to the tanned hide in
your riding saddle. Accordingly, to refuse pork at a Spanish table is
to pronounce yourself ‘of the circumcision;’ and should you decline
a cut of a particularly nice ham, you would be set down as no better
than a heathen. However, you never would do it--particularly after
having read this essay. I assure you that when you may have eaten
up all the chickens which were stowed away in your saddle bags, you
cannot do better than to attack your landlord’s roast pig--provided
you can get it. Only it may cost you dear in the reckoning, as it is
thought a dish to set before the king. You may like pork, or you may
not; but one thing is certain, it is the only meat in the Peninsula
which has juices in it. Mutton may have a very little; and should you
travel far in the country, you would see the day when you would be
glad of a leg of it. But the beef is dry as ‘whittlings.’ An entire
joint of roast beef would kill a man as effectually as a joist of
timber. Whoever should undertake to live on Spanish beef a twelvemonth,
would become at the end of that time what he was, in fact, at the
beginning--wooden-headed. Make up your mind, therefore, to eat the
meat of the uncircumcised, if you have any thought of going to Spain.
You will often have to take your choice between that and nothing; and
my word for it, ’tis much preferable. For the land is leaner far than
pork; and happy is that traveller, who, when he is reduced to pickings,
can find a spare-rib to work upon. Forewarned--forearmed.[8]’
Pork is the great food of the Brazilian people. It is prepared and
eaten, according to Dr. Walshe, in a peculiar manner. When the pig
is killed, the butcher dexterously scoops out the bones and muscular
flesh, leaving behind only the covering of fat. In this state it is
salted, folded up, and sent in great quantities to Rio, where it is
called _toucinho_. All the stores and _vendas_ are full of it, and it
is used commonly for culinary purposes, and forms an ingredient in
every Brazilian article of cookery.
The flesh of the peccary (after cutting away the fetid orifice on
its back) and of the wild or musk hog, both known under the Indian
appellation of quanco in Trinidad, is much preferable to that of the
domestic swine.
The flesh of the rhinoceros is eaten in Abyssinia, and by some of the
Dutch settlers in the Cape Colony, and is in high esteem. The flesh of
the hippopotamus used also to be eaten on the east coast of Africa,
roasted or boiled, and fetched a high price as a delicacy. The fat was
used in making puddings, instead of butter. The Portuguese settlers
were permitted by the priests to eat the flesh of this animal in Lent,
passing it off as _fish_ from its amphibious habits, and hence their
consciences were at ease.
The flesh of the tapir, when roasted, closely resembles beef,
especially if it be young; and that of the water hare is also
considered excellent food, being white and delicate, and much of the
same flavour as that of the tapir.
HORSE-FLESH.
At Paris, where all eccentricities are found, and even encouraged, one
of the latest gastronomic innovations is the use of horse-flesh. The
French are always adding to their dietetic regimen by introducing new
articles of food. This social phenomenon of making the horse contribute
to the nourishment of the human race, is not altogether new. The
ancient Germans and Scandinavians had a marked liking for horse-flesh.
The nomade tribes of Northern Asia make horse-flesh their favorite
food. It has long been authorized and publicly sold in Copenhagen.
With the high ruling prices of butcher’s meat, what think you,
gentlemen and housekeepers, of horse-flesh as a substitute for beef
and mutton? Are you innocently ignorant of the French treatise of that
eminent naturalist and professor of zoology, M. St. Hilaire, upon horse
for food? Banquets of horse-flesh are at present the rage in Paris,
Toulouse, and Berlin. The veterinary schools there pronounce horse-bone
soup preferable beyond measure to the old-fashioned beef-bone liquid,
and much more economical.
Horse-flesh steak without sauce, and cold, is cited as a morsel
superior to the finest game that flies! and cut, too, from a horse
nearly a quarter of a century old; one of the labouring cavalry kind
who pranced at the sound of the trumpet, and snuffed the battle
from afar off, little dreaming he was doomed to steaks, soup, and
washing-day hashes. Horse-flesh pie, too, eaten cold, is a dainty now
at Berlin and Toulouse, and boiled horse, _rechauffé_, has usurped the
place of ragouts and secondary dishes! What a theme, hippophology,
to write upon. We shall soon hear in our city dining rooms, ‘A piece
o’ horse, my kingdom for a piece of horse!’ ‘Waiter! a cut from the
fore-shoulder, well done.’ ‘A horse sandwich and ale, and the morning
paper.’ Our witty friend _Punch_ had its horse-laugh recently upon
the subject of the sensation this movement has created in equestrian
circles.
A Frenchman, observes a recent writer, was one day remonstrating
against the contempt expressed by Englishmen for French beef, the
inferiority of which he would not admit. ‘I have been two times in
England,’ said he, ‘but I nevere find the beef so supérieur to ours.
I find it vary convenient that they bring it you on leetle pieces of
stick for one penny, but I do not find the beef supérieur.’ ‘Good
gracious!’ exclaimed the Englishman, ‘you have been eating cats’ meat
for beef.’ What this Frenchman did in the innocence of his heart, his
countrymen now do, it seems, with _malice prepense_.
And a Frenchman of considerable reputation, in a letter on alimentary
substances, and especially upon the flesh of the horse, calls upon
the whole world to put aside, what he considers, an ancient and
absurd prejudice, and to realize at home that famous sentence in the
geography we used to read at school, which, under the head of Norway,
informed us ‘horse-flesh is publicly sold in the markets.’
‘M. Isidore St. Hilaire is very serious. He does not merely advocate
the fillet of horse-flesh--the mare soup and fricasseed colt--in
sarcastic allusion to the practice of Parisian restaurants. He comes
gravely forward, with chapters of scientific evidence and argument, to
contend that, while animal food is absolutely necessary to the proper
nourishment of the human race, millions of Frenchmen eat no animal
food, and every year millions of pounds of excellent meat are wasted.
He knows how the cause he advocates lends itself to ridicule--he
knows how difficult it has always been to get rid of a prejudice--he
knows the fate of innovators; but, though a Frenchman, he braves
ridicule, brings a heavy battery of facts to destroy what he deems
a prejudice, and is already experiencing some of the triumph which
follows a hard-won victory. For seven years he has been advocating the
desirableness of eating horse-flesh--for seven or eight years he has
been collecting evidence and gaining converts--and now he feels strong
enough to appeal to the European public in a small volume.[9]
‘Since then, Germany has had its ‘Banquets of Horse-flesh’ for the
wits to ridicule--public feastings at which ‘cats’ meat’ was served
in various forms, as soup, as bouilli, as fillet, as cutlet; and
all the feasters left the table converted hippophagists. In 1841,
horse-flesh was adopted at Ochsenhausen and Wurtemburg, where it is
now publicly sold under the surveillance of the police. Every week five
or six horses are brought to market. At the Lake of Constance, a large
quantity of this meat is also sold. In 1842, a banquet of 150 persons
inaugurated its public use at Königsbaden, near Stuttgard. In 1846, the
police of Baden authorized its public sale, and Schaffhausen followed
in the same year. In 1847, at Detmold and at Weimar, public horse-flesh
banquets were held with great _éclat_--in Karlsbad (Bohemia) and its
environs, the new beef came into general use--and at Zittau, 200 horses
are eaten annually. At Ling, after one of these banquets, the police
permitted the sale of horse-flesh, which is now general in Austria,
Bohemia, Saxony, Hanover, Switzerland, and Belgium. The innovation made
rapid converts. In 1853, Berlin had no less than five _abattoirs_,
where 150 horses were killed and sold. At Vienna, in 1853, there was a
riot to prevent one of these banquets; but in 1854, such progress had
been made, that 32,000 pounds weight were sold in fifteen days, and at
least 10,000 of the inhabitants habitually ate horse-flesh.’ And now
Parisian banquets of horse-flesh are common.
These facts are at all events curious. Think of the prejudices to be
overcome, and think how unreasoning is the stomach!
Young horses are too valuable to be brought to the shambles, unless
killed by accident. But our worn-out hacks, of which 250 or 300 die or
are killed weekly in the metropolis,--old horses used up, are capable,
we are assured, of furnishing good meat. An old horse, which had done
duty for twenty-five years, was the substance of a learned gastronomic
feast at Paris.
M. St. Hilaire, the champion of this new addition to our food
resources, reasons in this fashion:--‘Horse-flesh has long been
regarded as of a sweetish disagreeable taste, very tough, and not to
be eaten without difficulty. So many different facts are opposed to
this prejudice, that it is impossible not to recognize its slight
foundation. The free or wild horse is hunted as game in all parts of
the world where it exists--Asia, Africa, and America--and formerly,
and perhaps even now, in Europe. The domestic horse itself is made
use of as alimentary as well as auxiliary--in some cases altogether
alimentary--in Africa, America, Asia, and in some parts of Europe.
‘Its flesh is relished by people the most different in their manner of
life, and of races the most diverse, negro, Mongol, Malay, American,
Caucasian. It was much esteemed up to the eighth century among the
ancestors of some of the greatest nations of Western Europe, who
had it in general use, and gave it up with regret. Soldiers to whom
it has been served out, and people in towns who have bought it in
markets, have frequently taken it for beef. Still more often, and
indeed habitually, it has been sold in restaurants, even in the best,
as venison, and without the customers ever suspecting the fraud or
complaining of it.
‘And further, if horse-flesh has been often accepted as good under a
false name, it has also been pronounced good by those who, to judge of
its qualities, have submitted it to careful experiment, and by all who
have tasted it in a proper condition, that is, when taken from a sound
and rested horse, and kept sufficiently long. It is then excellent
roasted; and if it be not so acceptable as _bouilli_, it is precisely
because it furnishes one of the best soups--perhaps the best that is
known.
‘It is good also, as experiments prove made by myself as well as
others, when taken from old horses not fattened, whose age was 16, 19,
20, and even 23 years, animals thought worth no more than a few francs
beyond the value of their skin.
‘This is a capital fact, since it shows the possibility of utilizing a
second time, for their flesh, horses which have already been utilized
up to old age for their strength; and, consequently, of obtaining a
further and almost gratuitous profit at the end of their life, after
they had well nigh paid the cost of their rearing and keep by their
labour.’
Let us see what additional evidence M. St. Hilaire has to adduce.
First, he appeals to his long experience at the _Jardin des Plantes_,
where the greater part of the _carnivora_ are habitually fed on
horse-flesh, which keeps them healthy in spite of many unfavourable
conditions. But this will not carry much weight with it. Our digestion
is not quite so good as that of a lion. The condor has been known to
eat, with satisfaction, food which Mrs. Brown would find little to her
taste. No dietetic rule for men can be deduced from the digestions
of tigers. We prefer the experience of human stomachs. Fortunately
this is not wanting, and M. St. Hilaire collects an imposing mass of
evidence. Huzard, the celebrated veterinary surgeon, records, that
during the revolution, the population of Paris was for six months
dieted with horse-flesh, without any ill effects. Some complaints,
indeed, were made when it was found that the _beef_ came from horses;
but, in spite of prejudice and the terrors such a discovery may have
raised, no single case of illness was attributed to the food. Larrey,
the great army surgeon, declares that on very many occasions during
the campaigns, he administered horse-flesh to the soldiers, and to the
soldiers sick in the hospital; and instead of finding it injurious,
it powerfully contributed to the convalescence of the sick, and drove
away a scorbutic epidemic which attacked the men. The testimony of
Parent Duchâtelet is also quoted to the same effect. M. St. Hilaire
feels himself abundantly authorized to declare that horse-flesh, far
from being unwholesome, is one of the most nutritious and wholesome of
alimentary substances: and, to support this declaration, he adduces the
testimony of historians and travellers, showing how whole tribes and
nations have habitually eaten and highly esteemed it.
Having thus, as he considers, satisfactorily settled the question of
wholesomeness, M. St. Hilaire proceeds to deal with the question of
agreeableness. Is wholesome horse-flesh agreeable enough to tempt
men, not starving, to eat it? It is, of course, of little use that
historians and travellers tell of hippophagists--it is nothing to the
purpose that soldiers in a campaign, or citizens during a siege, have
eaten horses with considerable relish. Under such circumstances, one’s
old shoe is not to be despised as a _pièce de résistance_; and one’s
grandmother may be a toothsome morsel. The real point to be settled in
the European mind is this--apart from all conditions which must bias
the judgment, is horse-flesh pleasant to the taste? M. St. Hilaire
cites the evidence of eminent men who, having eaten it knowing what it
was, pronounced it excellent--all declaring that it was better than
cow-beef, and some that there was little difference between it and
ox-beef.
But perhaps the reader, having eaten German beef, has a not
ill-grounded suspicion that horse-flesh might bear honourable
comparison with such meat, and yet be at best of mediocre savour. Let
us, therefore, says a writer in the _Saturday Review_, cite the example
of Parisian banquets, where the convives were men accustomed to the
_Trois Frères_, _Philippe’s_, and the _Café de Paris_. M. Renault, the
director of the great Veterinary College at Alfort, had a horse brought
to him with an incurable paralysis of the hinder extremities. It was
killed, and three days afterwards, on the 1st December, 1855, eleven
guests were invited--physicians, journalists, veterinary surgeons, and
_employés_ of the government. Side by side were dishes prepared by
the same cook, in precisely the same manner, and with the same pieces
taken respectively from this horse and from an ox of good quality. The
_bouillon_ of beef was flanked by a _bouillon_ of horse, the _bouilli_
of beef by a _bouilli_ of horse, the fillet of roast beef by a fillet
of roast horse; and a comparison was to be made of their qualities. Dr.
Amédée Latour thus writes:--
‘_Bouillon de cheval._--Surprise générale! C’est parfait, c’est
excellent, c’est nourri, c’est corse, c’est aromatique, c’est riche de
goût.
‘Le bouillon de _bœuf_ est bon, mais _comparativement inférieur_, moins
accentué de goût, moins parfumé, moins résistant de sapidité.’
The jury unanimously pronounced the horse _bouillon_ superior to that
of the ox. The _bouilli_, on the contrary, they thought inferior to
that of good beef, although superior to ordinary beef, and certainly
superior to all cow-beef. The roast fillet, again, they found superior
to that of the ox; and M. Latour thus sums up the experiment:--
Un bouillon supérieur;
Un bouilli bon et très-mangeable;
Un rôti exquis.
Similar experiments have been subsequently tried, several times in
Paris and in the provinces. They have been tried under three different
conditions. First, the guests have known what they were going to eat;
secondly, they have been totally ignorant; and thirdly, they have been
warned that they were going to eat something quite novel. Yet in every
case, we are told, the result has been the same. It is right to add,
that the author anticipates the objection that the animals selected
were young horses in splendid condition, and that such horses are too
valuable to be sent to the butcher. The majority of these experiments
have, we are assured, been made at veterinary colleges, upon horses
incapacitated by age or accident from further work. The horse which
M. Renault served up to his friends had already _vingt-trois ans de
bons et loyaux services_. He was in good ‘condition’--that is to
say, well-fleshed, although paralysed. In fact, all the horses, it
is asserted, were such as are sold for fifteen or twenty francs--not
such as are the pride of our stables. The younger the horse, the
better his flesh; and as young horses die daily from accidents, these,
we presume, would form the ‘prime cuts.’ But old horses, used up,
unfit even for cabs, if allowed a little rest, are capable, we are
assured, of furnishing beef better than cow-beef. But this serving up
of horse-flesh is equalled by that of the maître de cuisine to the
Maréchal Strezzi, who, at the siege of Leith, according to Monsieur
Beaujeu, ‘made out of the hind quarter of one salted horse forty-five
_couverts_, that the English and Scottish officers and nobility who
had the honour to dine with the Monseigneur, upon the rendition, could
not tell what the devil any one of them were made upon at all.’ M. St.
Hilaire discusses at great length many other objections, with which we
need not here trouble ourselves. But the taste is spreading and the
advocates increasing. The public use of horse-flesh as human food is
spoken of approvingly in _Blackwood_.
The _New York Tribune_ thus endorses the fanatical idea of the French
_savans_, (more properly _ravens_,) as to the propriety of eating
horse-flesh:--
‘In the horse we have an animal which is much cleaner in its habits
than the hog, herbivorous like the ox or sheep, whose flesh is rich
in nitrogen, and as pleasant to the taste as that of either of the
above-named animals. What prevents horse-flesh from being found on our
tables? Nothing but a popular prejudice, which recent investigations in
Paris show is entirely without any foundation whatever.
‘8,000 horses die, it is said, in New York annually, or about 22 per
day’ (a great exaggeration no doubt); ‘but instead of fetching 17 or
18 dollars to press the carcase for grease, and to feed the hogs on to
make pork for export, the prices will be greatly enhanced for meat for
home consumption.’
Thus writes the Paris correspondent of the _Indépendance Belge_:--‘You
know what interest is attached to-day--and very naturally so--to all
questions relating to the public food. In connexion therewith, I have
to mention a fact which is both curious and odd; it is, that there is
being formed in Paris a society of economists, naturalists, and hardy
gourmands, having for aim the introduction of horse-flesh into the
category of butchers’ meat. It may perhaps be said, that this social
phenomenon is not altogether new. Ten years ago, _hippophagy_ made some
noise in Germany, and, if I remember right, a society of eaters of the
horse was formed, and attempted a public festival, at which all the
meat should be of that quadruped, but were interrupted by the public,
who, feeling their prejudices wounded, broke the tables to pieces. At
Paris, where all eccentricities are found, and even encouraged, there
is nothing of that kind to fear. Accordingly, _hippophagy_ progresses.
Do not consider this an exaggeration. The last number of the _Revue
des Cours Publics_ will prove to you, by means of a summary, that M.
Geoffroy de St. Hilaire has made the subject the theme of one of his
recent lectures, and that the learned professor was greatly applauded.
I should add that his auditors included economists, agriculturists,
and heads of benevolent institutions. When the orator concluded by
saying that the day was come when the horse ought to contribute to
the nourishment of the human race, as well as the ox, the sheep, and
the pig, a hundred voices cried in chorus, ‘_Oui! oui! très bien!_’
This question, strange at first sight, has been raised, and it will
not sleep again. I predict that it will have not only numerous
adherents, but eloquent fanatics. As a commencement, many of the
auditors wished to eat horse soup, horse steaks, and the same flesh
under other forms.’ At the time at which I write, dissertations are
made, _brochures_ written, the regulations of a _hippophagic_ society
drawn up, and the establishment of horse shambles demanded. In 1832, M.
Alphonse Karr, mocking the extreme zeal of the society for protection,
exclaimed--‘Philanthropists! the horse has carried man long enough; it
is now for man to carry the horse!’
There is very little doubt that horse-flesh, besides its application
for ‘cats’ meat,’ enters, even now, largely into surreptitious use in
certain quarters in this country as food for bipeds. Thus, a Blackburn
paper tells us that ‘on Monday last Mr. Laverty seized and confiscated
the carcase of a horse. The animal had been stuck and bled, and was
taken very near to the premises of a noted brawn and black-pudding
maker. We understand that horse-flesh is used in this town by a certain
vender and manufacturer of brawn.’
Hoffman and Burns, makers and venders of horse-meat sausages, at
Philadelphia, were recently tried, convicted, and sentenced to eighteen
months’ imprisonment. _Apropos_ of sausages, judging from the following
anecdote, home-made ones are the more attractive.
‘A minister in one of our orthodox churches, while on his way to preach
a funeral sermon in the country, called to see one of his members, an
old widow lady, who lived near the road he was travelling. The old lady
had just been making sausages, and she felt proud of them--they were
so plump, round, and sweet. Of course she insisted on her minister
taking some of the links home to his family. He objected on account
of not having his portmanteau along with him. This objection was soon
over-ruled, and the old lady, after wrapping them in a rag, carefully
placed a bundle in either pocket of the preacher’s capacious great
coat. Thus equipped, he started for the funeral.
‘While attending to the solemn ceremonies of the grave, some hungry
dogs scented the sausages, and were not long in tracking them to the
pockets of the good man’s over-coat. Of course this was a great
annoyance, and he was several times under the necessity of kicking
these whelps away. The obsequies at the grave completed, the minister
and congregation re-passed to the church, where the funeral discourse
was to be preached.
‘After the sermon was finished, the minister halted to make some
remarks to his congregation, when a brother who wished to have an
appointment given out, ascended the steps of the pulpit, and gave the
minister’s coat a hitch to get his attention. The divine, thinking it
a dog having designs upon his pocket, raised his foot, gave a sudden
kick, and sent the good brother sprawling down the steps!
‘You will excuse me, brethren and sisters,’ said the minister,
confusedly, and without looking at the work he had just done, ‘for I
could not avoid it--I have sausages in my pocket, and that dog has been
trying to grab them ever since I came upon the premises!’[10]
The reader may judge of the effect such an announcement would have
at a funeral. Tears of sorrow were suddenly exchanged for smiles of
merriment.
Mr. Richardson, officer of the Local Board of Health of Newton Heath,
near Manchester, gave the following evidence before Mr. Scholefield’s
Committee on Adulteration, before whom I was also examined as a witness.
‘We have in Newton five knackers’ yards, and there is only one in
Manchester. The reason is, that they have so much toleration in Newton;
and it has been a great source of profit to them, because they have
the means of selling the best portions of the horse-flesh to mix with
the potted meats.
‘I can say for a fact, that the tongues of horses particularly, and the
best portions, such as the hind quarters of horses, are generally sold
to mix with collared brawn, or pigs’ heads, as they are called with us,
and for sausages and polonies. I understand, also, from those who have
been in the habit of making them, that horse-flesh materially assists
the making of sausages; It is a hard fibrin, and it mixes better, and
keeps them hard, and they last longer in the shop window before they
are sold, because otherwise the sausages run to water, and become
soft and pulpy. I believe horse-flesh also materially assists German
sausages; it keeps them hard.’
The instinct of the dog, the cat, and the rat, are so well known that
one anecdote will suffice to illustrate the three. A terrier and a tom
cat were pursuing a large rat down a street. The rat was almost caught,
when it dodged suddenly and ran into a sausage shop. The cat and dog
stopped convulsively at the door; and, looking at the sausages, hung
their heads, and slunk away terror-stricken.
But in other quarters than England, unwholesome and infected meat is
vended, for a year or two ago the editor of the _Madras Athenæum_ thus
wrote:--
‘We question whether since the days of Pelops a more filthy dish was
ever offered to human beings, than those which are daily served up to
the European inhabitants of Madras. With respect to the state of our
market, we have never seen a more disgusting receptacle of all kinds of
abominations than that market presents.
‘A lazar house it seemed, wherein were laid
Numbers of all diseased.’
‘Unfortunate beings in the worst stages of leprosy, naked, and covered
all over with the livid spots of that hideous disease, standing at the
stalls, handling the meat, and talking with the butchers, is a sight
as common as it is horrible. As for the small-pox, that is almost too
abundant to allow of any cases being particularly noticed. It is very
conspicuous on the native, on account of the pustules being white.
The only disease bearing any resemblance to it is the itch. We have
ourselves observed a dirty fellow, with his hands covered all over
with one of these nauseous eruptions, coolly walking down the whole
length of a set of stalls, and clapping those abominable hands, in a
lazy manner, upon every piece of meat within his reach. Faugh! The
very thought smells. When we were last there, the place swarmed with
pariah dogs, the effect of which was to render the stench and filth
accumulated round the stalls perfectly unbearable. We are aware the
subject is a nasty one, but at the risk of spoiling the breakfast of
Brown, Jones, or Robinson, as they take up our damp sheet this morning,
we make the evil conspicuous, and bring it plainly into notice, that
measures may be taken to sink it into oblivion ever after. If one could
jest upon such a subject, one might say, that the market of Madras is
as much the morning lounge of the filthiest wretches in the place, as
the stables of Taylor and Co. are the morning rendezvous of the rank
and fashion, who there do congregate, to look at the Australians and
Arabs ushered to their notice under the winning smile of the worthy
head partner. Is not the thought horrible, too, that the fairer part
of the creation, who should be fed on
‘Sugar and spice
‘And all that’s nice,
are offered such filthy and infected stuff?
‘We should also recommend attention being called to the practice,
which we are afraid prevails, of ‘blowing the meat,’ to give it a
good appearance. This is a cognizable offence, and butchers have, on
occasion, most deservedly received a dozen or two for it; but the
inducement to make their meat look tempting by filling it with breath,
not quite so ‘fragrant as the flower of Amrou,’ is too profitable,
we fear, to be disregarded upon the vague and distant contingency
of a flogging or a fine. If the functionaries who are employed to
superintend the market are insufficient in number, it would surely be
poor economy not to increase them. If they are inattentive and remiss,
discharge them. It would be pennywise, indeed, for a few paltry rupees
a month, to allow a Secretary to Government, or a Member of Council,
whose wisdom and experience have been purchased at an immense cost to
the country, to be poisoned, which at present they are liable to be, by
infected meat.
‘If by calling attention to the subject, some improvement is made, our
object will be attained. We will gladly run the chance of spoiling
a few dinners. Jones of the club, as he takes the cover off one of
Maltby’s best _entrées_, may for once think of the leprous hand that
has handled it; Brown may fancy for once he will catch small-pox from
his beef-steak; Robinson may think of the dog licking the leg of mutton
from which his whack is taken, and all may heartily anathematise the
_Athenæum_ for telling them the truth, but we will cheerfully put up
with their wry faces and abuse, if the necessary reform we advocate be
attained.’
Sam Slick, in his truthful, but satirical vein, alludes to the
disguises of fashionable cookery.--‘Veal’ (he says) ‘to be good, must
look like anything else but veal. You mustn’t know it when you see
it, or it’s vulgar; mutton must be incog, too; beef must have a mask
on; any thin’ that looks solid, take a spoon to; any thin’ that looks
light, cut with a knife; if a thing looks like fish, you take your oath
it is flesh; and if it seems real flesh, it’s only disguised, for it’s
sure to be fish; nothin’ must be nateral--natur is out of fashion here.
This is a manufacturin’ country; everything is done by machinery, and
_that_ that aint, must be made to look like it; and I must say, the
dinner machinery is perfect.’
If horses are eaten, why not donkeys? The animal is more rare, and
hence it would be the greater delicacy. The Greeks ate donkeys, and we
must suppose they had their reasons for it. Has any modern stomach in
Europe been courageous enough, knowingly, to try it?
The flesh of the common ass, though never eaten by us, is esteemed
a delicacy in some countries, particularly in Tartary. The northern
climate, pasturage, and freedom may have some effect on the flesh.
Travellers affirm that dogs’ flesh, which with us is intolerable, is
one of the most savoury meats, when the animal has been kept for some
time in the warm, tropical regions. This cannot, however, apply to the
brutish pariah dogs that infest the streets of Madras, Constantinople,
and other eastern towns.
The Roman peasants found the flesh of the ass palatable, and the
celebrated Mæcenas having tasted it, introduced it to the tables of the
great and rich, but the fashion of eating it lasted no longer than his
life. Galen compares the flesh of the ass to that of the stag. It is
said to be eaten plentifully in the low eating-houses of Paris, under
the denomination of veal. The flesh of the wild ass is eaten by the
Tartars, and is said to be very delicate and good, but when killed in a
tame state, it is hard and unfit for food.
The wild ass, called Koulan by the Persians, is still common in many
parts of Central Asia, from the 48° of North latitude to the confines
of India. The Persians and Tartars hold its flesh in high esteem, and
hunt it in preference to all other descriptions of game. Olearius
assures us, that he saw no fewer than 32 wild asses slain in one day,
by the Shah of Persia and his court, the bodies of which were sent
to the royal kitchens at Ispahan; and we know from Martial, that the
epicures of Rome held the flesh of the Onager, or wild ass, in the same
estimation as we do venison.
Cum tener est _Onager_, solaque lalisio matre
Pascitur; hoc infans, sed breve nomen habet.
[Martial, xiii. 97.]
From a passage in Pliny (lib. viii., c. 44), it would appear, that the
Onager inhabited Africa; and that the most delicate and best flavoured
_lalisiones_, or fat foals, were brought from that continent to the
Roman markets. Leo Africanus repeats the same story of wild asses being
found in Africa, but no traveller has since met with them; and, as far
as we at present know, the species is confined to Asia.
The quaggas (_Asinus Quagga_) are often hunted in Africa by the Dutch
for their skins, of which they make large bags to hold their grain,
and by the Hottentots and other natives, who are very fond of their
flesh.
Lieutenant Moodie (_Ten Years in South Africa_) says, ‘Being one
morning at the house of a neighbouring farmer who had just shot one
of these animals, I requested that he would have a piece of the
flesh cooked for my breakfast. His ‘frow’ expressed some disgust at
my proposal, but ordered a small bit to be grilled, with butter and
pepper. I did not find it at all unpalatable, and certainly it was
better than horse-flesh, to which I had been treated in the hospital at
Bergen-op-Zoom in 1814, when lying wounded there, after the unfortunate
failure of that well-planned attack.’
RUMINANTIA.
The ruminants furnish, as is well known, the largest portion of our
animal food, being consumed by man alike in civilized or unsettled
countries. The domestic animals require little notice at our hands.
There are, however, some whose flesh is eaten in different countries
that are less familiar. Thus the bison and musk-ox of North America,
the reindeer of Greenland and Northern Europe--the various antelopes,
the gnu, the giraffe, and the camel of Africa, and the alpaca tribe
of South America, supply much of the animal food of the people in the
districts where they are common.
The flesh of the camel is dry and hard, but not unpalatable.
Heliogabalus had camels’ flesh and camels’ feet served up at his
banquets. In Barbary, the tongues are salted and smoked for exportation
to Italy and other countries, and they form a very good dish. The
flesh is little esteemed by the Tartars, but they use the hump cut
into slices, which, dissolved in tea, serves the purpose of butter.
The flesh of the Axis deer (_Cervus axis_, or _Axis maculata_) is not
much esteemed in Ceylon, having little fat upon it, and being very dry.
The India samver, or musk deer, is eaten there.
The flesh of the great moose deer or elk, of North America, the carcase
of which weighs 1,000 or 1,200 lbs., is as valuable for food as beef,
but from its immense size, much of the flesh is usually left in the
forest.
It is more relished by the Indians and persons resident in the
fur countries, than that of any other animal, and bears a greater
resemblance in its flavour to beef than to venison. It is said that the
external fat is soft like that of a breast of mutton, and when put into
a bladder is as fine as marrow.
The flesh of the caribboo, a smaller animal, rarely exceeding 400 lbs.,
is less palatable than moose venison. Nor is the flesh of the red or
Virginian deer much better, although the venison dried is very good.
Venison is not ‘meat’ in the parlance of the backwoodsman; that term,
as Sam Slick tells us, is reserved _par excellence_ for pork; and he
is frequently too indolent or too much occupied otherwise, to hunt,
although deer tracks may be seen in every direction around the scene
of his daily rail-splitting operations. He considers it cheaper to buy
venison of the Indians, when there are any Indians in the locality. But
venison has some solid value even in those parts, and if salted and
smoked, would be entitled to a place among the articles of household
thrift.
Of the Arctic quadrupeds, the reindeer (_Cervus tarandus_) is most
valuable, its flesh being juicy, nutritious, and well-flavoured, and
easy of digestion. They abound in Greenland, and are tolerably numerous
in Melville Island.
In Sweden, roast reindeer steaks and game are dressed in a manner
preferable to that which prevails with us. The flesh is first
perforated, and little bits of lard inserted; and, after being baked in
an oven, it is served in a quantity of white sauce.
The flesh of the young giraffe is said to be good eating. The
Hottentots hunt the animal principally on account of its marrow, which,
as a delicacy, they set a high value on.
The Hottentots have a curious mode of cooking their antelope venison,
which renders it, however, exceedingly palatable. After stewing the
meat in a very small quantity of water, they take it out of the pot and
pound it between two stones until reduced to the consistency of pap,
when they mix it with a considerable quantity of sheep’s fat, and then
stew it for a short time longer. This is an excellent way of preparing
dry flesh of any kind.
‘On one occasion’ (says Lieut. Moodie), ‘after I had taken out my share
of this mess, the Hottentots added a larger quantity of fat to it to
please their own palates; and one of them ate so heartily of the greasy
mixture, that he became seriously unwell, but recovered by chewing dry
roots of the sweet-scented flag (_Calamus aromaticus_). This plant is
very much used by the Dutch for stomach complaints, and they generally
cultivate some of it in wet places in their gardens.’
The eland of Africa (_Boselaphus Oreas_) is the largest of the antelope
tribe, its size being indicated by its generic name. The bulls attain
to the height of nineteen hands at the shoulder, and frequently exceed
1,000 lbs. in weight. It fattens readily on the most meagre herbage of
the desert, and to the delicious, tender, juicy, and wholesome nature
of its flesh every hunter will bear witness, who has regaled himself
on the steaks broiled in the homely style of South African cookery,
with some of the usual condiments or spices to give them an unnatural
relish. The flesh has a peculiar sweetness, and is tender and fit for
use the moment the animal is killed.
It is hunted with avidity, on account of the delicacy of its flesh, but
is very rarely found within the limits of the Cape Colony, having been
driven beyond the Orange River by the progress of colonization.
The hartebeest, an antelope of the size of the Scotch red deer, though
now rather rare, is much prized by the African sportsman. It is also
called caama by the Dutch farmers, and is a favourite object of pursuit
with both natives and colonists. The flesh is rather dry, but of a fine
grain, more nearly resembling the beef of the ox than that of any other
antelope, except, perhaps, the so-called eland or elk of the colonists
(_A. oreas_, Pallas), and it has a high game flavour which makes it
universally esteemed.
The meat of the sassaby (_A. lunata_, Burchell), a rare species, is
tender and well tasted. The flesh of the ourebi of Southern Africa (_A.
scoparia_, Schreber), though dry and destitute of fat, is esteemed one
of the best venisons of the country.
The flesh of the bosh-bok, or bush goat, as its colonial name
implies (_A. sylvatica_, Sparrman), makes good venison, that of the
breast being particularly esteemed. The flesh of the rheebok (_A.
capreolus_, Lichstenstein) is dry and insipid, and relished less than
that of any other of the numerous Cape antelopes. The bush antelope
(_A. silvicultrix_, Afzelius) affords excellent venison, and is much
sought after on that account. The flesh of the ahu (_A. subgutturosa_,
Guldenstaedt) is excellent, and of an agreeable taste. That of the gnu
of South Africa is in great repute both among the natives and Dutch
settlers. Though the meat has a wildish flavour, it is more juicy than
that of most of the antelope tribe, and very much like beef.
The flesh of the alpaca and guanaco is sold in the public shambles of
Peru, Chili, &c.
Sheep’s milk is a common beverage in Toorkistan, where the sheep are
milked regularly three times a day. Goats are very scarce; cows not to
be seen; but the sheep’s milk affords nourishment in various forms, of
which the most common is a kind of sour cheese, being little better
than curdled milk and salt.
If we think ox tails a delicacy, Australians (as we have seen) like
kangaroo tails, and the Cape colonists have fat sheep’s tails requiring
a barrow or a cart on which to support them. The broad fat tail, which
often composes one-third of the weight of the animal, is entirely
composed of a substance betwixt marrow and fat, which serves very often
for culinary purposes instead of butter; and being cut into small
pieces, makes an ingredient in various dishes.
The dried flesh of the argali, or wild sheep, is in Kamtschatka an
article of commerce.
The domestic goat’s flesh is not in much favour anywhere, although that
of a young kid, three or four months old, is very tender and delicate.
Some of the goats are eaten in the Cape Colony, but the flesh is
generally lean and tough. The Malabar goat is a delicate animal, that
browzes on the rocks. It is more sought after than any game in Ceylon,
for, contrary to the general nature of the goat, its flesh is tender
and excellent when broiled.
Bison beef, especially that of the female, is rather coarser grained
than that of the domestic ox, but is considered by hunters and
travellers as superior in tenderness and flavour. The hump, which
is highly celebrated for its richness and delicacy, is said, when
properly cooked, to resemble marrow. The flesh of the buffalo, as it is
misnamed, is the principal, sometimes the only, food of numerous tribes
of North American Indians. It is eaten fresh on the prairies during the
hunt, and dried in their winter villages.
The musk-ox (_Ovibos moschatus_) is of much importance from its size
and palatable rich meat. It has occasionally furnished a rich meal to
arctic explorers. When they are fat, the flesh is well flavoured, but
smells strongly of musk.
CETACEA.
The flesh of the manatus is white and delicate, and tastes like young
pork eaten fresh or salted, while the fat forms excellent lard. The
cured flesh keeps long without corruption, and it will continue good
several weeks, even in the hot climate of which it is a native, when
other meat would not resist putrefaction for as many days. The fibres
and the lean part of the flesh are like beef, but more red; it takes a
very long time boiling. The fat of the young one is like pork, and can
scarcely be distinguished from it, while the lean eats like veal. The
fat, which lies between the entrails and skin has a pleasant smell, and
tastes like the oil of sweet almonds. It makes an admirable substitute
for butter, and does not turn rancid in the sun. The fat of the tail
is of a firmer consistence, and when boiled is more delicate than the
other.
Manatees, or sea calves, are found in certain parts of British Honduras
in great numbers. They are, according to my friend, Chief Justice
Temple, frequently caught and brought to the market of Belize, where
they are snapped up with the greatest avidity. He states the flesh
to be white and delicate, something between pork and veal. The tail,
which is very fat, is most esteemed. This caudal luxury is generally
soused or pickled. I do not, myself, fancy the flesh of this brute,
for it is so inhumanly human--it reminds one so much of a mermaid, or
of one of the fifty daughters of Nereus, that to eat it seems to me to
be an approximation to cannibalism. It appears horrible to chew and
swallow the flesh of an animal which holds its young (it has never
more than one at a litter) to its breast, which is formed exactly like
that of a woman, with paws resembling human hands. But these notions
would be considered highly fantastic by those who masticate a monkey
with the greatest relish, partake with gusto of rattlesnake soup, and
voraciously devour an alligator stew. The manatus is commonly found in
shallow water, at the mouths of rivers, where it feeds upon the marine
herbage which there grows in great luxuriance. It has no teeth, but two
thick, smooth, hard, unserrated bones run from one side of the mouth to
the other. I am inclined to think that these bones might be used as a
substitute for ivory.[11]
Mr. P. H. Gosse, in his interesting little manual on the _Natural
History of the Mammalia_, remarks:--
‘From personal experience we can confirm Hernandez’s statement of the
excellence of the flesh of the manatee; he truly compares it to well
fatted pork, of pleasant flavour. The pursuit of it, on this account,
has rendered it scarce in many localities, where it was formerly
numerous; in the vicinity of Cayenne, it was at one time so common,
that a large boat might be filled with them in a day, and the flesh
was sold at 3_d._ per pound. About the middle of the last century it
fetched, at Port Royal in Jamaica, 15_d._ currency per pound.’
The tongue of the sea-lion (_Phoca jubata_) is very good eating, and
some seamen prefer it to that of an ox or calf. Thus Dr. Pernetty
(_Voyage to the Falkland Islands_) says,--‘For a trial we cut off the
tip of the tongue hanging out of the mouth of one of these lions which
was just killed. About sixteen or eighteen of us ate each a pretty
large piece, and we all thought it so good that we regretted we could
not eat more of it.
‘It is said that their flesh is not absolutely disagreeable. I have not
tasted it, but the oil which is extracted from their grease is of great
use. This oil is extracted in two ways; either by cutting the fat in
pieces and melting it in large caldrons upon the fire, or by cutting
it in the same manner upon hurdles or pieces of board, and exposing
them to the sun, or only to the air. This grease dissolves of itself
and runs into vessels placed underneath to receive it. Some of our
seamen pretended that this last sort of oil, when it is fresh, is very
good for kitchen uses. It is preferred to that of the whale; is always
clear, and leaves no sediment.’
Walrus meat is strong, coarse, and of a game-like flavour. Seal flesh
is exceedingly oily, and not very palatable; but by practice, residents
in the northern regions learn to relish both exceedingly.
The large tongue, the heart, and liver of the walrus (_Trichecus
rosmarus_), are often eaten by whalers for want of better fresh
provisions, and are passably good.
Commodore Anson’s party killed many sea-lions for food, using,
particularly, the hearts and tongues, which they thought excellent
eating, and preferable even to those of bullocks. The flesh of the
female sea-bear (_Phoca ursina_, Lin.) they found very delicate,
having the taste of lamb; while that of the cub could scarcely be
distinguished from roasted pig.
Sir Edward Parry was once asked, at a dinner where Lord Erskine was
present, what he and his crew had lived upon when they were frozen
in in the Polar Seas. Parry said they lived upon seals. ‘A very good
living, too,’ exclaimed the Chancellor, ‘if you keep them long enough.’
One of the ordinary acts of hospitality and civility on the part of the
Esquimaux ladies, is to take a bird, or piece of seal-flesh, chew it up
very nicely, and hand it to the visitor, who is expected to be overcome
with gratitude, and finish the operation of chewing and digesting the
delicate morsel.
The carcase and blubber of the whale at Bahia, in Brazil, are reduced
to food by the poor.
To most of the rude littoral tribes of Northern Asia and America, the
whale and seal furnish, not only food and clothing, but many other
useful materials. The Esquimaux will eat the raw flesh of the whale
with the same apparent relish, when newly killed, or after it has been
buried in the ground for several months.
The whales on the coasts of Japan not only afford oil in great
abundance, but their flesh, which is there considered very wholesome
and nutritious, is largely consumed. No part of them, indeed, is thrown
away; all is made available to some useful purpose or another. The
skin, which is generally black, the flesh, which is red and looks like
coarse beef, the intestines and all the inward parts, besides the fat
or blubber, which is boiled into oil, and the bone, which is converted
into innumerable uses,--all is made available to purposes of profit.
Both sperm and black whales abound on the coast of Western Australia.
Sometimes a dead whale is thrown on the shore, and affords luxurious
living to the natives. They do not, however, eat the shark.
The natives of New Zealand, when short of food, will not scruple to eat
the flesh of the whale, when caught in their vicinity.
The deep has many food dainties as well as the land, as we shall
shortly have to notice, and among these is the porpoise, which the
reader may probably have seen dashing up our rivers, or, during a long
voyage, disporting itself amid the briny waves, and rolling gracefully
near the sides of the ship. This sea pig sometimes serves for a feast.
When caught, it is cut into steaks, dried, and put into the ship’s
coppers, with a _quantum suf._ of spices and condiments which nearly
overpower the oily taste. The steaks turn blackish on being exposed
to the air, but this is ‘a matter of nothing’ to those whose daily
diet is usually limited to hard biscuits and salt junk. Landsmen may
question the niceness of the palate which partakes of this dainty, but
the old adage holds true everywhere, ‘de gustibus non disputandum.’
There is no disputing about tastes.
According to ancient records, salted porpoises were formerly used for
food in this country.
In the olden times, when glass windows were considered an effeminate
luxury, and rushes supplied the place of carpets, the flesh of the
porpoise constituted one of the standard delicacies of a public feast.
It was occasionally served up at the tables of the old English nobility
as a sumptuous article of food, and eaten with a sauce composed of
sugar, vinegar, and crumbs of fine bread. But tastes have altered, and
even sailors will scarcely touch the flesh now. M. de Bouganville,
in his voyage to the Falkland Islands, writes--‘We had some of the
porpoise served up at dinner the day it was taken, which several others
at the table besides myself thought by no means so ill-tasted as it is
generally said to be.’
Porpoises are rather dangerous enemies to the shoals of fish. A
porpoise, before taking in a barrel of herrings for its dinner, will
often whet its appetite with a cod’s head and shoulders, leaving the
tail part for some poor fisherman.
BIRDS.
Leaving now our passing survey of the food supplies derived from
animals, we come next to birds, and, in the first order, we do not find
that any are eaten, at least, as far as my knowledge extends; indeed,
these carnivorous birds, from their habits and their food, would not be
very tempting. This, however, as we have seen in the case of predatory
animals, is no safe criterion to judge from. Probably, the man who
would feast on the flesh of a lion, or a polecat, would have a stomach
strong enough to digest slices of a John Crow carrion vulture, an
eagle, or a hawk.
In the order of INSESSORES, or perching birds, I may mention first--
The becafico, or fig-eater (_Sylvia hortensis_), a bird about the size
of a linnet, which is highly prized by the Italians for the delicacy of
its flesh, particularly in autumn, when it is in excellent condition
for the table.
There is a curious food product obtained, (not exactly, however, from
the bird,) which is in high repute in China; and that is the edible
nest of a species of swallow extensively obtained in some of the
islands of the Eastern Archipelago.
These nests are attached to the sides of rocks like those of our martin
and swallow to walls, and look like so many watch-pockets. The eggs are
white, with a slight pinkish tinge, and are generally two in number.
The nests are either white, red, or black, and the natives maintain
that these are built by three distinct species, with a white, red, and
black breast, but this is erroneous. The Malays assert frequently,
moreover, that the nests are formed from the bodies of certain sea
snakes, but the food is, without doubt, insects. The subjoined accounts
furnish the most detailed information known respecting the collection
and trade in these birdsnests.
The following description of the birdsnests’ rocks, in the district of
Karang Bollong, on the southerly sea-coast of Java, is given in the
first volume of the _Journal of the Indian Archipelago_, published at
Singapore.
‘The gathering of these nests takes place three times a year--in
the end of April, the middle of August, and in December. The yearly
produce is commonly between 50 and 60 piculs of 133⅓ lbs. The business
of collection is opened with great ceremony by the natives. By the
assistance of ladders and stages made of rattan, the collectors descend
the rocks and cliffs, provided with the requisite bags to contain the
nests, which are taken from the wall by the hand, and those which are
on the roof by an iron hook made fast to a long bamboo. The birds feed
upon different kinds of bloodless insects, hovering above the stagnant
waters, for which their wide open beak is very useful. They form their
nests by vomiting the strongest and best fragments of the food which
they have eaten. The nests are weighed and packed in hampers (of 25
catties each), and labelled with the net weight, mark of the overseer,
&c., and then further preserved and secured with strips of bark,
leaves, and matting.
‘The edible birdsnests, which owe their celebrity only to the whimsical
luxury of the Chinese, are brought principally from Java and Sumatra,
though they are found on most of the rocky islets of the Indian
Archipelago. The nest is the habitation of a small swallow, named
(from the circumstance of having an edible house) _Hirundo esculenta_.
They are composed of a mucilaginous substance, but as yet they have
never been analyzed with sufficient accuracy to show the constituents.
Externally, they resemble ill-concocted, fibrous isinglass, and are
of a white colour, inclining to red. Their thickness is little more
than that of a silver spoon, and the weight from a quarter to half an
ounce. When dry they are brittle and wrinkled; the size is nearly that
of a goose’s egg. Those that are dry, white, and clean, are the most
valuable. They are packed in bundles, with split rattans run through
them to preserve the shape. Those procured after the young are fledged,
are not saleable in China. The quality of the nest varies according
to the situation and extent of the caves, and the time at which they
are taken. If procured before the young are fledged, the nests are of
the best kind; if they contain eggs only, they are still valuable;
but if the young are in the nests, or have left them, the whole are
then nearly worthless, being dark-coloured, streaked with blood, and
intermixed with feathers and dirt. These nests are procurable twice
every year; the best are found in deep, damp caves, which, if not
injured, will continue to produce indefinitely. It was once thought
that the caves near the sea-coast were the most productive; but some of
the most profitable yet found are situated 50 miles in the interior.
This fact seems to be against the opinion that the nests are composed
of the spawn of fish, or of _bêche-de-mer_. The method of procuring
these nests is not unattended with danger. Some of the caves are
so precipitous, that no one but those accustomed to the employment
from their youth can obtain the nests, being only approachable by
a perpendicular descent of many hundred feet, by ladders of bamboo
and rattan, over a sea rolling violently against the rocks. When the
mouth of the cave is attained, the perilous task of taking the nests
must often be performed by torchlight, by penetrating into recesses
of the rock; where the slightest slip would be instantly fatal to
the adventurers, who see nothing below them but the turbulent surf,
making its way into the chasms of the rock--such is the price paid to
gratify luxury. After the nests are obtained, they are separated from
feathers and dirt, are carefully dried and packed, and are then fit
for the market. The Chinese, who are the only people that purchase
them for their own use, bring them in junks to this market, where they
command extravagant prices; the best, or _white_ kind, often being
worth four thousand dollars per picul (a Chinese weight, equal to 133⅓
lbs. avoirdupois), which is nearly twice their weight in silver. The
middling kind is worth from twelve to eighteen hundred, and the worst,
or those procured after fledging, one hundred and fifty to two hundred
dollars per picul. The majority of the best kind are sent to Pekin,
for the use of the court. It appears, therefore, that this curious
dish is only an article of expensive luxury amongst the Chinese; the
Japanese do not use it at all, and how the former people acquired the
habit of indulging in it, is only less singular than their persevering
in it. They consider the edible birdsnest as a great stimulant, tonic,
and aphrodisiac, but its best quality, perhaps, is its being perfectly
harmless. The labour bestowed to render it fit for the table is
enormous; every feather, stick, or impurity of any kind is carefully
removed; and then, after undergoing many washings and preparations,
it is made into a soft, delicious jelly. The sale of birdsnests is a
monopoly with all the governments in whose dominions they are found.
About two hundred and fifty thousand piculs, of the value of one
million four hundred thousand dollars, are annually brought to Canton.
These come from the islands of Java, Sumatra, Macassar, and those of
the Sooloo group. Java alone sends about thirty thousand pounds, mostly
of the first quality, estimated at seventy thousand dollars.’[12]
Mr. J. H. Moor, in his notices of the _Indian Archipelago_, published
at Singapore some years ago, states, that ‘one of the principal and
most valuable articles of exportation is the edible birdsnests, white
and black. These are found in much greater abundance in and about the
Coti, more than any other part of Borneo, or from what we at present
know on the subject, all parts put together. On the western coast they
are scarcely known to exist; about Banjermassin and Bagottan there
are none; at Bataliching and Passier they are found in considerable
quantities. At Browe there is abundance of the black kind of a very
superior quality, but little of the white. At Seboo, and all the parts
to the north of Borneo, we know there is none, as I have seen many
letters from different Rajahs of those countries averring the fact,
and begging the Sultan of Coti to exchange his edible nests for their
most valuable commodities, and at his own price. Nor ought this to
create surprise, when we consider, not only the large consumption of
this article by the Cambojans, who almost exclusively inhabit some of
the largest Sooloo Islands, and the northern parts of Borneo, but the
amazing demand on the whole coast of Cambodia, particularly of Cochin
China, the principal inhabitants of which countries are as partial
to this luxury as their more northern neighbours--the Chinese. There
are in Coti and adjacent Dyak countries perhaps eighty known places,
or what the natives term holes, which produce the white nests. I have
seen the names of forty-three. There can, however, be no doubt there
are many more likewise known to the Dyaks, who keep the knowledge to
themselves, lest the Bugis should dispossess them, which they know from
experience is invariably the case.
‘According to the accounts of the Sultan, rendered by Saib Abdulla,
the bandarree in 1834 yielded 134 piculs. The usual price in money
to the Coti traders is 23 reals per catty from the Dyaks, and 25 in
barter. The black nests may be procured in great abundance. The best
kinds come from Cinculeram and Baley Papang. The latter mountain alone
yields 230 piculs (of 113⅓ lbs.). Cinculeram gives nearly as much.
There are several other parts of Coti which produce them, besides the
quantity brought down by the Dyaks. Last year, 130 piculs paid duty to
the Sultan; these left the large Coti river. Those from Cinculeram and
Bongan were taken to Browe and Seboo. The bandarree’s book averages
the annual weight of those collected in the lower part of Coti at 820
piculs (about 1,025 cwts.)
‘The Pangeran Sierpa and the Sultan say they could collect 2,700 piculs
of black nests, if the bandarree and capella-campong would behave
honestly. The Sultan, however, seldom gets any account of what is sent
to Browe, Seboo, and the Sooloo Islands, the quality of which is far
superior to any sent to European ports.’
The exports of birdsnests from Java, between 1823 and 1832, averaged
about 250 piculs a year; in 1832, 322 piculs; but of late years the
exports have not averaged half that amount; and in 1853 and 1854 there
were only about 35 or 40 piculs shipped.
In the third order, SCANSORES, there are very few edible birds.
In the mountain of Tumeriquiri, in the government of Cumana, is the
immense cavern of Guacharo, famous among the Indians. It serves as a
habitation for millions of nocturnal birds (_Steatornis caripensis_, a
new species of the _Caprimulgis_, of Linnæus), whose fat yields the oil
of Guacharo.
Once a year, near midsummer, this cavern is entered by the Indians.
Armed with poles, they ransack the greater part of the nests, while the
old birds hover over the heads of the robbers as if to defend their
brood, uttering horrible cries. The young which fall down are opened
on the spot. The peritoneum is found loaded with fat, and a layer of
the same substance reaches from the abdomen to the vent, forming a kind
of cushion between the hind legs. Humboldt remarks that this quantity
of fat in frugivorous animals, not exposed to the light, and exerting
but little muscular motion, brings to mind what has been long observed
in the fattening of geese and oxen. ‘It is well known,’ he adds, ‘how
favourable darkness and repose are to this process.’
At the period above mentioned, which is generally known at Carissa by
the designation of ‘the oil harvest,’ huts are built by the Indians,
with palm leaves, near the entrance and even in the very porch of the
cavern. There the fat of the young birds just killed is melted in clay
pots, over a brushwood fire, and this fat is named butter or oil of the
Guacharo. It is half liquid, transparent, inodorous, and so pure that
it will keep above a year without turning rancid.[13]
There is a curious bird met with in caves in the West India Islands--as
at Dominica, and the gulf of Paria, the diablotin or goat-sucker,
which, if eaten when taken from the nest, is pronounced by epicures
unrivalled; and the flesh is also considered a delicacy when salted.
It has received its popular cognomen from its ugliness, but I have not
been able to trace its scientific name.
The bird is nearly the size of a duck, and web-footed, with a big
round head and crooked bill like a hawk, and large full eyes like an
owl; the head, part of the neck, and chief feathers of the wing and
tail, are black, while the other parts of its body are covered with a
fine milk-white down; the whole appearance being very singular. The
diablotin only leaves its haunts at night time, flying with hideous
screams like the owl, which it resembles in its dislike to day-light.
The nests are made in holes in the mountains. When the palms are in
fruit, the bird becomes one lump of fat. The hideous appearance of the
bird and the strong scent once got over, it is said to be a delicious
morsel.
We have our delicate tit-bits in spitted larks, and as many as four
thousand dozen have been known to be taken in the neighbourhood of
Dunstable between September and February. What the number sold in our
metropolitan markets is annually, it is impossible to say. But larks
are taken in much larger numbers in Germany, where there is an excise
upon them, which has yielded as much as £1,000 a year in Leipsic--the
larks of which place are famous all over Germany as being of a most
delicate flavour.
In the Italian markets, besides carrion crows, strings of thrushes,
larks, and even robin redbreasts are sold.
Young rooks, when skinned and made into pies are much esteemed by some
persons, but they are very coarse eating.
One of the most delicious birds is the rice-bunting of South Carolina
(_Dolichonyx oryzivorus_).
The rice-bunting migrates over the continent of America, from Labrador
to Mexico, and over the great Antilles, appearing in the southern
extremity of the United States about the end of March. Towards the
middle and close of August, they enter New York, and Pennsylvania
on their way to the south. There, along the shores of the large
rivers lined with floating fields of wild rice, they find abundant
subsistence, grow fat, and their flesh becomes little inferior in
flavour to that of the European ortolan, on which account the reed, or
rice birds, as they are then called, are shot in great numbers. When
the cool nights in October commence, they move still farther south,
till they reach the islands of Jamaica and Cuba in prodigious numbers
to feed on the seeds of the guinea grass. Epicures compare the plump
and juicy flesh of this delicacy to the ortolan.
On the shores of the Mediterranean there are feathered delicacies in
the shape of the quail and the ortolan. Thousands of ortolans used
to be shipped from the island of Cyprus, packed in casks of 300 or
400, prepared with spice and vinegar. When specially fattened for
the table, they are regarded as most delicious; but, being merely
lumps of fat, are so rich as soon to satiate the appetite of even a
professed gourmand. In the West India Islands and the Southern States
of America, the rice-bunting, as we have seen, takes its place, and is,
occasionally, found in prodigious numbers, and greatly esteemed.
The bluish flesh of the toucan, notwithstanding its enormous and
unsightly beak, is a wholesome and delicate meat; and there are no
birds that give the Trinidad epicure a more delicious morsel. It is
one of the most omnivorous of birds, and its powers of digestion and
impunity to poisons are remarkable.
Parrot pie is said to be pretty good; at least, it may be so when other
animal food is scarce.
Among the GALLINACEOUS fowls, large numbers contribute to the food
delicacies of man. Some, like the turkey, peacock, &c., of considerable
size; others, as the pigeon tribe, form smaller tit-bits.
The game birds, the pheasant, partridge, grouse, &c., and the quail,
guinea fowl, and jungle fowl, are bagged whenever they can be obtained
by the sportsman.
The peacock enkakyll ‘was one of the famous dishes at the costly royal
banquets of old, and the receipt for dressing it is thus given:--
‘Take and flay off the skin with the feathers, tail, and the neck and
head thereon; then take the skin and all the feathers and lay it on the
table abroad, and strew thereon ground cumin; then take the peacock
and roast him, and baste him with raw yolks of eggs; and when he is
roasted, take him off and let him cool awhile, then take him and sew
him in his skin, and gild his comb, and so serve him forth with the
last course.’
As far as my own experience goes, with all the basting and sauces, the
peacock is, at best, a dry and tough eating bird.
The domestic fowls and the tame turkey require no notice here, there
being nothing curious about them, however delicate eating they may be
when properly fattened and brought to table; but there is a species
of wild turkey found in New Granada, weighing from 12 to 16 lbs., and
called the iowanen, which is described by Mr. W. Purdie of Trinidad as
the most delicate article of food he ever tasted.
Dear as fowls, ducks, and eggs comparatively are, they meet, as every
one knows, with a ready sale. When we find our imports of eggs,
chiefly from France, amount to about 130,000,000 a year, besides our
nominal ‘new laid,’ or home produce,--when we learn that the foreign
poultry we receive (mixed up with not a few Ostend rabbits) is valued
at 39,000_l._, and that Ireland supplies us with about 150,000,000 of
eggs, we begin to perceive that fowls, ducks, geese, and turkeys must
be a profitable investment to some persons, and the capital of about
4,000,000_l._ we lay out on these various products serves to gladden
the heart of many a poultry breeder.
There are sent to market about nine or ten million head of poultry in
a year to supply the whole population of the United Kingdom, shipping
and all, which is not more than one-third of a fowl to each person
annually. Now, were every one to have a fowl as part food once a month,
it would require 330,000,000 more fowls or other poultry than are at
present sold.
I copy the following from what I believe to be the first fixed tariff
of provisions, in the City of London, about the second year of Edward
I. (1272.) The people had at that time great cause to complain of the
exorbitant prices demanded of them for provisions, by hucksters and
dealers, and a fixed price was found necessary by the Mayor:--
The best hen three half-pence
Pullet three half-pence
Capon two pence
Goose five pence
Wild goose four pence
Pigeons, three for one penny
Mallard, three for a half-penny
Plover one penny
Partridge three half-pence
Larks, per dozen one penny half-penny
Pheasant four pence
Heron six pence
Swan three shillings
Crane three shillings, and by
a subsequent Act one shilling
The best peacock one penny
The best coney, with skin four pence
Ditto, without skin three pence
The best hare, with skin three pence half-penny
The best lamb, from
Christmas to Lent six pence
At other times of the year four pence.
In the time of Edward II., 1313, eggs were 20 a penny, and pigeons sold
at three for a penny.
It is curious, even to notice the London prices of poultry, two or
three centuries ago, although regard must of course be had to the
difference in the value of money now and then.
Sir James Hawes, during his mayoralty, in the year 1575, fixed the
following prices within the City of London:--
_s._ _d._
Blackbirds, per dozen 0 10
The best capon, large and fat 1 8
Ditto, second best, being fat 1 4
The best green goose, until Whitsuntide 0 8
Ditto ditto, after Whitsuntide 0 10
Ditto, in winter, being fat 1 2
Pigeons, per dozen 1 4
Chickens, the largest, each 0 4
Ditto, second sort 0 3
The best coney rabbit, from and after the
summer 0 5
Eggs, four 0 1
Cygnets, fat until Allhalloweentide, each 6 0
Ditto, from then to Shrovetide 7 0
Cranes, the best, each 6 0
The best heron, pheasant, shoveller (duck),
and bittern, each 2 6
Turkey-cock, fat and large 3 0
Turkey chicken, fat and large 1 4
Woodcocks, each 0 6
Snipes, each 0 2½
Hens, being fat and the best, each 0 9
Ditto, second sort 0 7
Green plovers, fat 0 4
The best wild mallard 0 6
Teals, each 0 3
At a feast given at Ely House, by the serjeants-at-law, November, 1531,
(23rd of Henry VIII.) on the occasion of making eleven new serjeants,
open house was kept for five successive days. On the fourth day, King
Henry, his Queen, the Foreign Ambassadors, the Judges, and Lord Mayor
and Aldermen, were feasted, as also numerous guests, knights, and
gentlemen. Stow particularizes the following articles and prices, in
order to furnish _data_ for computing the relative value of money at
different periods:--
_s._ _d._
Great beeves, from the shambles (twenty-four) each 26 8
One carcase of an ox 24 0
Fat muttons (one hundred), each 2 10
Great veals (fifty-one), each 4 8
Porks (thirty-four), each 3 8
Pigs (ninety-one), each 0 6
Capons of Greece (of one poulterer, for they
had three) ten dozen, each capon 1 8
Capons of Kent (nine dozen and six), each 1 0
Capons, coarse (nineteen dozen), each 1 0
Cocks of grouse (seven dozen and nine), each cock 0 8
Cocks, coarse (fourteen dozen and eight) 0 3
Pullets, the best, each 0 2½
Other pullets, each 0 2
Pigeons (thirty-seven dozen), at per dozen 0 10
Swans (twenty-four dozen) no price
Larks (340 dozen), per dozen 0 6
The consumption of liquids, pastry, and _trifles_, can easily be
guessed at.
Here is an ancient receipt for making a Christmas game pie, found in
the books of the Salter’s Company, which is presumed to have often
furnished an annual treat to the members in the olden times; and when
made after this receipt, by the Company’s cook in modern days, has been
found to be excellent.
‘For to make a mooste choyce paaste of Gamys to be etin at ye Feste of
Chrystemasse.
‘(17th Richard II., A.D. 1394.)
‘Take Fesaunt, Haare, and Chykenne, or Capounne, of eche oone; wᵗ.
ij. Partruchis, ij. Pygeounes, and ij. Conynggys; and smyte hem on
peces and pyke clene awaye p’fro (_therefrom_) alle pᵉ (_the_) boonys
pᵗ (_that_) ye maye, and p’wt (_therewith_) do hem ynto a Foyle
(_a shield or case_) of gode paste, made craftily ynne pᵉ lykenes
of a byrde’s bodye, wᵗ pᵉ lyuours and hertys, ij. kydneis of shepe
and farcys (_seasonings or forced meats_) and eyren (_eggs_) made
ynto balles. Caste p’to (_thereto_) poudre of pepyr, salte, spyce,
eysell,[14] and funges (_mushrooms_) pykled; and panne (_then_) take
pᵉ boonys and let hem seethe ynne a pot to make a gode brothe p’ for
(_for it_) and do yᵗ ynto pᵉ foyle of paste and close hit uppe faste,
and bake yᵗ wel, and so s’ue (_serve_) yᵗ forthe: wt pᵉ hede of oone
of pᵉ byrdes, stucke at pᵉ oone ende of pᵉ foyle, and a grete tayle
at pᵉ op’ and dyvers of hys longe fedyrs sette ynne connynglye alle
aboute hym.’
Marrow bones seem to have been in favour at an early date. 2,000
marrow bones were among the requisites for the Goldsmiths’ Company’s
feast, on St. Dunstan’s day, 1449.
In the reign of Edward VI., 1548, a time of plague and scarcity, the
king thought it prudent to fix the price of cattle, &c., sold in the
several seasons of the year:--
£ _s._ _d._
The best fat ox, from Midsummer to
Michaelmas, at 2 5 0
One of inferior sort 1 8 0
The best fat ox, from Hallowmas to
Christmas 2 6 8
One of inferior sort 1 19 8
The best fat ox, from Christmas to
Shrovetide 2 8 4
One of inferior sort 2 6 8
The best fat wether, from shearing time
to Michaelmas 0 4 0
One of ditto, _shorn_ 0 3 0
The best fat ewe 0 2 6
One ditto, shorn 0 2 0
The best fat wether, from Michaelmas
to Shrovetide 0 4 4
One ditto, _shorn_ 0 3 0
Essex barrelled butter, per pound 0 0 0¾
All sorts of other barrelled butter, per
pound 0 0 0½
Essex cheese, per pound 0 0 0¾
All other sorts 0 0 0½
We are not quite such prodigious devourers of eggs as our French
neighbours, having a greater amount of meat or solid animal food to
fall back upon, and fewer fast days. Another reason is, that we cannot,
like the French, get them so fresh and cheap; but as an alimentary
substance, eggs are always in demand at a ratio proportionate to the
prices at which they can be obtained. In Paris the consumption of eggs
is at least 175 per annum to every head of the population; in the
departments it is more than double that amount; eggs entering into
almost every article of food, and butchers’ meat being scarce and dear.
If we only use, in London, half the number of eggs the Parisians do,
there must be a sale of about 173 millions a year; and the consumption
throughout the kingdom would be fully 2,000 millions. Although smaller
in size, and not equal to a new-laid egg, the French eggs arrive in
pretty good condition, and, if sold off quickly, are well adapted
for ordinary culinary purposes. Few are wasted, for even when not
very fresh, they are sold for frying fish, and to the lower class of
confectioners for pastry. Fried eggs, boiled eggs chopped up with
salad, egg sauce for fish, &c., eggs for puddings, for omelets, and
pancakes, all contribute to the sale. Omelets, sweet or flavoured with
herbs, are much less patronized in this country than they are in France.
The sixty wholesale egg merchants and salesmen in the metropolis,
whose itinerant carts are kept constantly occupied in distributing
their brittle ware, might probably enlighten us as to the extent and
increasing character of the trade, and the remunerative nature of the
profits. Railways and steamers bring up large crates, and carefully
packed boxes of eggs, for the ravenous maws of young and old, who
fatten on this dainty and easily digested food. The various city
markets dispose of two millions of fowls, one million of game birds,
half a million of ducks, and about one hundred and fifty thousand
turkeys, every year. But even if we doubled this supply, what would
it be among the three million souls of the great metropolis requiring
daily food.
Ireland and the continent contribute largely to our supply of poultry
and eggs. Immense pens of poultry, purchased in the Irish market, are
shipped by the steamers to Glasgow and Liverpool. Commerce owes much
to the influence of steam, but agriculture is no less indebted to the
same power. Taking everything into account, and examining all the
advantages derived by cheap and rapid transit, the manufacturer of food
is quite as much indebted to the steam-ship and the locomotive as the
manufacturer of clothing.
There is no difficulty whatever in testing eggs; they are mostly
examined by a candle. Another way to tell good eggs is to put them in
a pail of water, and if they are good they will _lie on their sides_,
always; if bad, they will stand on their small ends, the large ends
always uppermost, unless they have been shaken considerably, when they
will stand either end up. Therefore, a bad egg can be told by the way
it rests in water--always end up, never on its side. Any egg that lies
flat is good to eat, and can be depended upon.
An ordinary mode is to take them into a room moderately dark and hold
them between the eye and a candle or lamp. If the egg be good--that is,
if the albumen is still unaffected--the light will shine through with a
reddish glow; while, if affected, it will be opaque, or dark.
In Fulton and Washington market, New York, a man may be seen testing
eggs at almost any time of the year. He has a tallow candle placed
under a counter or desk, and taking up the eggs, three in each hand,
passes them rapidly before the candle, and deposits them in another
box. His practised eye quickly perceives the least want of clearness
in the eggs, and suspicious ones are re-examined and thrown away, or
passed into a ‘doubtful’ box. The process is so rapid that eggs are
inspected perfectly at the rate of 100 to 200 per minute, or as fast as
they can be shifted from one box to another, six at a time.
The preservation of eggs for use on ship board has always occupied a
large share of attention. They have been usually smeared with oil or
grease, and packed in bran or sawdust. A plan recommended by M. Appert
for preserving eggs is to put them in a jar with bran, to prevent
their breaking; cork and hermetically seal the jar; and put it into a
vessel of water, heated to 200 degrees Fahrenheit, or 12 degrees below
boiling. The vessel with water being taken from the fire, the water
must cool till the finger may be borne in it; then remove the jar. The
eggs may then be taken out, and will keep for six months.
Salted ducks’ eggs are an article in great demand in some parts of the
East, for transport by the trading junks. The Malays salt them as they
do their meat; but the Chinese mix a red unctuous earth with the brine,
which no doubt stops the pores of the shell, and preserves them better.
They are put into this mixture at night, and taken out during the day
to be dried in the sun, which is, in fact, a half roasting process in a
tropical climate.
Pickled eggs, while they constitute a somewhat novel feature in the
catalogue of condiments, are at the same time particularly relishing.
When eggs are plentiful, farmers’ wives, in some localities, take
four to six dozen of such as are newly laid, and boil them hard;
then, divesting them of the shells, they place them in large-mouthed
earthen jars, and pour upon them scalded vinegar, well seasoned with
whole pepper, allspice, ginger, and a few cloves of garlic. When this
pickle is cold, the jars are closed, and the eggs are fit for use in a
month afterwards. Eggs thus treated are held in high esteem by all the
farm-house epicures.
Fowls’ eggs, variously coloured, and having flowers and other matters
upon them, formed by the colouring matter being picked off so as
to expose the white shell of the egg, are a part of all the Malay
entertainments in Borneo. The eggs eaten by the Dyaks are frequently
nearly hatched when taken from the nest, as they enjoy them just as
well as when fresh.
An article called ‘condensed egg’ is now sold in the shops. It consists
of the whole substance of the fresh uncooked egg, very delicately and
finely granulated by patent processes, after the watery particles,
which the egg naturally contains, have been completely exhausted and
withdrawn, without further alteration of its constituents. It contains
all the nutritious properties of the egg in its natural state, and must
be valuable to shipmasters, emigrants, and others. One ounce of it is
said to be equal to three eggs.
The ancient Romans, though not great beef-eaters, were particular as to
poultry. Dr. Daubeny, in his _Lectures on Roman Husbandry_, says--‘The
ancient Romans had large preserves, not only of poultry and pigeons,
but even of thrushes and quails enclosed in pens which were called
‘ornithones,’ from which they could draw their supply for the table
at pleasure. We are told, indeed, of two sorts of ornithones, the one
merely aviaries stocked with birds for the amusement of the proprietor;
the other kind, constructed with a view to profit, which were often
of vast extent, to supply the demands of the Roman market for such
articles of luxury. In the Sabine country particularly, we read of
extensive pens, filled with birds for the latter purpose. For thrushes
alone there were large rooms provided, each capable of holding several
thousand birds. As they were put in to be fattened, the place had only
just light enough to enable the birds to see their food, but there was
a good supply of fresh water accessible. And I may remark that, whilst
nothing is said by the Roman writers about the fattening of oxen and
sheep, particular directions are given for fattening poultry and other
birds--a strong additional argument of the little importance they
attached to the larger animals as articles of food.’
The following may be enumerated as the sportsman’s game in Jamaica:--
1. The pintado, or wild guinea fowl (_Numida Meleagris_), a bird now
domesticated in our poultry-yards. In its wild state the flesh is
considered by many persons to equal that of the pheasant.
2. The quail (_Perdix coturnix_).
3. Wild pigeons, namely, ring-tail, bald-pate, pea-dove, white-breast,
white-wing, mountain-witch, ground dove, and red-legged partridge.
4. Snipe (_Scolopax gallinago_).
5. Wild duck, or mallard (_Anas boschas_).
6. Gray, or Gadwall duck (_Anas strepera_).
7. The common teal (_Anas crecca_), the flesh of which was so much
prized by the Roman epicures, and is still in request for the table.
8. Widgeon (_Anas Penelope_).
9. Gray and ring plover (_Charadrius minor_, and _hiaticula_).
If we are out shooting in Canada we may easily add to our mess the
ruffled grouse (_Tetrao umbellus_), although these, like many other
birds, are partridges with the settlers--this variety being termed the
birch partridge. Another species, the spruce partridge of the colonists
(_T. Canadensis_), is less palatable, for, unfortunately, it has a
habit of feeding upon laurel leaves. But here is something to make
amends--a fine Esquimaux curlew, as large as an English partridge, and
a mud-sucker, _id est_ snipe.
Let me note a Canadian receipt for cooking a partridge, which may be
useful to sportsmen and travellers:--
‘Expedition is the maxim of all sylvan cookery, and as plucking the
feathers of a partridge would be too great a tax on the time and
patience of the voyageur, the method most in vogue is to run your
hunting knife round his throat and ancles and down his breast, when,
taking a leg in each hand, and pressing your thumb into his back, you
pop him out of his skin, as you would a pea from its pod. Then make a
spread-eagle of him on a forked twig, the other extremity of which is
thrust into the ground, and after wrapping a rasher of bacon around his
neck and under his wings, as ladies wear a scarf, you incline him to
the fire, turning the spit in the ground, and you will have a result
such as Soyer might be proud of. When your other avocations will not
afford time even for the skinning process, an alternative mode is
to make a paste of ashes and water, and roll up your bird therein,
with the feathers, and all the appurtenances thereof, and thrust the
performance in the fire. In due time, on breaking the cemented shell
(which is like a sugared almond), the feathers, skin, &c., adhere to
it, and then you have the pure kernel of poultry within.’
The red-legged partridge is common in the Greek islands, on the
continent of Asia, and in the southern countries of Europe. In some of
the Cyclades, where the inhabitants are too poor to expend money on
powder, they chase the birds on foot, till they are so wearied, as to
be easily taken with the hand.
Of all the European birds, the quail (_Coturnix vulgaris_) is the most
remarkable, on account of the vast numbers which congregate on the
shores of the Mediterranean in the spring, coming from Asia Minor and
Northern Africa, to avoid the excessive heat. For a few weeks in the
month of April, when they first begin to arrive in Sicily, everybody is
a sportsman. Arriving always in the night, although not a quail could
be seen the evening before, the report of guns the next morning, in
all directions, attests their number and the havoc that has begun upon
them. Such prodigious numbers have appeared on the western coasts of
the kingdom of Naples, that a hundred thousand have been taken in a
day, within the space of four or five miles.
The flesh of the turtle dove is considered much superior to that of the
wild pigeon.
The passenger pigeon (_Columba migratoria_) of America, is a very large
and well flavoured variety, being 16 inches long, and 24 inches in
the spread of its wings; its hue chiefly slate-colour. They migrate
at certain seasons in millions, and feed on acorns and fresh mast.
They travel in the morning and evening, and repose about mid-day in
the forests. Their passage, whether in spring or autumn, lasts from 15
to 20 days, after which they are met with in the centre of the United
States. The Indians often watch the roosting places of these birds, and
knocking them on the head in the night, bring them away by thousands.
They preserve the oil or fat, which they use instead of butter. There
was formerly scarcely any little Indian village in the interior, where
a hundred gallons of this oil might not at any time be purchased.
These pigeons spread over the whole of North America, abounding round
Hudson’s Bay, where they remain till December. They arrive in the fur
countries in the latter end of May, and depart in October. They are met
with as far south as the Gulf of Mexico, but do not extend their range
westward of the Rocky Mountains. Stray passenger pigeons have been
taken both in Norway and in Russia; and this bird has found a place in
the British fauna, from a solitary bird having been shot in Westhall,
Fifeshire, on the 31st December, 1825. Like other pigeons, this genus
makes a slender platform nest of sticks and straws, but, unlike other
pigeons, prolific as it is, it lays but one egg. The female builds the
nest, the male bird fetches the materials. The time of incubation is 16
days, and the male relieves the female in sitting during that period.
The immense number of these birds baffles all computation. Those
eminent ornithologists, Wilson and Audubon, describe flocks seen by
them to contain respectively from thousands of millions to upwards of a
billion in each, the daily food required to sustain which would be at
least 60,000 bushels; and the New York _Evening Post_ informs us that,
on one day, seven tons of these pigeons were brought into the New York
market by the Erie railroad.
In their breeding places, herds of hogs are fed on the young pigeons or
‘squabs,’ which are also melted down by the settlers, as a substitute
for butter or lard. The felling a single tree often produces 200
squabs, nearly as large as the old ones, and almost one mass of fat.
When the flocks of full grown pigeons enter a district, clap-nets and
guns are in great requisition. Pennant, in his _Arctic Zoology_, says,
Sir William Johnstone told him, that at one shot, he brought down with
a blunderbuss above a hundred and twenty pigeons. Wagon loads of them
are poured into the towns, and sold as cheap as a half-penny up to
two-pence the dozen. The flesh tastes like the common wild blue pigeon,
but is, if anything, better flavoured. Why (it has been asked) could
not this large pigeon, whose migratory habits are principally caused
by search for food, be introduced into this country as a tame variety,
or by crossing with our native breeds enlarge the size; or, in the
same way as fresh mutton was sent from Australia, be sent in casks
potted in their own fat, to supply us with cheap pigeon pies? And the
same with a cross with the large Texan rabbit, or the wild American
turkey, the latter being far superior in size and appearance to its
degenerate descendant, the tame turkey, sometimes as much as four feet
in length, and five feet from wing to wing? The canvas-back ducks of
America are there boasted of exceedingly as a delicacy, yet, although
a great variety of useless water-fowl has been introduced merely as
an ornament to the ponds and streams of our gentry, no attempt has
been made to bring this kind to our farm-yards and tables; and even
if it was found impossible to tame the pure breed, a cross with our
own might be effected. In the capercailzie, or _cock of the wood_,
a bird of the grouse species, but nearly as large as a turkey, once
indigenous to Scotland, but now only found in the north of Europe, and
in the _bustard_, the largest European land-bird, the cock weighing
from 25 to 27 lbs., we have examples of two fowls well worth the
trial of domesticating by the amateur or intelligent agriculturist,
a trial which, if successful, would probably repay quite as well as
competition about the colour of a feather, or the shortness of a tail,
and in time would be the means of affording a constant, certain, and
moderately-priced supply, which is never the case while animals remain
in a wild or half-wild state.
Although the forests of New Zealand are not thickly inhabited by the
feathered tribes, there are many birds to be met with. Among others
are the following, which are excellent eating.--The wild pigeon,
which is very large and common; the parrot or ka-ka; and the _tui_ or
mocking bird, which is about the size of the English black-bird, and
of the same colour, but with two bunches of white feathers under the
neck--his notes are few, but very melodious, resembling the tinkling
of small bells, which harmonize together as they are delivered. The
bronze-winged pigeon of Australia is most delicate eating. It abounds
in summer, when the acacia seeds are ripe.
GRALLATORES.
From the order of grallatores, waders or stilt-birds, we find many
which yield choice dainties, whether it be the ostrich or emu for their
eggs, the bustard and bittern, the flamingo for its tongue, the plover,
dotterel, curlew, snipe, woodcock, rail, &c., for the table.
An ostrich egg is considered as equal in its contents to 24 of the
domestic hen. When taken fresh from the nest, they are very palatable,
and are wholesome, though somewhat heavy food. The best mode of
cooking them is that practised by the Hottentots, who place one end
of the egg in the hot ashes, and making a small orifice at the other,
keep stirring the contents with a stick till they are sufficiently
roasted; and thus, with a seasoning of salt and pepper, you have a very
nice omelet. The nest sometimes contains as many as 24 eggs, and the
difficulty the sportsman has is how to carry away his spoil. The usual
plan is to denude himself of his upper or lower garments, and, tying up
the orifices of leg-holes or arm-holes, to make an impromptu sack, in
which he can bear away his prize. If he leaves them, he will be sure to
find on his return that the ostrich has broken the eggs, because they
have been disturbed.
The eggs of the emu of South America are large, and, although the food
which they afford is coarse, it is not unpalatable.
The emu, or New Holland cassowary, is becoming rarer as settlements
advance. The same remark applies also to the kangaroo and other animals
against whom a war of extermination seems to have been declared.
The emu is easily domesticated when taken young, and becomes very
familiar with, and attached to, the dogs, which generally leads to
the death of a tame one. A full-grown one, when erect, stands seven
feet high. The natives creep on them and spear them. The eggs are of a
tea green colour, with a watered appearance on the surface. There is
a singularity in the growth of the feathers--two of them spring from
one quill. The bird is principally valued for its oil. The skin of a
full-grown bird produces six or seven quarts of oil, clear, and of a
beautiful bright yellow colour. The method of extracting or ‘trying’
out the oil is to pluck the feathers, cut the skin into pieces, and
boil it; but the aborigines prefer the flesh with the skin upon it,
regarding it as the Esquimaux do the flesh of whales and seals, as a
highly luscious treat. The flesh is eaten by Europeans, and preferred
by some to the kangaroo; the rump part is considered as delicate as
fowl; the legs coarser, like beef, but still tender.
Bustards are plentiful in many parts of the Cape Colony, and the
smaller sorts, called _koerhans_, are approachable in a bush country;
but the larger kinds, called _paws_, are a great prize, as they are
found on plains, and are generally shot with ball. In Australia, the
bustard is called, colonially, the wild turkey. It is a fine large
bird, frequently weighing 12 to 15 lbs., and extending full six feet,
from tip to tip of the wings. There it is declared excellent for
eating, but its flesh is much too gamey for ordinary palates.
Don Pernetty, in his _Historical Journal of the Voyage to the Falkland
Islands_, under the command of M. de Bouganville, says, they found the
bustard ‘exquisite either boiled, roasted, or fricasseed. It appeared
from the account we kept that we ate 1,500. It is, indeed, hardly to be
conceived that the ship’s company of our two frigates, consisting of a
hundred and fifty men, all in perfect health and with good stomachs,
should have found a quantity of these birds sufficient for their
subsistence during a stay of more than two months, within a tract of
country not exceeding three leagues.’
But they also tried other descriptions of feathered game. The wild
ducks were found, in general, to have the taste of mussels. Of a kind
of grey goose, weighing about 19 or 20 lbs., it is reported: ‘Its flesh
was oily, had a disagreeable smell and a fenny taste; but it was eaten
by the ships’ companies when no bustards were given them.’
The clucking hen of Jamaica (_Ardea scolopacea_), on the authority
of Browne and Robinson, is looked upon as the best wild fowl in the
country, although the latter writer tells us it feeds upon snakes,
toads, and lizards, as well as wood snails and gully crabs. The flavour
is, however, represented to be remarkably fine--a compound of ham,
partridge, and pigeon. The flesh is of a peculiarly close and compact
texture, and very tender.
The mangrove hen (_Rallus Virginianus_), indigenous to the watery
marshes of Jamaica, greatly resembles the dappled grey variety of the
common fowl. At the pullet age, the young birds are run down, when
feeding on the mud, with great facility. At this time, I have found
them to be delicious eating. Persons, on whose taste reliance may be
placed, say that, though a plover be undoubtedly a fine bird for the
table, and the sanderling a great delicacy, the young mangrove hen
exceeds both, as it combines all their peculiarity of flavour with
the fleshiness of the quail. This is no small commendation. But much
depends upon your _cuisinier_; if he is a good _artiste_--a man of
undoubted talents, it matters little what the materials be.
The _Rallus crex_ is another esteemed dainty of no ordinary kind, and a
most delicious bird.
In the reign of Henry the Eighth, the bittern was held in great esteem
at the tables of the great. Its flesh has much the flavour of hare, and
is far from being unpleasant.
Snipe of all kinds, from the ‘teeterer,’ that hovers about the edge of
the surf, to the jack snipe (_Scolopax gallinula_), half-brother to
the woodcock, are in high esteem for the table. The ‘green’ sportsman
finds these birds the most perplexing of all feathered game when on the
wing. Their catter-cornered, worm-fence line of flight renders them
very difficult to hit, until long practice has rendered the marksman’s
eye familiar with their erratic movements. Some sportsmen take them at
an angle; others after they have made their tack; and others, again,
seem to blaze away at them without any particular aim, and yet always
bring down their bird. The yellow-legged snipe is in America considered
the best species for the table. They should be larded and roasted in
bunches of three, and served in gravy made from their own unctuous
drippings. There are few side-dishes more popular with epicures than
snipe on toast. Some cooks stuff them with a composition of bread
crumbs and egg, highly seasoned; but, in my opinion, they are far
better without this kind of ‘trimmings.’
While the trail of the woodcock is a choice morsel with the English
epicure, the inhabitants of the North of Europe, to whose forests the
woodcocks retire in the summer, never eat the birds, esteeming their
flesh unwholesome, from the circumstance of their having no crops. But
they are particularly fond of the eggs, which the boors offer for sale
in large quantities in the principal markets, and this contributes,
possibly, to make the birds so scarce.
The semi-palmated snipe, better known by its common sobriquet of
‘pill-will-willet,’ the loud shrill note which it emits, is at certain
periods of the year esteemed an excellent bird in America. It ought
to be served up in the mode that snipes usually are, and for these
delicious viands it is esteemed a tolerable substitute when in good
order.
Dampier, nearly two centuries ago, speaking of the flamingo, says:
‘Their flesh is lean and black, but not ill-tasted. They have large
tongues, and near the root of them a piece of fat, which is accounted a
great dainty.’
The flamingo was much esteemed by the Romans at their sumptuous
entertainments. Their flesh is thought tolerably good food, and the
tongue was looked upon by the ancients as among the most delicate of
all eatables. Pliny, Martial, and many other writers, speak of it in
the highest terms of commendation. Many who have tried it, consider
the flesh extremely rich, much like that of the wild duck, but with
a strong fishy taste. The tongue is certainly delicate, but scarcely
worthy the high encomiums bestowed on it by the ancients.
During the surveying expedition of Captain Owen, on the east coast of
Africa, the sailors used to shoot hundreds of these beautiful birds for
the purpose of making a dish of the tongues alone. The remainder of the
bird--in imitation of the Roman epicures--being thrown away.
NATATORES.
The Natatores, or swimming birds, supply us with very choice food. Even
many of the coarse sea fowl are not rejected by voyagers.
The Chinese shoot sea-gulls in large numbers, which add to their stock
of food. A man is constantly engaged in the bay of San Francisco,
California, shooting sea-gulls, which he sells to the Chinese at the
rate of 25 cents each. The _San Francisco Evening News_ says,--‘This
bird is a slow and steady mover, of large size, and flies at a
convenient distance over the head of the sportsman. The man in the
skiff was armed with a double-barrelled shot gun, both barrels of
which he would load, and taking a dead gull would throw it high in the
air and allow it to fall at some distance from the boat. This would
naturally attract a flock of gulls, and as they made their slow circuit
around the spot, the gunner raised his piece and generally succeeded in
bringing down a bird for both barrels. He would then re-load as fast
as possible, and if a gull was in range, another shot was fired and
another trophy won.’
The flesh of sea-fowl is generally too rancid to find much favour with
fastidious palates. Sailors indeed eat the livers and hearts of the
penguins, which are exceedingly palatable, but the black flesh of the
body is rank and oily, and has rather a perfumed taste. Some voyagers,
however, tell us, that eaten in ragouts, they are good as that made
from a hare.
The young puffins, having gorged themselves with sprats and crustacea,
when pickled with spices, are by some considered dainties, and they
are, occasionally, potted in the North. But when it has attained its
ugly full developed bill, like a short, thick plough coulter, this
bird does not look very prepossessing. Besides making use of them for
food, some of the islanders use them for fire-wood. They split them
open, dry them, and then burn them feathers and all.
There is a species of puffin, the _Puffinus urinatrix_ or _P.
brevicaudis_, popularly termed the mutton-bird by Tasmanian colonists,
which is met with on some of the New Zealand islands. It forms the
principal food for the native inhabitants of Foveaux Straits, and by
them is called the _titi_. It is a sea bird of black colour,[15] in
its usual condition smaller than the common duck. Like all sea birds
it has thin, slender legs, with webbed feet: the wings are long, with
many joints, I forget how many: the bill is a little hooked at the
point. They are generally in large flocks, covering the ocean as far
as the eye can reach; sometimes flying all in the same direction,
at other times crossing through each other like swarming bees. They
breed on the small uninhabited islands scattered round the coasts of
Stewart’s Island. These islands have a loose, dry, peatish soil, on a
stony bottom. Their being exposed to the stormy winds, loaded with the
salt spray of the sea, prevents the growth of a forest, except patches
of stunted bushes intermixed with a sort of soft, light green fern.
The loose soil is perforated with numberless birdholes, like a piece
of worm-eaten wood, running from two to four feet underground in a
horizontal direction, at the farthest end of which is the nest. Each
female lays only one egg, which is nearly as big as a goose egg, on
which they sit--it is believed male and female alternately--many weeks.
The young bird is full grown in the month of April, which corresponds
to October in Europe. At that time, almost all the inhabitants of
Foveaux Straits, old and young--the infirm only excepted--repair to
the Titi Islands, and take the young birds out of their nests, which
amount to many thousands, and a great many still escape. They put a
stick in the hole to feel where the bird is, which generally betrays
itself by biting the stick. If the hole is so long that the bird cannot
be reached by the hand, a hole is dug over it, the bird taken out and
killed by breaking its head, and the broken hole covered with rubbish
and earth, so that it may be used again the next year. Afterwards the
birds are plucked, and, to clean the skin from the hairy down, it is
moistened and held over the fire, when it is easily wiped quite clean.
Then the neck, wings, and legs are cut off, the breast is opened,
the entrails are taken out, and the body is laid flat, either to be
salted or to be boiled in its own fat, and preserved in air-tight kelp
bags. Though it cannot be said that the young birds suffer, they being
killed so quickly, yet it might seem cruel to rob the parents of their
young ones on so large a scale, and one would fancy a great deal of
fluttering and screaming of the old ones, bewailing the bereavement of
their offspring. But that is not the case. None of the old birds make
their appearance in the day-time. They are all out at sea, and come
only to their nests in the evening when it gets dark, and are off again
at day-break. But yet it would seem the parents would be distressed
at finding their nests robbed. Not so. It would seem as if Providence
had ordered it so that man should go and take the young birds for his
food without hurting the feelings of the parents. When the young birds
are full grown, then they are neglected by their parents, in order to
starve them to get thin, else they would never be able to fly for the
heaviness of their fat. It seems that at the time when they are taken
by men, they are already forsaken by the old birds; and those that are
not taken are compelled by hunger, when they have been starved thin
and light, to leave their holes and go to sea. The old birds are tough
and lean, but the young ones, which are nearly twice as big, contain,
when the legs, wings, neck, and entrails are taken off, three-fourths
of pure white fat, and one-fourth of red meat and tender bones. The
flavour is rather fishy, but, if once used to it, not bad at all, only
rather too fat. They eat best when salted and smoked a little, and then
boiled a short time, and afterwards eaten cold. If properly salted,
they might make an article of trade, like herrings in Europe. The fat
when clean is quite white, and looks just like goose fat, but the taste
is rather oily; however, it may be used for a good many other purposes
than for food. It burns very well on small shallow tin lamps, which get
warmed by the light and melt the fat. The feathers are very soft, and
would make excellent beds if they could be cured of the oily smell,
which it is likely they can.
The following remarks on the articles of food found in the arctic
regions are by one of the officers of the _Assistance_:--
‘To the feathered tribe we are chiefly indebted, and foremost in the
list for flavour and delicacy of fibre stand the ptarmigan (_Lagopus
mutus_) and the willow grouse (_Tetrao saliceti_). The flesh is
dark-coloured, and has somewhat the flavour of the hare. These may be
used in pie, stewed, boiled, or roast, at pleasure, and are easily
shot. Next in gustatory joys, the small birds rank, a kind of snipe,
and a curlew sandpiper; both are, however, rarely met with, and do not
repay the trouble of procuring them.
‘The brent goose (_Anser torquatus_) is excellent eating, and its
flesh is free from fishy taste. Then follow the little auk or rotge
(_Alca alle_), the dovekey, or black guillemot (_Uria grylle_), the
loon, or thick-billed guillemot (_Uria Brunnichii_). The first two are
better baked with a crust, and the last makes, with spices and wine, a
soup but little inferior to that of English hare. All these are found
together in flocks, but the easiest method of obtaining them is either
to shoot them at the cliffs where they breed, or as they fly to and fro
from their feeding ground.
‘The ducks now come upon the table, and are placed in the following
order by most Polar epicures. The long-tailed duck (_Fuliluga
glacialis_), the king duck (_Anas spectabilis_), and the eider duck
(_A. mollissima_). They require to be skinned before roasting or
boiling, and are then eatable, but are always more or less fishy.
‘The divers are by some thought superior for the table to the ducks,
but the difference is very slight. The red-throated diver was most
frequently seen, but few were shot; and of the great northern divers
(_Colymbus glacialis_) none were brought to table, two only having been
seen. Some of the gulls were eaten, and pronounced equal to the other
sea birds; they were the kittiwake, the tern, and the herring or silver
gull.
‘The denizens of the sea have fallen little under our notice, and they
may be dismissed with the remark, that curried narwhal’s skin can be
tolerated, but not recommended. Some fresh-water fish were caught, and
proved to be very good; they are said to be a kind of trout.’
The eggs of sea-fowl, although much eaten on the coasts, are seldom
brought to market for consumption in our large English towns, and yet
they form a considerable article of traffic in several parts of the
world, and are procured in immense quantities about the lands near the
North and South Poles.
The precipitous cliffs of England are occasionally searched for the
eggs of the razor-billed auk, which are esteemed a delicacy, for salads
especially.
A correspondent at San Francisco informs me that an important trade is
carried on in that city in the eggs of sea birds. He states, that the
Farallones de los Frayles, a group of rocky islets, lying a little more
than twenty miles west of the entrance to the Bay of San Francisco,
are the resort of innumerable sea-fowl, known by the fishermen as
‘murres.’ These islands are almost inaccessible, and, with a single
exception, are uninhabited. They, therefore, very naturally afford a
resort for great multitudes of birds. Some time since a company was
organized in San Francisco for the purpose of bringing the eggs of
the murres to market. An imperfect idea of the numbers of these birds
may be formed from the fact, that this company sold in that city the
last season (a period of less than two months, July and parts of June
and August) _more than five hundred thousand eggs_! All these were
gathered on a single one of these islands; and, in the opinion of the
eggers, not more than one egg in six of those deposited on that island
was gathered. My correspondent informs me that he was told by those
familiar with the islands that all the eggs brought in were laid by
birds of a single kind. Yet they exhibit astonishing variations in
size, in form, and in colouring. There is no reason to suppose that he
was misinformed in regard to these eggs being deposited by a single
species. The men could have had no motive for deception, and similar
facts are observable on the Labrador coast and in the islands north of
Scotland. Besides, the writer ascertained from other sources, that all
the eggs brought to the market were obtained from a limited portion of
the island, known as the Great Farallone--called the Rookery, where
a single species swarm in myriads, and where no other kind of bird
is found. Naturalists, who have received specimens of these birds,
pronounce them to be the thick-billed or Brunnich’s guillemot, or
murre, of Labrador and Northern Europe. The eggs are three and a half
inches in length, and are esteemed a great delicacy.
There is a small island off the Cape of Good Hope, named Dassen Island,
about six miles from the mainland, which is one and a half mile long by
one broad, from which 24,000 eggs of penguins and gulls are collected
every fortnight, and sold at Cape Town for a half-penny each.
The late Lieut. Ruxton, R.N., speaking of the Island of Ichaboe, on the
Western Coast of Africa, says, ‘Notwithstanding that the island had
been occupied for nearly two years, during which time thousands upon
thousands of penguins had been wantonly destroyed, on the cessation
of work these birds again flocked to their old haunts, where they had
again commenced laying their eggs. The rocks round the island are
literally covered with penguins, cormorants, and albatrosses. The
former, wedged together in a dense phalanx, have no more dread of
man than ducks in a poultry-yard, although they have met with such
persecution on the island; and any number might be taken by the hand
without any difficulty. The sailors eat the livers and hearts, which
are exceedingly palatable, but the flesh of the body is rank and
oily.’[16]
Captain Morrell, also writing of Ichaboe (_Nautical Magazine_, vol.
13, p. 374), tells us, ‘Eggs may be obtained here in great quantities.
In the months of October and November this island is literally covered
with jackass-penguins and gannets, which convene here for the purpose
of laying and incubation. The nests of the gannets are formed like
those of the albatross, but are not so much elevated; while the
jackass-penguins lay their eggs in holes in the ground from twelve to
thirty inches in depth, which they guard with the strictest vigilance.
They frequently lay three or four eggs, but the gannet seldom lays more
than two.’
A correspondent, writing from Tristan d’Acunha, in September, gives
an account of his adventures in taking penguins’ eggs. ‘This is now
the time for penguins’ eggs. They get great numbers of them. There
are two rookeries, as they call them; one on the east, and one on the
west, of us. To the one on the west, they go over land, beyond Elephant
Bay. I went there last year, when I saw the great sea elephant and the
penguins for the first time. But this year I have been disappointed,
the weather has been so unsettled. But yesterday was a fine day, and
they were going in the boat to the other, to which they can go only by
water; so I went with them. It was a good day, and we landed easily,
though it is a very bad beach. Fancy the scene--a long, very narrow
strip of land, at the foot of a great rock, covered with the thick
tussac grass, far higher than my head; the whole place swarming with
these penguins--pretty to look at, but the most ungainly creatures in
their movements that I ever saw? They stand almost upright. The breast
is glossy white, the rest is gray. A couple of tufts of those pretty
yellow feathers, of which I sent home a few, adorn each side of the
head and give them a very lively appearance. They have no wings, but
instead, a couple of flippers, as they call them, like arms, which
they use about as gracefully as Punch does his. And then the way in
which they hop along! Talk of the motion of a frog! it is elegance
itself compared with them. Altogether, they are the most interesting,
curious things in Tristan. They are about as big, and twice as noisy,
as a duck. Fancy going into the midst of thick grass higher than your
head, with thousands of them round you, all croaking out in a harsh,
loud, quick note, ‘Cover up! cover up!’ and then kicking them right and
left, quickly, taking care they do not get hold of you,--seizing their
great eggs, till you have got some hundreds of them in your bosom.
The men wear a large shirt, tied round their waist, so as to form a
large loose bag in front, and so pop them in as fast as they can pick
them up. The men will gather two or three hundred in this way, and the
boys from one to two; and from the other rookery carry them the whole
way home--no little load. The eggs vary much in size, from a large
hen’s egg to a goose’s. They mostly lay two at once. Their nests are
sometimes close together, so you can soon pick up a lot. They stand in
pairs, each couple at their nest to defend it, and some will not give
up till they have been kicked away two or three times. They can give a
good sharp bite, if they get hold of you. The men found me a spot where
the eggs were very thick, and very little tussac, and though I was a
new hand at the work, and therefore obliged to look sharp to escape a
bite, I managed to collect more than a hundred of them in a short time.
Fancy what work, to stand amid hundreds of the birds, all screaming
round you, so as almost to deafen you, tumbling them here and there,
and picking up their eggs as fast as you can gather them! It is really
amusing sport. I must remind you the kicking them over with our soft
moccasins (shoes) does not hurt them in the least, and the next day
they will have just as many eggs.
‘Six of the men went round in the boat. We were there about four hours,
and gathered about four thousand--pretty near a boat’s load; and could
have got more if we had chosen. It was a pleasant day, and we had a
good row back.’
An interesting account which recently appeared in a Jamaica paper,
respecting egg gathering, is also worth quoting.
The annual egg gathering visit, which the boatmen of Port Royal make
to the Pedro Keys, we may set down as a remnant of Indian life. In
the work entitled _The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus,
compiled from his papers by his son Don Ferdinand_, we are informed,
that on the 13th of November, 1492, the discovery squadron weighing
from the Rio de Mares, Cuba, stood to the eastward, to search for the
island called Bohio by the Indians, and coming to an anchor among some
high raised islets on the coast, found them to be places visited by the
Indians at certain seasons of the year, for supplies of fish and birds.
‘The islands,’ Columbus says, ‘were not inhabited, but there were seen
the remains of many fires which had been made by the fishermen; for it
afterwards appeared that the people were in use to go over in great
numbers in their canoes to these islands, and to a great number of
other uninhabited islets in these seas, to live upon fish, which they
catch in great abundance, and upon birds and crabs, and other things
which they find on the land. The Indians follow this employment of
fishing and bird-catching according to the seasons, sometimes in one
island sometimes in another, as a person changes his diet, when weary
of living on one kind of food.’[17]
‘From the lighthouse on the Port Royal palisades to Portland in Vere,
a line encloses a system of coast islands, reefs, banks, and shoals
colonized by numerous birds and fishes. Each kind has its own locality.
Pelican Key and Pigeon Island never interchange inhabitants, and the
bank that gives the king-fish furnishes neither the snapper nor the
grouper. Southward from Portland, at a distance of some few leagues,
the great Pedro bank is reached, stretching near 100 miles. There are
islets at each extremity, but the group that attracts the egg gatherers
every year, are the Keys, distinguished as the Pedros, at its eastern
end. We shall loiter a little to describe a living world there that
must have been a great attraction to the aboriginal Indians, in those
periodical junketings that came under the notice of Columbus.
‘The Port Royal boats bound for the egg harvest, bring to, at the
outermost of the Portland Keys, and start at midnight from there, to
gain with a favourable breeze in 14 or 15 hours the shelter of the
Pedros, and to be snug at anchor long before sundown. The vessels in
their voyage steer for a single rock in fathomless water, the Isla Sola
of the Spanish maps. It rises about 30 or 40 feet out of the sea like
a castle in ruins, over which the surf breaks fiercely; and in about
five or six hours after making it, they anchor within what are properly
called the Keys.
‘There are numerous outlying rocks just above and beneath the water,
between the Pedro shoal and the open sea, on which the winds and the
currents roll a heavy surf. The spots properly called the islands are
seven in number, and vary from forty to some three or four acres in
size. They are upthrown masses of broken coral and shell cemented by
calcareous sand, washed upon rocky ledges above the sea. The breakers
shift with the shifting winds, rolling these fragmentary deposits on
before them. By the regularity of their change of action, they have
done the work of accumulation pretty equally on all sides: they have
raised a wall all round the islands, and left the centres hollow.
‘From time to time storms of unusual violence have carried the
heaped-up coral and sand suddenly, and in thick layers, over portions
of the islands where the dung of the sea birds had accumulated for
years, and these irruptions have made intermediate deposits of animal
matter and cemented rock. It is evident from the prevalence of this
succession of deposits within the hollow centres of the islets, that
the sea has washed in the fragmentary materials of the outer margins,
by a more than ordinary rise of the waters, and laid them in pretty
equal strata at distant intervals of time, so that the centres have
risen in height as the sea walls have been built and cemented up. The
animal deposits, which may be characterized as loosely cohering urate
of lime, are sometimes found two feet beneath the strata of cemented
coral and shells, and run about an inch or an inch and a half thick.
‘Immediately within the islands, the waters shoal, and make a bank
called the Vibora by the Spaniards. It runs to the Cascabel rock,
90 odd miles westward, bristled with reefs and sunken rocks, having
a depth of from 7 to 17 fathoms. Easterly winds, that is, the trade
winds, veering southward and northward, for determinate portions of
the year, roll constant billows over it. Westerly breezes, varying
northerly and southerly, bring tremendous gales and heavy swells. The
rough agency of all these movements has heaped up the sands, and the
corals, and shells, cementing them into rock, and giving the island an
elevation of from 15 to 20 feet.
‘The vegetation on these islands is stunted surianas, among whose tough
and twisted branches the birds find nestling places. To these lonely
islets resort thousands and tens of thousands of sea-fowl. As soon as
visitors land, myriads of birds are upon the wing in all directions.
Some flocks rise in circling flight high up into the air, and
descending again in the same dense numbers as they rose, settle in more
remote places; others break away hurriedly, and fly in a wide sweep
far around, but return again hastily to the rocks they had quitted,
reconciled to bear with the disturbance. The turmoil and hubbub of the
thousands of birds thus suddenly put upon the wing, overpower for a
moment the roar of the breakers, and darken the air like the sudden
passing of a cloud.
‘The constant inhabitants of the rocks are several species of the
booby, gannets, terns, gulls, and petrels--and the frigate pelican. The
frigate-birds preserve their predilection for rapine amid the teeming
plenty of the waters, and subsist by pillaging the gulls and gannets.
The migratory visitors are ducks, herons, plovers, snipes, sandpipers,
curlews, and ibises, with the several falcons that follow them. In the
autumnal movement of these birds towards the equatorial regions, they
would be found steering from north to south, but at the time when the
egg gatherers visit the islets, they are seen coming from the south,
just resting and departing north. The successive months of March,
April, and May, are those of the egg harvest.
‘The Keys are open to all adventurers, but the egg gathering is
regulated by a custom which recognises the first coming vessel as
commanding for the season. The second vessel in seniority is called
the Commodore, the first being styled the Admiral. They have a code of
laws, to which, in a spirit of honourable compliance, all are expected
to show obedience; and in case of any infraction of the obligations
thus voluntarily imposed upon themselves, a jury selected from the
several vessels tries complaints, and with due formality inflicts
punishment for offences.
‘The south-west is the principal of the Pedro Keys. The stay of the
birds that resort there to breed is prolonged by the successive loss of
the eggs they lay. Each loss is a stimulus to a fresh act of pairing;
a new lot of eggs being the result, possibly in number equal to the
former lot, but probably less, as the latter deposits are a forced
production, at the expense of the vigour of the bird, without any
additional strength to the constitution by the increased nourishment
of food, the process by which domesticated birds, in changing their
habits, are led to lay a continuance of eggs for a long season. The
egg gatherers are careful observers of the progress of incubation, and
take only the eggs they know to be fresh laid. These are a part of the
regulations they require to be observed, or the constant depredations
committed on the birds would fatally thin their numbers.
‘Without going into the discussion of naturalists, who see in the
different colours of eggs a certain relation to circumstances
favourable to concealment, it may be observed that the blotched egg,
laid by the _Hydrochelidon fuliginosa_, properly distinguished as the
_egg-bird_, is found among sticks and dried leaves of the suriana,
whilst the white eggs of the boobies and petrels are deposited in
hollows of the coral rocks, amid sand and chalky dung. There is
one curious coincidence between the eggs of the noddy, _Sterna
stolida_, and the peculiarities of the nest, that must not, however,
be unremarked. The elaborate pile of sticks slightly hollowed, in
which they deposit their eggs, is always embellished with broken sea
shells, speckled and spotted like the eggs. Audubon records the same
occurrence in the nests of the noddy terns he inspected in the Florida
Keys. The obvious suggestion for this curious prevalence of instinct
is deceptiveness, arising from similarity between the egg shell and
the sea shell. The nests are pillaged by what is called the laughing
gull (the _Larus atricilla_, not the _ridibundus_); the numerous empty
shells lying among the rocks being always set down to the predatory
visits of the laughing gull.
‘South-west Key, and the other sandy islets around it, are beside,
annually resorted to by the fishermen in the turtling season for a
different harvest of eggs. The turtles (_Chelone midas_) visit these
shoals to deposit their eggs in the dry sand, and leave them to the
fostering influence of the sun. They repeat their layings thrice, at
the interval of two or three weeks, laying a hundred at a time. Some
experience is necessary to trace the place of deposit, for the eggs are
always laid in the night; but few of them escape the detection of the
turtler.’
Geese are reared in large numbers in Alsace, the livers of which are
used in making the famous Strasburg pies. In Denmark, geese and ducks
are salted down for winter use.
In Greenland, the snow goose affords great subsistence to the natives,
and the feathers are an article of commerce. Each family will kill
thousands in a season; these, after being plucked and gutted, are flung
in heaps into holes dug for that purpose, and are covered only with
earth. The mould presses, and forms over them an arch; and whenever the
family have occasion to open one of these magazines, they find their
provisions perfectly sweet and good.
In Captain Sir John Ross’s _Arctic Voyage to Regent Inlet_, it is
recorded, that when they discovered that the wild geese had begun
to lay on the margin of the lakes, their eggs formed a dainty and
wholesome repast. ‘The eggs on being weighed were found on an average
to be 4½ ounces--of a dingy white, faintly speckled. The discovery of
a goose’s nest, where the process of incubation had not begun, was
regarded by them in the light of a treasure. To the natives, however,
it appeared to be a matter of very trifling import whether the egg were
freshly laid, or whether it were within a few days of being hatched.
Half-a-dozen eggs beaten up with the young ones, in all stages of
their growth, from the first development of the form to the complete
formation of the fœtus, proved to the natives what a dish of callipash
and callipee is to the gourmandizing alderman; nor were they very
particular as to the embryos being wholly divested of the shells, for
the latter appeared to be nearly of the same use as beans to the food
of a horse, to force him to masticate the oats more thoroughly.’
The cygnet, or young of the swan, was formerly much esteemed; at
Norwich they were fattened for the corporation. The flesh of the old
birds is hard and ill tasted.
The pintail (_Anas acuta_) is a very choice bird--the very ‘ring tail’
of the duck tribe. They are undoubtedly a _recherché morceau_, for,
being essentially grain feeders, they have no fishy flavour.
Widgeon and teal are in great favour when in good condition.
REPTILIA.
We find various reptiles, _Chelonian_, _Saurian_, and _Ophidian_, still
forming articles of food in many quarters of the world, and some so
repulsive in their appearance, that it seems difficult to conceive how
they could first have been tasted.
In the class REPTILIA, we have in the first order _Chelonia_ or
_tortoises_, comprising the following which are used as food:--1,
several of the terrestrial tortoises, genus _Testudo_; 2, some of
the marsh tortoises or Emydes, the chelodina, matamata, &c.; 3, the
cryptopus or river tortoise; and 4, the marine tortoises or turtles.
In the second order SAURIA or lizards, we find--1, crocodiles and
alligators contributing to the sustenance of man; 2, several of the
iguarians.
In the third order, OPHIDIA or serpents, the rattlesnake, boas and
pythons, and several other snakes.
In the fourth order, AMPHIBIA, some of the edible and tree frogs.
We know not, observes a recent writer, why the flesh of the
vegetable-feeding tortoises should not be adopted, as well as that
of the green turtle, among the various articles which are in request
for the table. There is much in habit and association of ideas; and
though persons who would not refuse turtle might turn from tortoise
with disgust, they may rest assured that in Sicily and Italy these land
tortoises are sold in the markets, principally for being made into
soup, which dish is more esteemed than the flesh prepared in any other
way.
The flesh of a tortoise, called the matamata by the aborigines of
Cayenne (_Chelys matamata_, Dumeril, _C. fimbriata_, Spix), is said to
be highly esteemed in various parts of Guiana.
There is a great variety of land tortoises in Trinidad and some of the
other West Indian Islands, which in general are as delicious as the
best green turtle.
The eggs of the close tortoise (_Testudo clausa_) of North America, are
reckoned a delicacy, and are about the size of pigeons’ eggs.
The gopher tortoise (_Testudo Carolina_, of Leconte) occasionally makes
considerable depredations in the potato fields of the farmer, and in
gardens and other cultivated grounds, but its flesh is excellent, and
hence it is sought after for the table.
The flesh of the Carolina terrapin or box tortoise (_Cistudo Carolina_)
is occasionally eaten, but it is held in low estimation; the eggs,
however, which are about as large as those of a pigeon, are accounted
excellent, and are much sought after.
The flesh of the European box tortoise (_Cistudo Europæa_), though not
very delicate, is nevertheless eaten on the Continent; it is said,
however, to be greatly improved by feeding the animals for some time
on grains, bran, and other vegetable aliment. The salt water terrapin
(_Emys concentrica_), which is found both in North and South America,
is in great request, its flesh being highly esteemed as a delicacy for
the table, especially at the close of the summer, when the animals have
returned to their winter dormitory. They are then fat, and considered
as a luxury.
The eggs of the terrapin are not provided with a hard shell, but a skin
like that purest of all parchments, parchment just before it receives
the ink of law upon it.
The general method of killing these animals is a most barbarous one.
They are laid upon their backs, either close to the fire, or upon the
red wood-ashes, until the thick shell becomes so hot to the animal
within that he desperately stretches out both legs and neck, in the
vainest of endeavours to extricate himself from the walls of his
burning house. The tender-hearted cook watches his opportunity, and
when it is evident that, in ordinary phrase, the poor terrapin ‘cannot
contain itself,’ or in other words, will no longer draw back his head
into such a living furnace--the knife descends, and the head is cut
away. The late Mr. Charles Hooton told me, that he had seen such heads
at least half-an-hour after being cut off, attempt, on being touched,
to bite with sufficient force to take the piece out of the finger.
During this time the eyes will occasionally open, though generally they
remain shut.
The flesh of the Indian Cryptopus, a river or fluviatile tortoise
(_Cryptopus granosus_, Bibr., _Testudo scabra_, Latr.) is eaten in
Pondicherry and Coromandel, where it lives in large sheets of fresh
water or lagoons.
The flesh of the soft tortoise of America (_Trionyx ferox_, Cuvier),
which inhabit the rivers of Carolina and Georgia, is eaten.
The curious New Holland tortoise (_Chelodina longicollis_), first
described by Shaw, which, as far as the head and neck is concerned,
reminds one rather of a snake than a tortoise, is abundant in some of
the lakes of Western Australia, and is considered by the natives a
great treat, as are also the snakes and lizards.
Chief Justice Temple, of Honduras, from whose lively and interesting
letters to the Society of Arts I have already quoted, says--‘Another
article which might be preserved and exported, and which would, I have
little doubt, be highly prized by epicures in England, is the liver
of the hiccatee. The hiccatee is the fresh water turtle or tortoise,
and is, I believe, altogether unknown in Europe. It never approaches
anything like the size of the large turtles. The weight of the hiccatee
seldom exceeds 20 lbs. It has not got fins like a turtle, or to be
more correct, the sea tortoise, but round, webbed-feet, each having
five claws, like those of a duck. It is made for the land, therefore,
as well as the water. It does not, however, make the former its home,
and its feet are evidently intended merely to enable it, when one pool
becomes dry, to travel in search of another. The hiccatee is generally
caught in the dry season, when going across the country in pursuit
of water. The feet when dressed are gelatinous, but the flesh is dry
and fibrous. It is, however, the liver which renders this species of
tortoise so highly estimable. It is a dark olive colour, and immensely
large. If this were preserved in oil with truffles, it would be
considered far superior to the goose’s liver of which the _pâté de foie
gras_ is made.’
The following way of effectually shooting a turtle may be interesting
to the sporting world generally, and aldermen in particular. ‘The
soft-shell turtle is found throughout the south, and abounds in the
rivers and bayous of Louisiana, where they are esteemed a delicacy.
They are so shy as to elude the various inventions which are adopted to
capture them; the rifle has, therefore, been resorted to; and, though
easily killed by a fair marksman, when he finds them sunning themselves
on the floating or projecting trunk of some old tree, he still often
fails to secure his prize, since they drop into the bayous, are swept
down into the current, and scarcely, if ever, secured. To remedy this,
a gentleman of Louisiana adopted the following method successfully. He
cut a piece of wood, one inch long, and rounded it so as to fit easily
in his rifle; around the middle, crosswise, he cut a small groove, so
as to secure to it a twine some six or seven inches long; at the other
end of this string he attached the ball, by passing the string through
a bore in the ball, and then knotting the end of the string. The ball
is first inserted in the rifle; the string and wood follow, and all are
rammed down. The turtle is now shot, and as the ball passes through
the turtle, it enters the tree or log some one or two inches; the piece
of wood, being too light to enter the shell of the turtle, is left
suspended. So that, at a single shot, the game is killed, strung, and
hung up.’ Of course, this is from an American paper.
The flesh of the land tortoise is largely used for food, both fresh and
when salted, in the Gallipagos Archipelago and other islands of the
Pacific; and a beautifully clear oil is prepared from their fat. They
are eaten in Australia by the aborigines; and in Russia, on the shores
of the Mediterranean, and some parts of Germany, are fattened for the
table, and are esteemed a great delicacy. Wallace, in his journeys
up the Amazon, says he found the land tortoise for dinner as good as
turtle.
Captain Dampier, when he visited the Gallipagos, in 1684, records ‘That
there is no place in the world so much stored with guanoes and land
tortoises as these isles. The first are fat and of an extraordinary
size, and exceeding tame; and the land tortoises so numerous, that
some hundred men may subsist on them for a considerable time, being
very fat, and as pleasant food as a pullet, and of such bigness that
one of them weighs 150 or 200 lbs.; and are from two feet to two feet
six inches over the belly; whereas, in any other places, I never met
with any above 30 lbs. weight, though I have heard them say that at St.
Lawrence or Madagascar there are also very large ones.’
Wafer, another old voyager, when at these islands, salted the flesh of
the land tortoise for use on shipboard, and fried the fat and converted
it into lard or oil, of which they secured 60 large jars.
Tortoises of an immense size are found on many of the islands of the
Pacific. Mr. Lawson, a vice-governor of the Gallipagos Archipelago,
states that he has seen several so large that it required six or eight
men to lift them from the ground; and that some had afforded as much
as 200 lbs. of meat. Dr. Darwin remarks: ‘I was always amused when
overtaking one of these great monsters, as it was quietly pacing along,
to see how suddenly, the instant I passed, it would draw in its head
and legs, and, uttering a deep hiss, fall to the ground with a heavy
sound, as if struck dead. I frequently got on their backs, and then
giving a few raps on the hinder part of their shells, they would rise
up and walk away; but I found it very difficult to keep my balance. The
flesh of this animal is largely employed, both fresh and salted; and
a beautifully clear oil is prepared from the fat. When a tortoise is
caught, the man makes a slit in the skin near its tail, so as to see
inside its body, whether the fat under the dorsal plate is thick. If it
is not, the animal is liberated; and it is said to recover soon from
this strange operation.
In chasing the turtle, a man standing ready in the bow of the boat
dashes through the water upon the turtle’s back; then clinging with
both hands by the shell of its neck, he is carried away till the
animal becomes exhausted and is secured. In the Chagos Archipelago,
the natives, by a horrible process, take the shell from the back
of the living turtle. It is covered with burning charcoal, which
causes the outer shell to curl upwards; it is then forced off with a
knife, and before it becomes cold flattened between two boards. After
this barbarous process, the animal is suffered to regain its native
element, where, after a certain time, a new shell is formed; it is,
however, too thin to be of any service, and the animal always appears
languishing and sickly.
Dampier, in 1684, speaks of three or four kinds of land tortoises being
eaten in the West Indies. ‘One,’ he says, ‘is called by the Spaniards
_Hackatee_, which keep most in fresh-water ponds; they have small
legs and long necks, and flat feet, and commonly weigh betwixt ten
and fifteen pounds. The second sort they call _Tenopen_ (terrapin?),
much less than the former, and something rounder; but for the rest not
unlike them, except that the shell on their backs is naturally coloured
with a curious carved work. Both sorts afford very good meat, and these
last delight in low marshy places, and are in vast numbers at the Isle
of Pines, near Cuba, among the woods.’
Turtle would seem to have been first introduced in England, as an
article of food, about the middle of the 17th century, for a record
in the _Gentleman’s Magazine_, under date August 31, 1753, shows
that it was then a rarity. ‘A turtle, weighing 350 lbs., was ate at
the King’s Arms tavern, Pall Mall; the mouth of an oven was taken
down to admit the part to be baked.’ The locality for eating them
now has been transferred principally to the city; and the Ship and
Turtle, the London Tavern, Birch’s (in Cornhill), and the Guildhall or
Mansion-house, are perhaps the largest depôts of consumption. Steam
communication has greatly increased the imports, which amount to about
15,000 in the year, weighing from one quarter to three hundred weight,
and valued at, probably, £8,000. Not that all these shielded animals
can be called ‘lively’ turtle, for the voyage has very often a damaging
effect upon them.
Turtling is much resorted to by the inhabitants of Grand Cayman, 160
miles north-west from Jamaica. The turtle are now chiefly caught on
the Mosquito coast, or on the South Keys of Cuba, and sold either in
Jamaica or to homeward-bound vessels. Formerly, these valuable animals
were abundant at Grand Cayman itself, but the very reprehensible
practice which has prevailed there, for some years past of making use
of large quantities of their eggs deposited on the shore, has almost
frightened them entirely away.
In an account of Jamaica, published in 1683, we find the following
statement respecting turtle hunting and other articles of food:--
‘Tortoise are taken much on this coast, but chiefly at the island
of Caymanos, thirty leagues to the west of this island, whither the
vessels go May, June, and July, to load of their flesh, that they
pickle in bulk, and take them in that season when they come on shore to
lay their eggs, which they do, and cover them with sand, that hatches
them; and then by instinct they crawl to the sea, where they live, and
feed on weed that grows in the bottom or floats. In many rivers and
ponds of Jamaica, there is vast numbers of crocodiles or allegators,
that is an amphibious creature, and breeds an egg, hatch’d by the sun
in the sand. A tortoise egg is just like the yolk of a hen egg, of
which she lays near a peck at a time; but the allegator but a few, and
are like a turkey’s. Their flesh is not good; they are voracious, and
live on fowls and beasts that they catch by surprise, but seldom or
never hurt any man.
‘Here’s an Indian coney, called racoon, that is good meat; but of a
distasteful shape, being something like an overgrown rat. The snakes in
this island are not at all hurtful, but were eaten by the Indians as
regular as the guanaes are by the Spaniards; it is but small, and of
the shape of an allegator, and the flesh is sweet and tender.’
I was told a story not long ago of a distinguished American politician
from the rural districts, who came to New York, and resolved to give
a splendid dinner to some of his party friends. In order to make sure
that everything should be of the very best quality, he went to the
market himself, and bought first a _turtle_. After taking great pains
to select one of the finest specimens in the lot, and ordering it to be
sent home, he said to the tradesman, by way of making it quite right,
‘This is a right down genuine turtle, aint it?’
‘Oh, certainly,’ was the reply, ‘one of the very best.’
‘Because,’ he added, ‘although I ain’t been in the city long, I ain’t
to be humbugged: it won’t do for you to try to put off any of your
confounded _mock_ turtles on me!’
The turtle dealer stood astounded at his customer’s sharpness.
Sir James E. Alexander calls Ascension ‘the headquarters of the finest
turtle in the world,’ and his account of the operations connected with
turtling in that locality is so interesting that I must copy it.
‘We walked down to the turtle ponds, two large enclosures near the sea,
which flowed in and out through a breakwater of large stones. A gallows
was erected between the two ponds, where the turtle are slaughtered
for shipping, by suspending them by the hind flippers and then cutting
their throats. About 300 turtle of four and five hundred pounds each
lay on the sand or swam about in the ponds--a sight to set an alderman
mad with delight!
‘In the hot weather of January, February, March, and April, the females
land at night, and waddling over the sands in the various bays of the
island, far above high-water mark,--for by a pole in the ponds, the
tide only rises here four feet,--they scrape up, by alternate scoops
of their flippers, a hole deep enough to cover their bodies. Into this
they get, sighing heavily, and deposit from 150 to 200 eggs, cover them
up, leaving them to the sun to hatch; and then waddle again towards
the sea. Two stout hands are, meanwhile, on the look out, watching
the movements of the unfortunate turtle; and, running up to her after
the completion of her task, one seizes a fore flipper and dexterously
shoves it under her belly to serve as a purchase; whilst the other,
avoiding a stroke which might lame him, cants the turtle over on her
back, where she lies helpless. From fifteen to thirty are thus turned
in a night; and 600 had been so captured in the season of 1834.
‘In the bays, when the surf of heavy rollers prevents the boats being
beached to take on board the turtle when caught, they are hauled out to
them by ropes.
‘No ships’ crews are now allowed to turn turtle, which is converted
into a government monopoly; and £2 10_s._ is the fixed price for each.
Strange to say, from the time that the young turtle, the size of a
dollar, are observed scuttling down to the water, they are never seen
again here until they are four or five hundred pounds weight; and how
long they take to attain this great size, and where they spend the
intermediate time, is as yet a mystery. I was surprised to hear that
turtle are kept in the ponds for a year and upwards without a morsel of
food of any kind. They sometimes deposit their eggs in the sand, on the
sides of the ponds; and in due time the little animals are allowed to
make their escape to the sea.
‘One old female called ‘Nelson,’ because one of her flippers had been
carried off by a shark, was kept, out of respect, for two or three
years in the ponds. She contrived, however, one night to crawl round
the enclosure and make her escape; but she was turned next year in
Clarence Bay. Another turtle was also turned there a short time since,
on the back of which was carved the name of a mate of a British vessel,
who had bought it and sailed with it three weeks before; it is probable
that, imagining it to be dead, he had thrown it overboard.
‘The best way to send home turtle from Ascension is, to head them up
in a _sealed_ cask, and have the water changed daily by the bung hole
and a cork. Turtle, though the extremes of heat and cold are equally
injurious to them, should always arrive in hot weather in England.
Thus, an unfortunate captain, on one occasion, took from Ascension
200 turtle, and timing his arrival badly, brought only four alive to
Bristol!’
Humboldt, in his _Personal Narrative_, speaks of the expertness of the
jaguars of South America, who turn the turtle on the beach and devour
them at their ease, emptying the double armour of the arraus, by the
introduction of their supple paws, with greater ingenuity than the most
skilful naturalist could do. They also eat the eggs.
The eggs are of a globular shape, with a soft semi-transparent
calcareous shell. These are much prized whenever they can be procured
as articles of food, both by natives and Europeans. A native will
consume in Brazil as many as twenty or thirty eggs at one meal, and an
European sometimes eats a dozen for breakfast.
Scarcely a thirtieth of the number of young turtles, even if the eggs
are all hatched, reach the sea, or live after they have gained that
element. Birds, and beasts, and alligators, and rapacious fishes, all
prey upon them.
The flesh of the female is held in the greatest estimation, and it is
considered to be in perfection at the time she is about depositing her
eggs. The flesh, the eggs, and certain portions of the intestines,
are often salted and barrelled for shipment to a distance. The eggs
of the turtle, although oily, are very savory, and make an excellent
omelet. The shell does not harden, but is leathery; and the white never
coagulates, but is thrown away and the yolk only eaten. The Indians of
Brazil frequently eat the eggs raw, mixed with their cassava farinha.
Captain William Dampier, in his voyages, tells us, the flesh of
the hawk’s-bill turtle is eaten. ‘The flesh’ (he remarks) ‘is but
indifferent, yet somewhat better than that of the loggerhead. Those
taken betwixt the Sambellas and Portobello, make those that eat their
flesh vomit and purge vehemently. The flesh however differs according
to their food, for those that feed upon moss among the rocks have a
much yellower fat and flesh, and are not so well tasted as those that
feed upon grass.’
Soon after the fall of the waters of the Orinoco, which begins in
February, millions of turtle deposit their eggs among the sand, and
the Indians obtain a rich harvest of food. From the eggs they procure
a rich oil termed ‘_mantega_,’ which is preserved in pots. A good deal
is sent down the Amazon, fully to the value of £2,000, and several
thousand persons are occupied in its preparation.
The eggs are not very large, but about the size of a bantam’s egg. The
stratum of eggs in the sand is ascertained by a pole thrust in, the
mean depth being about three feet, and the harvest of eggs is estimated
like the produce of a well cultivated acre; an acre, accurately
measured, of 120 feet long, and 30 wide, having been known to yield 100
jars of oil. The eggs, when collected, are thrown into long troughs of
water, and being broken and stirred with shovels, they remain exposed
to the sun till the yolk, the oily part, is collected on the surface,
and has time to inspissate; as fast as this oily part is collected
on the surface of the water, it is taken off and boiled over a quick
fire. This animal oil, or tortoise grease, when prepared, is limpid,
inodorous, and scarcely yellow. It is used, not merely to burn in
lamps, but in dressing victuals, to which it imparts no disagreeable
taste. It is not easy, however, to produce oil of turtle’s eggs quite
pure. It has generally a putrid smell, owing to the mixture of addled
eggs. The total gathering of the three shores, between the junction of
the Orinoco with the Apure, where the collection of eggs is annually
made, is 5,000 jars, and it takes about 5,000 eggs to furnish one jar
of oil.
In the Comarca of the Rio Nigro, the value of the turtle oil imported
in 1840 was 6,000 dollars; and from the small town of Barra, on the
Amazon, in 1850, turtle oil of the value of 1818 dollars was sent. It
is filled in pots, of which 1628 were made in Santarrem, a mile above
the mouth of the Tapajos.
Turtle oil is employed for various purposes. In some of the West India
islands, it is used when fresh in the place of butter, or salad oil,
and also for lamps.
The eggs of most of the species are excellent, being both nutritive
and agreeable to the taste; those of the green turtle are especially
fine. The white, or albuminous portion, does not, however, harden on
boiling.
The large tree lizard, popularly termed the guana, (_Iguana
tuberculata_, Laur. Syn. 49) is certainly not very attractive in
appearance, and yet by most persons its flesh is highly esteemed, being
reckoned as delicate as chicken, and but little inferior to turtle in
flavour.
It is about three feet long, from the head to the extremity of the
tail, and covered with a soft skin of a bluish green colour on the back
and legs; on the sides and belly, nearly white. It has a pouch of loose
skin under its throat, of a light green; eyes black; and claws, of
which there are three or five on each foot, sharply pointed. A fringed
skin, or kind of mane, runs along from the head to the tail, which it
erects when irritated, and will then snap hold of anything with great
tenacity; but it is perfectly harmless if undisturbed. The bite is
painful, but is not dangerous.
This ugly-looking tree lizard, which looks like an alligator in
miniature, is considered a great delicacy in most tropical countries.
However white and tender the flesh may be when cooked, when one of its
fore paws happens to stick up in the dish, it reminds one too much of
the allegator to eat it with any great relish.
I know no animal, or rather reptile, whose appearance is so little
calculated to tempt man to eat of its flesh; and yet, despite the
repugnance that results from its looks, neither Ude nor Soyer could
have compounded any dish that would compare to the delicacy of a
well-dressed iguana.
We all know that the turtle is most delicious, yet did we see it for
the first time, we might call it with the rustic ‘a great sea toad.’
The appearance of the turtle does not carry a letter of recommendation
to the kitchen; accordingly, his introduction to the Lord Mayor’s
table was rather tardy, and we learn from Sir Hans Sloane that, at the
beginning of the last century, turtle was only eaten in Jamaica by the
poor.
The poet Gay hath sung, that he must have been a bold man who first
swallowed an oyster:
‘The man had sure a palate covered o’er
With steel or brass, that on the rocky shore
First ope’d the oozy oyster’s pearly coat,
And risked the living morsel down his throat.’
Yet neither turtle nor oyster looks so repugnant, yet tastes so
delicious, as an iguana.
Although often roasted or fricasseed, a frequent native mode of cooking
the iguana is to boil it, taking out the leaves of fat, which are
melted and clarified, and put into a calabash or dish, into which they
dip the flesh of the guana as they eat it.
It was long before the Spaniards could conquer their repugnance to the
guana, the favourite delicacy of the Indians, but which the former
regarded with disgust as a species of serpent. They found it however to
be highly palatable and delicate, and from that time forward, the guana
was held in repute among Spanish epicures. The story is thus related by
Peter Martyn:--
‘These serpentes are like unto crocodiles, saving in bygness; they
call them guanas. Unto that day none of oure men durste adventure to
taste of them, by reason of they’re horrible deformitie and lothsomnes.
Yet the Adelantado being entysed by the pleasantnes of the king’s
sister Anacaona, determined to taste the serpentes. But when he felte
the flesh thereof to be so delycate to his tongue, he fell to amayne
without al feare. The which thynge his companions perceiving, were not
behynde hym in greedynesse: insomuche that they had now none other
talke than of the sweetnesse of these serpentes, which they affirm to
be of more pleasant taste than eyther our phesantes or partriches.’
Pierre Labat gives a minute account of the mode of catching this
reptile, and if the reader has no objection to accompany the good
father _à la chasse_, he may participate in the diversion as
follows:--‘We were attended,’ says he, ‘by a negro who carried a
long rod; at one end of which was a piece of whipcord with a running
knot. After beating the bushes for some time, the negro discovered
our game basking in the sun on the dry limb of a tree. Hereupon he
began whistling with all his might, to which the guana was wonderfully
attentive, stretching out his neck, and turning his head as if to enjoy
it more fully. The negro now approached, still whistling, and advancing
his rod gently, began tickling with the end of it the sides and throat
of the guana, who seemed mightily pleased with the operation, for he
turned on his back and stretched himself out like a cat before the
fire, and at length fell fairly asleep; which the negro perceiving,
dexterously slipt the noose over his head, and with a jerk brought him
to the ground; and good sport it afforded to see the creature swell
like a turkey-cock at finding himself entrapped. We caught others in
the same way, and kept one of them alive seven or eight days; but,’
continues the reverend historian, ‘it grieved me to the heart to find
that he thereby lost much delicious fat.’
Guanas are very large and plentiful on the outlying cays and islands of
the Bahamas. They are hunted with a small kind of hound, and if taken
alive, the mouth is sewed up with twine, and they keep alive a month or
six weeks without food. Nassau, New Providence, the capital is chiefly
supplied from these islands with the guana.
There are several varieties of this reptile in Australia, but that
which is most common is from four to six feet in length, and from about
a foot and a half to two feet across the broadest part of the back,
with a rough dark skin, enlivened by yellow spots. Although perfectly
harmless, as far as the human race are concerned, this huge lizard
is a terrible foe to the smaller quadrupeds--opossums, bandicoots,
kangaroo-rats, &c.,--on which it preys. It is very destructive also
among hen roosts, and often takes up its quarters in the vicinity of a
farm-house for the convenience of supping on the hens and their eggs.
The guana is much sought for and esteemed by the blacks as an article
of food, and is frequently presented as a great delicacy to the young
‘gins.’ By the settlers it is not often eaten, owing to the natural
feeling of dislike which is created by its form and habits. Those,
however, who do not entertain these feelings, or are able to overcome
them, find the flesh of the creature really excellent. It is not unlike
that of a rabbit, to which, in flavour, it is fully equal, and eats
best when stewed or curried.
The guana usually lives in trees, and, on the approach of man, it
invariably makes off with great alacrity, scrambling rapidly up the
nearest trunk; but it is easily brought down by a shot.
Captain Keppel tells us, ‘that while out on a shooting excursion at
Port Essington, he observed a native plucking the feathers off a
goose; while so employed his eye caught the tip-end of the tail of an
iguana, an animal of the lizard kind, about four feet long, which was
creeping up the opposite side of a tree; he tossed the goose, without
further preparation, on to the fire, and ascended the tree as easily as
Jack would run up the well-rattled rigging of a man-of-war. He almost
immediately returned with the poor animal struggling in his scientific
grasp. It was the work of a minute to secure it to a stick of about
the same length as itself to prevent its running away, when it was
made to change places with the goose, which, being warm through, was
considered to be sufficiently done. The whole goose he devoured, making
no bones, but spitting out the feathers. Then came the iguana’s turn,
which, although less tender, was not the less relished. It appeared
to require great muscular strength to detach the flesh from the skin.
The operation being finished, he lay down to sleep. His wife, having
sprinkled him with dirt to keep the flies off, was proceeding to eat
the skin of the iguana, when the arrival of some more geese offered her
a more satisfactory repast.’
The iguana is, I believe, the Talagowa of the natives of Ceylon--_le
Monitor terrestre d’Egypte_ of M. Cuvier. The Indian monitor (_Monitor
dracæna_, Gray) is found in great abundance in all the maritime
provinces of Ceylon. The natives are partial to its flesh. Dr. Kelaart
states that he once tasted some excellent soup made from a tender
guana, which was not unlike hare soup. At Trincomalee they are hunted
down by dogs, and sold in the market for 6_d._ each. They feed on the
smaller reptiles and insects, and measure, when large, four feet five
inches. Despite its repulsive appearance, the iguana is eagerly hunted
for food by the natives of Africa, Australia, America, and Asia.
The eggs of the guana are another article deserving the attention
of gourmands. One of these lizards sometimes contains as many as
four-score eggs. These are about the size of a pigeon’s egg, with a
very soft shell, which contains only a very small quantity of the
albumen. The yolk, unlike that of other eggs, does not become hard and
dry when boiled, but is soft and melting as marrow.
It would be a refreshing sight to see Alderman A., or Sheriff B., or
any other civic dignitary who has gone the round of all the dishes
which native and foreign skill have been able to produce, and to whom
a new combination would convey as much delight as a black tulip or a
blue dahlia would to a horticulturist, partaking for the first time
of _pâté de foie gras de l’hiccatee_, or a dish of the eggs of the
iguana garnished with anchovies. The inhabitants of some of the Pacific
islands esteem the large oval eggs of the lizards as food.
The meat of the _Amblyrynchus subcristatus_, another lizard, when
cooked, is white, and by those whose stomachs rise above all
prejudices it is relished as very good. Humboldt has remarked, that in
intertropical South America, all lizards which inhabit dry regions are
esteemed delicacies for the table.
There are an almost innumerable variety of lizards, properly so
called, in all parts of the colony of New South Wales, and the whole
of the larger kinds are used for food by the blacks, although but
very rarely eaten by the settlers. Those who have eaten them, state
that their flesh resembles that of a fowl. The dragon lizard, or as
it is sometimes called, the frilled lizard, is the most remarkable,
being provided with a large frill, which it has the power of extending
suddenly, and in a rather startling manner, when attacked or alarmed;
it is usually about a foot and a half or two feet long. The Jew
lizards are dark coloured, with a dewlapped and puffy appearance about
the throat and neck, varying in size, but seldom exceeding two feet
in length. The scaly lizards are fierce looking, although harmless,
reptiles, with a spotted scaly hide, generally about a foot long, and
remarkable for having small round club-shaped tails. They are easily
domesticated, but as their appearance is far from attractive, they are
seldom made pets of. The large spiny-backed rock lizard resembles a
guana, the only material points of difference being that it has a heavy
dewlap beneath its chin, and a row of spines along the back from the
head to the tail. The flat-tailed lizard, called by the natives the
Rock Scorpion, is imagined by them to be venomous, although in reality
it is perfectly harmless; it is nocturnal in its habits, and possesses
to a peculiar extent the singular power, which is more or less vested
in all the lizard family, of leaving its tail in the hands of any one
who attempts to capture it by laying hold of that appendage, and of
making off apparently scatheless. The sleeping lizard is in body, as
well as in its sluggish habits, exactly like the terrible death adder,
from which it is only to be distinguished by its short feet.
Many of the lizard family are believed by the settlers to be venomous,
but such is not the case; I believe in fact that no four-footed
reptile has yet been discovered which is possessed of venom.
A remarkable power possessed by the guana, and perhaps by others of
the lizard family, is its power of resisting the poison, ordinarily
most destructive to animal life,--prussic acid. A middling sized guana
took a small bottle of prussic acid, and seemed rather to have been
exhilarated by it than otherwise; it was killed, however, by a dose of
arsenic and spirits of wine.
There is a large, ugly, amphibious lizard, about three feet long,
met with in Guiana, known as the Salempenta, or _El Matêo_, which is
thought (particularly by the Indians) good eating, the flesh being
white and tender. It is, however, much more ugly in appearance than the
guana.
Occasionally large lizards of other kinds, two or three feet in length,
are brought to the Rio market, and they are said to be excellent eating.
In the reign of Cheops, as an Egyptian gentleman curious in poultry,
and famous even there for his success in producing strange birds,
was walking by the river Nile, he met with an egg, which, from its
appearance, he thought promised results out of the common way; so,
picking it up, he took it home, and gave directions for hatching it.
But some time after, on visiting his poultry yard, he found that all
his pets had disappeared, a few feathers only lying scattered about,
whilst a fearful animal rushed upon him open-mouthed. The fact was, _he
had hatched a crocodile_.
Mr. Joseph, in his _History of Trinidad_, tells us, that he has eaten
the eggs of the cayman or alligator, (without knowing what eggs they
were), and found them good. In form and taste they much resemble the
eggs of the domestic hen.
Dr. Buckland, the distinguished geologist, one day gave a dinner, after
dissecting a Mississippi alligator, having asked a good many of the
most distinguished of his classes to dine with him. His house and his
establishment were in good style and taste. His guests congregated.
The dinner-table looked splendid, with glass, china, and plate, and
the meal commenced with excellent soup. ‘How do you like the soup?’
asked the doctor, after having finished his own plate, addressing a
famous gourmand of the day. ‘Very good, indeed,’ answered the other;
‘turtle, is it not? I only ask because I do not find any green fat.’
The doctor shook his head. ‘I think it has something of a musky taste,’
said another; ‘not unpleasant, but peculiar.’ ‘All alligators have,’
replied Buckland; ‘the cayman particularly so. The fellow whom I
dissected this morning----’ At this stage there was a general rout of
the whole guests. Every one turned pale. Half-a-dozen started up from
the table; two or three ran out of the room; and only those who had
stout stomachs remained to the close of an excellent entertainment.
‘See what imagination is!’ said Buckland. ‘If I had told them it was
turtle, or tarrapen, or birdsnest soup, salt-water amphibia or fresh,
or the gluten of a fish, or the maw of a sea bird, they would have
pronounced it excellent, and their digestion been none the worse. Such
is prejudice.’ ‘But was it really an alligator?’ asked a lady. ‘As good
a calf’s head as ever wore a coronet,’ answered Buckland.
The Australian crocodile is more closely allied to the gavial of India
(_Gavialis gangeticus_), but is now often termed, like the American
species, an alligator. It is large and formidable; one captured by
Captain Stokes, in the Victoria River, and described in his published
journal, was fifteen feet long, and some have been taken still larger
than this. Like all animals of its class, the Australian crocodile is a
much more formidable enemy in the water than on shore; but even in the
latter position, it is by no means to be despised, for it progresses
with tolerable speed; and, although it seldom or never attacks a man
openly when out of its own proper element, still it is believed to
have a strong liking for human flesh, when that delicacy can safely
be obtained. One of these creatures paid a visit to a seaman, who was
asleep in his hammock on shore after a hard day’s labour, and being
unable to get conveniently at the man, it managed to drag off and carry
away the blanket which covered him; the sailor at first charged his
comrade with having made him the subject of a practical joke, but the
foot-prints of the huge reptile, and the discovery of the abstracted
blanket in the water, soon showed him the real character of his
nocturnal visitant.
The flesh of the crocodile is white and delicate, resembling veal.
It was a favourite dish among the Port Essington settlers, and among
the seamen employed in the surveys of the northern coast and rivers
of Australia. It is frequently pursued and killed for food by the
aborigines of that part of the country: the plan which they adopt is to
hunt it into some blind creek, when the reptile, finding itself closely
pressed, and no water near, usually forces its head, and perhaps the
upper part of its body in some sand-hole, fancying that it has, by
so doing, concealed itself from its pursuers. In this position it
is despatched with comparative ease. The crocodile makes a terrible
noise by snapping its jaws, particularly when in pain, or when it is
annoyed by the buzzing about its mouth and eyes of the mosquitoes or
other insects, which are found in myriads among the swamps, creeks,
and shallow waters, where it abides; this snapping noise is often a
startling sound to explorers encamping near waters frequented by the
monster.
The aboriginal tribes far to the southward of the localities in which
the crocodile has its habitation, have an imperfect knowledge of the
animal; stories of its voracity and fierceness have probably been
recounted at the friendly meetings of the tribes, and these stories
have in the same manner passed across the continent, changed and
magnified with each new relation, until on reaching the coast tribes of
the south, the crocodile became a nondescript animal of most terrible
form, frightening the blacks and puzzling the whites under the name of
the Bunyip.
In Dongola, at the present day, the crocodile is caught for the sake of
its flesh, which is regarded as a delicacy. The flesh and fat are eaten
by the Berbers, who consider them excellent. Both parts, however, have
a smell of musk so strong that few strangers can eat crocodiles’ flesh
without violent sickness following.
The Rev. Mr. Haensel, in his _Letters on the Nicobar Islands_, tells
us that ‘part of the flesh of the crocodile, or cayman, is good and
wholesome when well cooked. It tastes somewhat like pork, for which I
took it, and ate it with much relish, when I first came to Nancauwery,
till, on inquiry, finding it to be the flesh of a beast so disgusting
and horrible in its appearance and habits, I felt a loathing, which I
could never overcome; but it is eaten by both natives and Europeans.’
The aboriginal natives of Trinidad considered a broiled slice of
alligator as a dainty morsel; and Mr. Joseph, the historian, records
having tasted it, and found it very palatable. Tastes in this, as in
other matters, differ.
Mr. Henry Koster, in his _Travels in Brazil_, says--‘I have been
much blamed by my friends for not having eaten of the flesh of the
alligator, and, indeed, I felt a little ashamed of my squeamishness
when I was shown by one friend a passage in a French writer, whose name
I forget, in which he speaks favourably of this flesh. However, if the
advocate for experimental eating had seen an alligator cut into slices,
he would, I think, have turned from the sight as quickly as I did.’ The
Indians of South America eat these creatures, but none of the negroes
will touch them.
Dr. Madden, in his _Travels in Egypt_, appears to have experimentalized
on the saurians as food--
‘I got’ (he says) ‘a small portion of a young crocodile, six feet long,
broiled, to ascertain its taste. The flavour a good deal resembles
that of a lobster, and, though somewhat tough, it might certainly be
considered very excellent food.’
The spectacled cayman (_Alligator sclerops_) is known under the name of
yacaré, or jacquare, in South America. Azara, the naturalist, tells us
that the eggs of this animal are white, rough, and as large as those
of a goose; they are deposited, to the number of sixty, in the sand,
and covered with dried grass. The Indians of Paraguay, and other
districts, esteem them as food, and also relish the white and savoury
flesh of this alligator, although it is dry and coarse. Cayman is the
Spanish word for alligator, and, according to Walker, alligator is the
name chiefly used for the crocodile in America.
Mr. Wallace thus describes an alligator hunt, as pursued on the lakes
in Mexiana, an island lying off the mouth of the Amazon:--‘A number of
negroes went into the water with long poles, driving the animals to the
side, where others awaited them with harpoons and lassos. Sometimes,
the lasso was at once thrown over their heads, or, if first harpooned,
a lasso was then secured to them, either over the head or the tail, and
they were easily dragged to the shore by the united force of ten or
twelve men. Another lasso was fixed, if necessary, so as to fasten them
at both ends; and, on being pulled out of the water, a negro cautiously
approached with an axe, and cut a deep gash across the root of the
tail, rendering this formidable weapon useless; another blow across the
neck disabled the head; and the animal was then left, and pursuit of
another commenced, which was speedily reduced to the same condition.
‘Sometimes the cord would break, or the harpoon get loose, and the
negroes had often to wade into the water among the ferocious animals
in a very hazardous manner. They were from ten to eighteen feet long,
sometimes even twenty, with enormous mis-shapen heads and fearful
rows of long, sharp teeth. When a number were out on the land, dead
or dying, they were cut open, and the fat, which accumulates in
considerable quantities about the intestines, was taken out, and made
up into packets in the skins of the smaller ones, taken off for the
purpose. After killing twelve or fifteen, the overseer and his party
went off to another lake at a short distance, where the alligators were
more plentiful, and by night had killed nearly fifty. The next day they
killed twenty or thirty more, and got out the fat from the others. In
some of these lakes 100 alligators have been killed in a few days; in
the Amazon or Para rivers it would be difficult to kill as many in
a year. The fat is boiled down into oil and burned in lamps. It has
rather a disagreeable smell, but not worse than train-oil.’
The flesh of the land alligator, as it is termed by the Malays (the
_Hydrosaurus salvator_), which occasionally attains the length of five
or six feet, makes, it is said, good eating, and is much esteemed by
the natives for its supposed restorative and invigorating properties.
At Manila, these creatures are regularly sold in the markets, and fetch
a good price; the dried skin is readily bought by the Chinese, who use
it in some of their indescribable messes of gelatinous soup.
Another species eaten is the _Hydrosaurus giganteus_. Like that of the
_Iguanæ_ of the New World, the flesh of these saurians is delicate
eating, and has been compared to that of a very young sucking pig.
The eggs of all the different kinds of alligators, and there are three
or four distinct species abounding in the Amazon and its tributary
streams, are eaten by the natives, though they have a very strong musky
odour. The largest species of alligator (_Jacare nigra_), reaches a
length of 15 or rarely 20 feet.
Mr. Wallace, in his _Travels_, records, that on one occasion, the
Indians on the Rio Negro supped off a young alligator they had caught
in a brook near, ‘but the musty odour was so strong that I could not
stomach it, and after getting down a bit of the tail, finished my
supper with mingau, or gruel of mandioc.’
Alligators are killed in great numbers in parts of the river Amazon,
for their fat, which is made into oil.
Hernandez states, that the flesh of the Axolotl, an aquatic reptile,
is very agreeable and wholesome. It is the _Siren pisciformis_ of
Shaw; the _Menobranchus pisciformis_, Harl. It is commonly sold in the
markets of Mexico. When dressed after the manner of stewed eels, and
served up, with a stimulating sauce, it is esteemed a great luxury.
The flesh of the sauve-garde or common Teguixin of Brazil (_Teguixin
monitor_ of Gray, _Teius Teguixin_) is eaten, and is said to be
excellent.
The flesh of the common ada of Mr. Gray is accounted excellent by the
natives of Guiana, who compare it to a fowl; its eggs are also in great
request. It is the _Thorictes dracæna_, Bibron; _La grande dragonne_,
Cuvier, and attains the length of four to six feet.
Some species of lizards are used as food in Burmah. One of these
especially, called pada, is stated not to be inferior to a fowl,--this
is probably the iguana. Nearly every species of serpent is eaten there,
after the head has been cut off. All have a fishy taste. Some few
kinds, however, although the teeth are carefully removed, cannot be
used, as the flesh appears to be poisonous.
The flesh of snakes is eaten by many in Dominica, particularly by
the French, some of whom are very fond of it; but it is reckoned
unwholesome, and to occasion the leprosy.
A snake called, by the natives of Western Australia wango, is
particularly liked by them as food.
There is a very venomous yellow-bellied snake, from five to six feet
long, called locally dubyt, which is much dreaded; but that is also
eaten by them.
The formidable lance-headed viper, of the Leeward Islands
(_Trigonocephalus lanceolatus_), feeds chiefly on birds, lizards, and
rats. After swallowing their prey, these snakes exhale a disgusting
odour; this does not prevent the negroes from eating their flesh, which
they find, it is said, free from any unpleasant flavour.
Mr. Buckland, in his interesting volume, _Curiosities of Natural
History_, says, he once had the opportunity of tasting a
boa-constrictor, that had been killed by an accident, and came into his
possession.
‘I tried the experiment,’ he observes, ‘and cooked a bit of him; it
tasted very like veal, the flesh being exceedingly white and firm. If
I had had nothing else, and could have forgotten what I was eating, I
could easily have made a dinner of it.’
The flesh of serpents was held in high repute by the ancients,
medicinally; and, when properly prepared, seems to have made a very
agreeable article of diet, corresponding with the turtle soup of the
present day. Even now, in the French tariff, vipers are subject to a
duty of 4_s._ the cwt.
In Guatemala, there is a popular belief, that lizards eaten alive cure
the cancer. The Indians are said to have made this important discovery;
and in 1780, the subject was investigated by European physicians. I
do not find the remedy in the modern pharmacopœias, nevertheless,
the inhabitants of Amatitlan, the town where the discovery was first
made, still adhere to their belief in its efficacy. The man who first
eat a live oyster or clam, was certainly a venturous fellow, but the
eccentric individual who allowed a live lizard to run down his throat,
was infinitely more so. There is no accounting for taste.
Probably some of our learned physiologists and medical men may be able
to explain the therapeutic effects.
Some of the tribes of Southern Guinea, eat the boa-constrictor, or
python, and consider it delicate food. The more informed among them,
however, regard the practice as peculiarly heathenish. In Ceylon, the
flesh of the anaconda, which is said to devour travellers, is much
esteemed as food by some of the natives.
Who shall determine what is good eating? When we have gone over so many
delicacies, we must not be surprised at men’s eating rattlesnakes, and
pronouncing them capital food. An English writer, who has recently
published a work entitled _A Ride over the Rocky Mountains to Oregon
and California_, in describing the journey across the great desert,
says:--
‘_12th July._--Shot two prairie dogs. Jem killed a hare and
rattlesnake. They were all capital eating, not excepting the snake,
which the parson cooked, and thought it as good as eel!’
The Australian aborigines, and some of the Kafir tribes, commonly eat
snakes roasted in the fire--and stewed snakes may, for aught I know, be
as good as stewed eels.
The Italians regale themselves with a jelly made of stewed vipers.
The Bushman of Africa catches serpents, not only as an article of food,
but to procure poison for his arrows.
Various reliable accounts before me prove that rattlesnakes are not
unfit for food, and may be placed among the multifarious articles
regarded by man as delicacies of the table. The negroes eat the
flesh of the rattlesnake, as well as that of other serpents.
When the skin and intestines are removed, no bad odour remains. A
correspondent of the _Penny Magazine_ thus describes his experience
of fried rattlesnakes, at a tavern in Kaskaskia, a small town on the
Mississippi. He finds there a party of four or five travellers, who had
been on an exploring expedition:--
‘After a brief interview, they politely invited me to partake of the
supper they had already bespoken, informing me, at the same time, that
they considered themselves peculiarly fortunate in having procured
an excellent dish,--in fact, a great delicacy--in a place where they
expected to meet with but indifferent fare. What this great delicacy
was, they did not attempt to explain; and, having without hesitation
accepted of their invitation, I felt no inclination to make any farther
inquiries.
‘When the hour of supper arrived, the principal dish--and, indeed,
almost the only one upon the table--appeared to me to be a dish of
good-sized eels fried. I being the guest of my new acquaintances, had
the honor of being the first served with a plate of what the person
who presided called ‘Musical Jack.’ ‘Musical Jack,’ thought I, is some
species of eel peculiar to the Mississippi and its tributary waters;
and taking it for granted that it was all right, I forthwith began to
ply my knife and fork. ‘Stop,’ said the individual that occupied the
bottom of the table, before I had swallowed two mouthfuls. ‘You, sir,
have no idea, I presume, what you are eating; and since you are our
guest for the time being, I think it but right that you should have no
cause hereafter to think yourself imposed upon. The dish before you,
which we familiarly call ‘Musical Jack,’ is composed of rattlesnakes,
which the hunter who accompanies us in our tour of exploration was so
fortunate to procure for us this afternoon. It is far from the first
time that we have fared thus; and, although our own hunter skinned,
decapitated, and dressed the creatures, it was only through dint of
coaxing that our hostess was prevailed upon to lend her frying-pan for
so vile a purpose.’
‘Although curiosity had on many occasions prompted me to taste strange
and unsavoury dishes, I must confess that never before did I feel such
a loathing and disgust as I did towards the victuals before me. I was
scarcely able to listen to the conclusion of this short address, ere I
found it prudent to hurry out of the room; nor did I return till supper
was over, and ‘Musical Jack’ had either been devoured or dismissed
their presence.
‘As far as I recollect the circumstance, there was nothing peculiar
or disagreeable in the flavour of the small quantity I ate; and when
the subject was calmly discussed on the following day, one of the
party assured me he was really partial to the meat of the rattlesnake,
although some of the other members of his party had not been fully able
to conquer their early-conceived antipathies towards this snake; but
that during their long journey they had been occasionally prevailed
upon to make trial of a small quantity of the flesh, and were willing
to own that had they, been ignorant of its nature, they should have
pronounced it of a quality passably good.
‘Ever afterwards in my visits to Kaskaskia, I narrowly examined every
dish of a dubious character that was placed before me, in order to
satisfy myself that it was not ‘Musical Jack.’’
Dr. Lang, in one of his works, gives us an account of snake cooking in
Australia:--
‘One of the black fellows took the snake, and placing it on the branch
of a tree, and striking it on the back of the head repeatedly with a
piece of wood, threw it into the fire. The animal was not quite dead,
for it wriggled for a minute or two in the fire, and then became
very stiff and swollen, apparently from the expansion of the gases
imprisoned in its body. The black fellow then drew it out of the fire,
and with a knife cut through the skin longitudinally on both sides of
the animal, from the head to the tail. He then coiled it up as a sailor
does a rope, and laid it again upon the fire, turning it over again
and again with a stick till he thought it sufficiently done on all
sides, and superintending the process of cooking with all the interest
imaginable. When he thought it sufficiently roasted, he thrust a stick
into the coil, and laid it on the grass to cool, and when cool enough
to admit of handling, he took it up again, wrung off its head and tail,
which he threw away, and then broke the rest of the animal by the
joints of the vertebræ into several pieces, one of which he threw to
the other black fellow, and another he began eating himself with much
apparent relish. Neither Mr. Wade nor myself having ever previously
had the good fortune to witness the dressing of a snake for dinner by
the black natives, we were much interested with the whole operation;
and as the steam from the roasting snake was by no means unsavoury,
and the flesh delicately white, we were each induced to try a bit of
it. It was not unpalatable by any means, although rather fibrous and
stringy like ling-fish. Mr. Wade observed, that it reminded him of the
taste of eels; but as there was a strong prejudice against the use of
eels as an article of food in the west of Scotland, in my boyhood, I
had never tasted an eel, and was therefore unable to testify to the
correctness of this observation. There was doubtless an equally strong
prejudice to get over in the case of a snake, and for an hour or two
after I had partaken of it, my stomach was ever and anon on the point
of insurrection at the very idea of the thing; but, thinking it unmanly
to yield to such a feeling, I managed to keep it down.’
In a paper which I published in the _Journal of the Society of
Arts_, in October 1856, (vol. 4, p. 872,) I entered very fully into
a description of the various snakes which are met with in different
countries, poisonous or harmless, and to that paper I would refer those
who wish to obtain descriptive details--scientific or general--not
bearing on the subject of food, at present under our consideration.
The consumption of frogs is not, as is very often supposed, confined
to the French. It is now also indulged in, to a considerable extent,
by Americans; and frogs appear to command a high price in the New York
market. An enthusiastic writer tries to convince us, that the only
objection to frogs as an article of diet is a mere prejudice on the
part of those who have never eaten them. ‘In what respect are they
worse than eels? The frog who swallows young birds and ducklings is
surely as clean a feeder as the snake-like creature that dines on
dead dogs, and makes the celebrity of the ait at Twickenham. Or is a
frog less savoury than a rat? And yet what a price was paid for rats
at the siege of Kars! If the garrison could only have been supplied
with lots of frogs--literal or metaphorical--the Russians would never
have taken the place. Again, does a snail--the large escargot, which
people are so fond of in Paris--appear more tempting than a frog? Or
that animal picked out of its shell with a pin, and called, in vulgar
parlance, a winkle. ‘Away, then,’ as indignant orators say, ‘away,
then, with this cant of false delicacy and squeamishness, and the very
first opportunity you have, _O lector fastidioso!_ order _A Dish of
Frogs_. They are quite as good as whitebait, when assisted by a flask
of Rhenish.’
The _Athenæum_, also, recently came out in favour of frogs. ‘There is
no reason,’ it remarks, ‘why we should eschew frogs and relish turtle;
still less is there for our eating one or two of the numerous edible
funguses, which our island produces, and condemning all the rest.’
The green or edible frog (_Rana esculenta_) is a native of Europe,
some parts of Asia, and also of Northern Africa. It is in high request
on the Continent for its flesh, the meat of the hind quarters, which
is alone used, being delicate and well tasted. In Vienna, where the
consumption of these frogs is very considerable, they are preserved
alive, and fattened in froggeries (grenouillières) constructed for the
express purpose.
In America, the flesh of the huge bull-frog (_R. pipiens_, Harl.; _R.
mugiens_, Catesby,) is tender, white, and affords excellent eating.
Some bull-frogs weigh as much as half-a-pound, but the hind legs are
the only parts used as food. They make excellent bait for the larger
cat-fish.
In the Antilles, another huge bull-frog is reared in a state of
domestication for the table. It is the _Rana ocellata_, Linn; _R.
gigas_ of Spix; _Cystignathus ocellatus_, Wagler.
Toads seem also to be eaten by the French, though unwittingly.
Professor Dumeril used to relate, in his lectures at the Jardin des
Plantes, that the frogs brought to the markets in Paris are caught in
the stagnant waters round Montmorenci, in the Bois de Vincennes, Bois
de Boulogne, &c. The people employed in this traffic separate the hind
quarters and legs of the frogs from the body, denude them of their
skin, arrange them on skewers, as larks are done in this country, and
then bring them in that state to market. In seeking for frogs, these
dealers often meet with toads, which they do not reject, but prepare
them in the same way as they would frogs; and, as it is impossible to
determine whether the hind quarters of these creatures, after the skin
is stripped off, belong to frogs or toads, it continually happen that
great numbers of the supposed frogs sold in Paris for food are actually
toads.[18]
This account of the mode of bringing the frogs to market, in Paris,
does not tally with that given by my friend, Mr. F. T. Buckland, in his
_Curiosities of Natural History_; he says:--
‘In France, frogs are considered a luxury, as any _bon vivant_ ordering
a dish of them at the _Trois Frères_, at Paris, may, by the long price,
speedily ascertain. Not wishing to try such an expensive experiment in
gastronomy, I went to the large market in the Faubourg St. Germain,
and enquired for frogs. I was referred to a stately-looking dame at
a fish-stall, who produced a box nearly full of them, huddling and
crawling about, and occasionally croaking as though aware of the fate
to which they were destined. The price fixed was two a penny, and
having ordered a dish to be prepared, the _Dame de la Halle_ dived her
hand in among them, and having secured her victim by the hind legs, she
severed him in twain with a sharp knife; the legs, minus skin, still
struggling, were placed on a dish; and the head, with the fore-legs
affixed, retained life and motion, and performed such motions that the
operation became painful to look at. These legs were afterwards cooked
at the _restaurateur’s_, being served up fried in bread crumbs, as
larks are in England; and most excellent eating they were, tasting more
like the delicate flesh of the rabbit than anything else I can think
of. I afterwards tried a dish of the common English frog, but his flesh
is not so white nor so tender as that of his French brother.’
The Chinese seem also to appreciate frogs, for Mr. Fortune, in
describing a Chinese market, says--
‘Frogs seemed much in demand. They are brought to market in tubs and
baskets, and the vender employs himself in skinning them as he sits
making sales. He is extremely expert at this part of his business. He
takes up the frog in his left hand, and with a knife, which he holds
in his right, chops off the fore part of its head. The skin is then
drawn back over the body and down to the feet, which are chopped off
and thrown away. The poor frog, still alive, but headless, skinless,
and feetless, is then thrown into another tub, and the operation is
repeated on the rest in the same way. Every now and then the artist
lays down his knife, and takes up his scales to weigh these animals
for his customers, and make his sales. Everything in this civilised
country, whether it be gold or silver, geese or frogs, is sold by
weight.’
According to Seba and Madame Merian, the negroes eat the flesh of the
Surinam toad (_Pipa Surinamensis_).
Frogs or toads of an enormous size (_Crapaux_) are very numerous
in Dominica, and much esteemed as an article of food; the flesh,
when fricasseed, being preferred by the English, as well as French,
to chickens; and, when made into soup, recommended for the sick,
especially in consumptive cases.
Wallace, in his _Travels on the Amazon_, tells us, ‘his Indians went
several times early in the morning to the gapo to catch frogs, which
they obtained in great numbers, stringing them on a sipo, and boiling
them entire, entrails and all, and devoured them with much gusto. The
frogs are mottled of various colours, have dilated toes, and are called
jui.’
The eating of frogs seems to be indulged in in the Philippines, for a
traveller tells us that--
‘After the rains there may generally be procured, by those who like
them, frogs, which are taken from the ditch round the walls in great
numbers, and are then fat and in good condition for eating, making a
very favourite curry of some of the Europeans, their flesh being very
tender.’[19]
FISH.
More than two-thirds of our globe being covered by the waters of
the ocean, and of the remaining third a great part being washed by
extensive rivers, or occupied by lakes, ponds, or marshes, these
watery realms, teeming with life, furnish man with a great variety of
food. Some of these have already passed under consideration in the
reptilia, and others in the great class mammalia, as seals, morses, and
manatees, which can remain at no great distance from the sea, together
with whales, which never leave it, though constantly obliged, by the
nature of their respiration, to seek its surface.
Mollusca, crustacea, annelides, and zoophytes are almost peculiar to
this element, having but few scattered representatives on earth; but,
amidst all its varied inhabitants, there are none more exclusively
confined to its realms, none that rule them with such absolute sway,
none more remarkable for number, variety of form, beauty of colour,
and, above all, for the infinite advantages which they yield to man,
than the great class of fishes. In fact, their evident superiority
has caused their name to pass as a general appellation to all the
inhabitants of the deep. Whales are called fish, crabs are called
shell-fish, and the same term is used to denote oysters; though the
first are mammalia, the second articulata, and the third mollusca.
Milton has well described the abundance of fish--
----‘Each creek and bay,
With fry innumerable swarm and shoals
Of fish, that with their fins and shining scales,
Glide under the green waves; * * *
* * * part single, or with mate
Graze the sea-weed, their pasture, and through groves
Of coral stray; or sporting, with quick glance,
Show to the sun their way’d coats dropp’d with gold.’
The modes of preserving fish are various; they are salted and dried,
smoked and potted, baked or marinated, preserved in oil, and pounded in
a dry mass.
Several savage nations possess the art of preparing fish in a great
variety of ways, even as a kind of flour, bread, &c.
Dr. Davy, commenting upon the remarkable facts respecting the exemption
of fish-eating persons from certain diseases, suggests that there is
undoubtedly something in the composition of fish which is not common to
other articles of food, whether vegetable or animal. He believes this
consists of iodine. He says, that in all instances in which he sought
for this substance in _sea fish_ he has found it; and also traces of it
in migratory fish, but not in _fresh-water fish_.
The trials he made were limited to red gurnard, mackerel, haddock,
common cod, whiting, sole, ling, herring, pilchard, salmon, sea-trout,
smelt, and trout.
The experiment was as follows.--He dried and charred, lixiviated,
reduced to ashes, and again washed from a quarter of a pound to a pound
of fish.
A good deal of limy matter was afforded from the washings of the
charcoal of the sea fish.
The saline matter was principally common salt, had a pretty strong
alkaline reaction, and by the blue hue produced by starch and _aqua
regia_, afforded a clear proof of the presence of iodine. Only a slight
trace was detected in the fresh-water salmon, sea-trout, and smelt. In
the spent salmon descending to the sea, only just a perceptible trace
was observable, and no trace in either parr or trout.
Dr. Davy states further, that he has detected it in an unmistakable
manner in the common shrimp; also in the cockle, mussel, oyster, crab,
&c.; nor is this remarkable, considering that it enters into the
greater part of the food of fishes.
He observes, also, that cod liver oil is well established as an
alterative or cure of pulmonary consumption, and as this oil contains
iodine, the inference is, that sea fish, generally, may be alike
beneficial. The practical application of this inquiry is obvious. A
suggestion is also made as to the efficacy of drying fish, even without
salt, the drying being complete to the exclusion of even hydroscopic
water, for the use of the explorer and traveller.
The inference as to the salutary effects of fish depending on the
presence of iodine, in the prevention of tubercular disease, might
be extended to _goitre_, which it is known has already yielded to
iodine. This formidable complaint appears to be completely unknown to
the inhabitants of sea-ports and sea-coasts. Respecting another and
concluding question, viz., the different parts of fish, it is to be
remarked that, so far as experiments have gone, the effects will not
be the same from all parts of the fish, because the inorganic elements
are not the same. The examples chosen are the liver, muscle, roe, or
melt. In the ash of the liver and muscle of sea-fish, Dr. Davy always
found a large proportion of saline matter, common salt, abounding,
with a minute portion of iodine, rather more in the liver than the
muscle, and free alkali, or alkali in a state to occasion an alkaline
reaction, as denoted by test-paper; whilst in the roe or melt there has
been detected very little saline matter, no trace of iodine, nor of
free alkali; on the contrary, a free acid, viz., phosphorus, analogous
to what occurs in the yolk of an egg, and in consequence of which it
is very difficult to digest either the roe or melt of a fish, or the
yolk of an egg. The same conclusion on the same ground is applicable to
fresh-water fish, viz., the absence of iodine.
A very common North American dish is chowder, which is thus prepared:--
Fry brown several slices of pork; cut each fish into five or six
pieces; flour, and place a layer of them in your pork fat; sprinkle
on a little pepper and salt; add cloves, mace, and sliced onions; if
liked, lay on bits of the fried pork, and crackers soaked in cold
water. Repeat this till you put in all the fish; turn on water just
sufficient to cover them, and put on a heated bake pan lid. After
stewing about 20 minutes, take up the fish, and mix two teaspoonfuls of
flour with a little water, and stir it into the gravy, adding a little
pepper and butter. A tumbler of wine, catsup, and spices will improve
it. Cod and bass make the best chowder. In making clam chowder, the
hard part of the clam should be cut off and rejected.
Fish glue consists almost wholly of gelatine; 100 grains of good dry
isinglass, containing rather more than 98 of matter soluble in water.
Isinglass may be obtained from many fish. Jackson states, that the
sounds of cod afford it; and that the lakes of America abound with
fish, from which the very finest isinglass may be obtained. This
substance is best prepared in summer, as frost impairs the colour, and
deprives it of weight and of gelatinous principle.
It is made into jellies and blanc-manger, by the cook and confectioner,
and with some sort of balsam, spread on silk, forms the court-plaister
of the shops.
Fish maws are the dried stomachs of fishes, like our cod’s sounds,
which being considered a great luxury by the Chinese, and as possessing
strengthening and aphrodisiac properties, are brought over in the junks
from the Indian islands.
Crawford states, that they often fetch upwards of £14 per cwt. in the
Canton market. The exports of fish maws from Bombay average from 1500
to 2500 cwts. per annum; from Madras, about 50 cwts.; and from Bengal
about 4,000 lbs.
Caviar is the common name for a preparation of the dried spawn, or
salted roe of fish. The black caviar is made from the roe of sturgeon,
and a single large fish will sometimes yield as much as 120 lbs. of
roe. A cheaper and less prized red kind is obtained from the roe of
the gray mullet, and some of the carp species, which are common in
the rivers, and on the shores of the Black Sea. Caviar is principally
consumed in Russia, Germany, and Italy, by the Greeks, during their
long fasts, and also in small quantities in England. Inferior caviar
is made into small, dry cakes. One thousand cwt. of caviar has been
shipped from Odessa in a single season, and from Astracan, about 30,000
barrels. The produce of caviar from the Caspian sea, some years ago,
was as much as a million and a half of pounds.
A preparation called botargo is made on the coasts of the Mediterranean
from the spawn of a kind of fine mullet of a red color. The best is
said to be made at Tunis, but it is also common in Sicily.
The dried roe of an enormous species of shad, which frequents the great
river of Siak in Sumatra, constitutes an article of commerce in the
East. According to Dr. Richardson, very good bread may be made from
the roe of the pollack, an ocean fish (_Gadus pollachius_), found on
both sides of the Atlantic, and in the Indian seas: on the British
coasts it is often termed the cod-fish; and when young, the whiting
pollack. In North America, this fish is so plentiful that it is salted
and sold by the quintal like cod or ling.
The Chinook Indians of the Columbia rivers are very fond of herrings’
roes, which they collect in the following manner:--They sink cedar
branches to the bottom of the river, in shallow places, by placing upon
them a few heavy stones, taking care not to cover the green foliage, as
the fish prefer spawning on anything green, and they literally cover
all the branches by next morning with spawn. The Indians wash this off
in their water-proof baskets, to the bottom of which it sinks; this
is squeezed by the hand into little balls and then dried, and is very
palatable.
The large roe of the Callipeva fish, already alluded to, is considered
a delicacy in the West Indies. The mode of curing it differs widely
from that in which the roe of the sturgeon and the sterlet is prepared.
The following is the account given by Goldsmith, in his _History of
the Earth and Animated Nature_, of the way in which the latter is
manufactured:--
‘They take the spawn, and freeing it from the small membranes that
connect it together, they wash it with vinegar, and afterwards spread
it to dry upon a table; they then put it into a vessel with salt,
breaking the spawn with their hands, and not with a pestle. This
done, they put it into a canvas bag, letting the liquor drain from
it. Lastly, they put it into a tub with holes at the bottom, so that
if there be any moisture still remaining, it may run out; then it is
pressed down and covered up for use.’
Very different is the manner adopted by the Spaniards in Central
America in curing the roe of the callipeva. They do it in this
wise:--First, they rub the roe well with salt and a little nitre, then
they put a number of them one upon another, and compress them by means
of a heavy weight. After this, they make an altar of green boughs,
covering the top also with green branches traversing each other. The
inside being filled with straw and fresh leaves, which are ignited,
they place the roes on the top and cover them well up likewise with
green boughs. They are allowed to remain there six or seven days,
during which time the fire keeps smouldering and sending up a thick
smoke which is concentrated upon the roes by the upper layer of
branches. This they call barbecuing. The membraneous covering of the
roe is not taken off, consequently it will keep for a long time, the
air being entirely excluded from it. When the roe is eaten, it should
be cut in very thin slices. The outer coating should not be taken off,
but rubbed clean with a dry napkin.
In New Caledonia, the natives are said to eat the roe of the _Salmo
scouleri_ mixed with rancid oil, which, in their estimation, gives
the savoury morsel additional flavour. The smell alone is said by
a traveller to be so nauseous as to prevent any but a native from
partaking of it, unless severely pressed with hunger.
Dr. Richardson tells us that, when well bruised and mixed with a little
flour, the roe of the methy (_Lotha maculosa_) can be baked into very
good biscuits, which are used in the fur countries as tea-bread.
Among the Anglo-Saxons and in the middle ages, fish of almost every
kind were eaten, including many now thought unwholesome. Whales, when
accidentally taken on our coasts, appear in those early times to have
been also salted for food; an allowance is entered, amongst the other
expenses of John de Lee, Sheriff of Essex and Herts, for guarding a
whale taken off Mersey Island; for emptying of casks to put it in; for
salt to salt it; and for carrying it to the court of Stamford.
Brand states porpoises to have been sold for food in the Newcastle
market as late as 1575. Sturgeon, and in the northern nations, whales,
were early reserved as royalties; and in England, whales and great
sturgeons taken in the sea were, by the Act 17 Edward II., to be the
king’s, except in certain privileged places. In the dinner bills of the
Goldsmiths’ Company, besides the ordinary fish, we find blote-fish,
jowls and middles of sturgeons, salt lampreys, congers, pike, bream,
bass, tench, and chub, a seal, and porpoise mentioned.
The red herring is included in an inquisition 28 Henry III.; and the
Act of Parliament 31 Edward III., called the _Statute of Herrings_,
shows the great request in which this most useful article of food was
then held by the English.
Herrings by the _last_, or 10,000, were sent from Hull to London, and
from Yarmouth to Hull, as also red herrings, in the time of Edward I.
The tariff of prices of fish, fixed by the same king, acquaints us with
the rates at which the various kinds were sold. It limits the best
soles to 3_d._ per dozen; the best turbot to 6_d_.; the best mackerel
in Lent to 1_d._ each; the best pickled herrings to twenty the penny;
fresh oysters to 2_d._ per gallon; a quarter of a hundred of the best
eels to 2_d._; and other fish in proportion. ‘Congers, lampreys, and
sea-hogs,’ are enumerated. Mackerel are first mentioned in 1247, as
allowed to certain religions on the third day of the Rogation, and are
noticed as a metropolitan cry in the ballad of _London Lickpenny_;[20]
and ‘stokfish, salt fische, whyt herring, réde herring, salt salmon,
salt sturgeon, salt eels, &c.,’ are mentioned as common provisions in
the Earl of Northumberland’s household, in the reign of Henry VII.; and
then formed part of every meal. Thus, ‘for my Lord and Ladie’s table,’
is to be bought, ‘ij pecys of salt fische, vj pecys of salt fische, vj
becormed herryng, iiij white herryng, or a dish of sproots.’ And these
breakfasts of salt fish extended through the household, whose separate
departments, and the way they were to be served with this article, both
in and out of Lent, are particularized, and afford a curious picture of
the style of living in the ancient Catholic periods, and of the amazing
use and consumption of salt-fish. In short, it formed part of the
allowances of the King and the Nobility, of monastic establishments,
and of all ranks of society.
The fish ordinaries still kept up at the taverns at Billingsgate, where
all kinds of fish in season may be partaken of for a moderate charge at
fixed hours, are but a continuation of a very old practice, although
the locality is removed; for Stow tells us that Knightrider street,
was famous ‘_for fish and fish dinners_;’ and he derives the name of
Friday-street from fishmongers dwelling there and serving the _Friday_
markets.
Philip II. of Spain, the consort of Queen Mary gave a whimsical
reason for not eating fish. ‘They are,’ said he, ‘nothing but element
congealed, or a jelly of water.’
The broth or jelly of fish, which is usually thrown away, will be found
one of the most nourishing animal jellies that can be obtained. It is
a pity that those who find it difficult to obtain a sufficiency of
nourishing food should not be aware of this, as they might thereby make
a second meal of what otherwise yields but one. Supposing a poor family
to buy a dinner of plaice, which is a cheap fish--the plaice would be
boiled and the meat of the fish eaten, and the liquor and bones of the
fish thrown away. Now, let the good housewife put the remains of the
fish into the liquor and boil for a couple of hours, and she will find
she has something in her pot, which, when strained off, will be as good
to her as much of that which is sold in the shops as ‘gelatine.’ This
she may use as a simple broth, or she may thicken it with rice, and
flavor it with onion and pepper, and have a nourishing and satisfying
meal; or, should she have an invalid in her family, one-third of milk
added and warmed with it, would be nourishing and restoring.
Dr. Davy, in his _Angler and his Friend_, tells us, ‘There is much
nourishment in fish, little less than in butcher’s meat, weight for
weight; and in effect it may be more nourishing, considering how, from
its softer fibre, fish is more easily digested. Moreover, there is, I
find, in fish--sea-fish--a substance which does not exist in the flesh
of land-animals, viz., iodine--a substance which may have a beneficial
effect on the health, and tend to prevent scrofulous and tubercular
disease, the latter in the form of pulmonary consumption, one of the
most cruel and fatal with which civilized society, and the highly
educated and refined are afflicted. Comparative trials prove that,
in the majority of fish, the proportion of solid matter--that is,
the matter which remains after perfect desiccation, or the expulsion
of the aqueous part--is little inferior to that of the several kinds
of butcher’s meat, game or poultry. And, if we give our attention to
classes of people--classed as to quality of food they principally
subsist on--we find that the ichthyophagous class are especially
strong, healthy, and prolific. In no class than that of fishers do we
see larger families, handsomer women, or more robust and active men, or
greater exemption from maladies just alluded to.’
In the pastry cooks’ shops of Russia, the tempting morsel offered to
Russian appetites is the _piroga_, an oily fish-cake. Little benches
are ranged round tables, on which the favourite dainty is placed,
covered over with an oily canvass, for it must be eaten hot. A large
pot of green oil and a stand of salt are in readiness, and, as soon as
a purchaser demands a piroga, it is withdrawn from its cover, plunged
into the oil, sprinkled with salt, and presented dripping to the
delighted Muscovite.
‘In some countries, fish, when tainted or even putrid is preferred to
that which is fresh. The inhabitants of the banks of the Senegal and
Orange rivers pound some small fish of the size of sprats in a wooden
mortar, as they are taken from the stream, and afterwards make them up
into conical lumps, like our sugar-loaves, which they dry in the sun.
In this state, they soon become slightly decomposed, and give out a
most unpleasant odour; notwithstanding which, these people consider
them a luxury, and eat them dissolved in water, mixed with their
kouskoussoo, or dough. Fish, prepared in a somewhat similar manner, is
eaten by the Indians on the banks of the Orinoco.[21]’
In Beloochistan, the inhabitants feed almost entirely on fish; and
their cattle are also fed on dried fish and dates mixed together.
No one who has observed a boiled fish upon the table can have passed
unremarked the spinal column with its upward and downward processes,
and the four transverse strips of flesh, adjusted alternately in
different directions with strong semi-transparent tendons between. The
spinous processes, proceeding from the vertebræ upward, support the
dorsal fins, whilst the transverse processes downward, with curved
bones, encircle partially the bulk of the body. Without being ribs,
these latter resemble ribs. Those placed far forward represent the
proper thoracic ribs of fishes, but have no direct connexion with the
spine. There are other rib-like bones behind. These are abdominal
appendages; very numerous in some fishes, such as the herrings,
and very few,--and those few conveniently large,--in others, such
as the perches and labruses. They are wanting in several of the
osseous tribes, such as the Diodons and Tetradons, and are altogether
non-existent in the cartilaginous fishes. It is from this fact--that
so many of the West Indian fishes belong to the Percoid and Labroid
families--that persons are so seldom troubled with what are called by
the cook, ‘bony fishes.’--Hence, very little annoyance is experienced
from the bones in the fish dishes there.
Very serious consequences have often arisen from eating fish or
molluscs, which are poisonous or in an unhealthy state. All
Ostraceans, Diodons, and Tetradons, are deleterious, and are to be
treated as objectionable, if not absolutely dangerous fishes.
Every one acquainted with the bad reputation of the common mussel
(_Mytilus edulis_) knows also the symptoms produced by the hurtful
qualities of it, even when cooked--for it is not generally, like the
oyster, eaten raw.
The mussels would seem to owe this injurious quality to feeding on the
spawn of the star-fish (_Asteria_).
There are many persons who break out with irritative eruptions after
eating certain descriptions of shell-fish, though they injure no other
idiosyncrasies--others again are subject to diarrhœa from fish-diet,
though the same food be harmless to other persons.
Almost all fishes are unwholesome at certain seasons, and hence the
regulations laid down for the vend of oysters, lobsters, salmon, &c.,
only in prescribed periods. Science, in searching to determine the
reason why this is the case, encounters certain wholesale occurrences
which are due to some general, but at the same time, very specific
causes. Mackerel sold in the New York market occasionally produce
poisonous effects; and London is sometimes supplied with unwholesome
salmon in large quantities.
Dr. Burroughs, in a paper on _Poisonous Fishes_, published last year in
a Jamaica journal, remarks:
‘There are five obvious circumstances to be taken into consideration in
the incidents of fish-poison.
‘1st. The existence of a _sanies_, from some disorder indicated in the
living tissues of the animal.
‘2ndly. A natural deleteriousness in the flesh, without reference to a
state of disease.
‘3rdly. The adventitious presence of something deleterious in the fish,
from the food recently eaten.
‘4thly. The injury resulting from cooking fish with such large organs
as the liver unextracted,--the liver being at all times dangerous as
food in some particular fishes.
‘5thly. The poisonous putrefaction known to prevail in some fishes
after 24 hours keeping. Morbid action set up in the healthy animal body
that receives the putrefactive poison being indicated by oppression,
nausea, giddiness, and general prostration.’
We might add a 6th,--the known existence of an irritating
fluid,--issuing from the surface of some fishes of peculiar structure.
We know that fish liver contains an enormous quantity of oil; that
fish oil is an important article of commerce, and fish liver oil is a
valuable medicine; but we know beside, that these oils, in a corrupt
state, are active poisons. Hence, we may infer that the liver is a
great operator in the injury done by the deleterious fishes, and if
we but knew all the genera in which the gall bladder is wanting, we
might arrive at some rule for estimating the possible development of
those prejudicial fluids that mingle from the liver with fish-flesh in
cooking.
We must not overlook, when speaking of fish-liver, the adventure
of Tobias and the Angel at the River Tigris, in chap. vi. of the
Apocryphal Tobit. The heart and liver of the fish they took were a
charm against evil spirits, and the gall was a salve for blind eyes;
the one was used successfully in the nuptial chamber of Sarah, the
daughter of Ragual, and the other as an ointment in restoring the
sight of the blind Tobit. The two incidents are thus related. Ch.
viii.--‘Tobias took the ashes of the perfumes, and put the heart and
the liver of the fish thereupon, and made a smoke therewith--the which
smell when the evil spirit had smelled, he fled into the utmost parts
of Egypt, and the angel bound him.’ Ch. xi.--‘Tobit stumbled, and his
Son Tobias ran unto him, and strake of the gall on his Father’s eyes,
and when his eyes began to smart, he rubbed them, and the whiteness
pilled away from the corners of his eyes.’
There are but few natural orders of fishes--and they divide themselves
for the purposes of our enquiry chiefly into the _Acanthopterygii_,
or those that possess bony skeletons, with prickly, spinous processes
on the dorsal fins, such as the perch, the mullet, and the gurnard;
the _Malacopterygii_, or soft-finned fishes, including the carp, the
salmon, &c.; and the _Chondropterygii_, with cartilaginous spines and
bones, embracing such fish as the sturgeon, shark, and skate. Instead
of describing or specifying them in consecutive order, it will perhaps
be better to take a glance at the fishes of different seas, at least,
as far as they are held in any repute as food. Many of the most common
must, however, be passed over without notice.
It is strange how little attention, (comparatively speaking,) is paid
even to our coast fisheries, and especially those of our colonies.
Fisheries have been called the agriculture of the sea. Raleigh
attributes the wealth and power of Holland, not to its commerce or
carrying trade, but to its fisheries. Mirabeau was of the like opinion;
De Witt held the same; and Franklin seemed to prefer the fisheries of
America to agriculture itself. A great nursery of the marine is by
this means best supported, from whence a constant supply of men, inured
to the perils of the sea and the inclemency of the weather, is always
ready for the maritime service of their country. Fishing has been
celebrated from the earliest times, as being the prelude, and if I may
be allowed the expression, the apprenticeship of navigation; offering,
from the line to the harpoon, more amusement with less fatigue than
perhaps any other species of pursuit, and occupying the smallest
boat up to ships of great burthen; thus drawing forth the means of
subsistence and profit to an infinite number of persons.
The ocean fish are generally very dry eating.
In eating the flesh of the bonito, it is necessary to lard it well, as
its flesh is very dry.
The flesh of the tunny of the Atlantic is something like veal, but
dryer and more firm.
That of the dolphin was formerly held in great esteem. It is also,
however, very dry and insipid; the best parts are those near the head.
It is seldom eaten now at sea, except when the fish caught happens to
be young and tender.
In the Maldive Islands, the bonito is preserved in the following
manner:--
The back bone is taken out, the fish laid in the shade, and
occasionally sprinkled with sea water. After a certain period has
elapsed, the fish is wrapped up in cocoa-nut leaves, and buried in
sand, where it becomes hard. Fish thus prepared is known in Ceylon, and
perhaps over all India, by the name of _cummelmums_. The pieces of this
fish brought to the market have a horny hardness. It is rasped upon
rice to render it savoury.
The Havana is, I believe, the only place where the flesh of the shark
is exposed for sale in the markets, although it is often tasted at sea
by the curious.
The shark, judging by an European palate, is not good eating; the
flesh is dry and of an acid taste. The fins and tail are, however,
very glutinous, and are the portions most relished by the seamen; and
dried, they form an article of commerce to China, where they are used
in soups, and considered an excellent aphrodisiac.
‘How thankful we ought to be to a bountiful Providence, who has created
all things for us richly to enjoy,’ observed an alderman at the last
great city dinner, whilst sumptuously regaling on turtle soup, crimped
cod, with oyster sauce, and other delicacies. ‘The beasts of the earth,
the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea,’ he continued, ‘were
all created for the use of man.’
‘Very true,’ replied his next friend, ‘but if you had witnessed the
hair-breadth escape which I experienced of being devoured alive by a
shark, when in the West Indies, you would have been satisfied that the
horrible monster entertained just the opposite opinion. He believed
that man was created for him!’
Sharks, which are very numerous there, form a common article of food
with the Gold Coast negroes, and hippopotami and alligators are
occasionally eaten.
Mr. George Bennett informs us, that ‘the shark is eaten eagerly by the
natives of the Polynesian Islands; and I have often seen them feasting
on it in a raw state, when they gorge themselves to such an excess as
to occasion vomiting.’
It is not an unfrequent source of illness among these islanders, and
they suffer so much in consequence, as to lead them to suppose that
their dissolution is nigh: but they cannot be persuaded that the
eating of raw fish is the cause. An emetic soon removes the symptoms
by removing the cause, and the sufferer considers the cure as almost
miraculous. Sharks are caught on the New Zealand shores in great
numbers, during the months of November, December, and January, by the
natives, who use them as an article of food.
Shark hunting is most exciting sport.
He who has hooked the fish holds tight--like grim Death on his
victim; and if you watch his face you will see powerful indication
of excitement, mental and muscular; his teeth are set, his colour is
heightened, the perspiration starts on his brow, while something like
an oath slips through his lips as the cord, strained to the utmost,
cuts into the skin of his empurpled fingers: he invokes aid, and with
his feet jammed against stretcher, thwart, or gunwale, gradually
shortens his hold. Meanwhile, the others, seizing lance and gaff-hook,
stand by to assist the overtasked line, as the monster, darting hither
and thither in silvery lightnings beneath the translucent wave, is
drawn nearer and nearer the surface. ‘My eyes, he’s a whopper!’
cries the excited young boatman. ‘He’s off!’ shouts another, as the
shark makes a desperate plunge under the boat, and the line, dragged
through the hands of the holder, is again suddenly slackened. ‘He’s
all right, never fear--belay your line a bit, sir, and look here,’
says the old fisherman. And sure enough there is the huge fish clearly
visible, about ten feet under the keel of the boat, and from stem to
stern about the same length as herself. ‘Now, sir, let’s have him
up.’ And the instant the line is taut, the shark shoots upwards,
his broad snout showing above the surface, close to the boat. Then
comes a scene of activity and animation indeed. The fish, executing
a series of summersaults, and spinning, gets the line into a hundred
twists, and if once he succeed in bringing it across his jaws above
the chain links--adieu to both fish and tackle. But, in the midst
of a shower-bath, splashed up by the broad tail of the shark, both
lance and gaff are hard at work. He is speared through and through,
his giant struggles throwing waves of bloody water over the gunwales
of the little boat; the gaffs are hooked through his tough skin, or
within his jaws--for he has no gills to lay hold on; a shower of blows
from axe, stretcher, or tiller, falls on his devoted head, and, if not
considered too large, heavy, or dangerous, he is lugged manfully into
the centre of the boat, and, threshing right and left with his tail
to the last, is soon dispatched. A smart blow a few inches above the
snout is more instantly fatal than the deepest stab. The school-shark
is dealt with as above. But if the ‘grey-nurse,’ or old solitary shark
be hooked, the cable is cut, or the grapnel hauled on board, and he is
allowed to tow the boat as he darts away with the line. The tables,
however, are soon turned upon him; and after being played (as this
cruel operation in fishing is blandly styled) for a while, until some
portion of his vast strength is exhausted, the line is drawn over a
roller in the stern of the boat, the oars are set to work, and, towed
instead of towing, the shark is drawn into some shallow cove near the
shore, where his bodily powers avail him less than in deeper water; and
after a fierce resistance, and some little risk to his assailants, he
falls a victim to their attack. Man has as innate an horror of a shark
as he has of a snake, and he who has frequented tropical climates, felt
the absolute necessity of bathing, had his diurnal plunge embittered
by the haunting idea of the vicinity of one of these sea-pests,
and has occasionally been harrowed by accidents arising from their
voracity--feels this antipathy with double force. There is, therefore,
a species of delightful fury, a savage excitement, experienced by the
shark-hunter, that has no affinity with the philosophy of Old Isaak’s
gentle art. He revels in the animated indulgence of that cruelty which
is inherent in the child of wrath; and the stings of conscience are
blunted by the conviction that it is an act of justice, of retribution,
of duty, he is engaged in, not one of wanton barbarity. These were
precisely my own sensations when, drenched to the skin with showers of
salt water, scorched to blisters by the burning sun, excoriated as to
my hands, covered with blood, and oil, and dirt, and breathless with
exertion, I contemplated the corpse of my first shark. Tiger-hunting
is a more princely pastime; boar-hunting in Bengal Proper the finest
sport in the world; fox-hunting an Englishman’s birthright; the chase
of the moose is excellent for young men strong enough to drag a pair
of snow shoes five feet long upon their toes; and Mr. Gordon Cumming
tells you how man may follow the bent of his organ of destructiveness
on the gigantic beasts of South Africa: shark-fishing is merely the
best sport to be had in New South Wales; and affords a wholesome
stimulation to the torpid action of life in Sydney. The humane or
utilitarian reader will be glad to hear that the shark is not utterly
useless after death. The professional fishermen extract a considerable
quantity of excellent oil from the liver; and the fins cut off, cured,
and packed, become an article of trade with China--whose people, for
reasons best known to themselves, delight in gelatinous food. The most
hideous to behold of the shark tribe is the wobegong, or woe-begone
as the fishermen call it. Tiger-shark is another of the names of this
fish. His broad back is spotted over with leopard-like marks; the
belly is of a yellowish white; but to describe minutely so frightful
a monster would be a difficult and ungracious task. Fancy a bloated
toad, elongated to the extent of six or seven feet, and weighing some
20 stone; then cut off his legs, and you have a flattering likeness of
the wobegong--two of which we killed this day. A heavy sluggish fish,
he lies in wait for his prey at the edge of some reef of rocks, or bank
of sea-weed; swallows the bait indolently; appears but little sensible
to the titillation of the barbed hook, and is lugged hand over hand to
the slaughter without much trouble or resistance. Neither lance nor
gaff will penetrate his tough hide, but a blow on the head with an axe
proves instantly fatal.’
The schnapper affords a long and strong pull at the line; and is
considered by the colonists as one of their best table fish. ‘We killed
one to-day,’ writes a correspondent, ‘weighing 21 lbs. The flat-head is
half buried in the sand at the bottom, but bites freely; and is, in my
mind, a much better fish than the former. Our fishing-basket of this
day comprised nine sharks, four schnappers, and about 40 flat-heads.’
The picked shark (_Galeus acanthias_) is very common about the coasts
of Scotland, where it is taken in order to be prepared for sale, by
splitting and drying; and is then much used as food among the poorer
classes.
In some parts of Scotland the large spotted dog-fish constitute no
inconsiderable part of the food of the poor. In North America, they are
principally caught for their oil. If very large, the liver will yield
a barrel of oil, or about thirty gallons. In Nova Scotia, the dried
bodies are sold at 2_s._ 6_d._ the hundred, for feeding pigs. During
the winter, from November till May, two fish, boiled or roasted, are
given per day to a good sized store pig.
In 1842, in consequence of the great havoc committed by the swarms of
sharks on the fishing banks on the coast of Finmark, eight vessels were
fitted out at Hammerfest, expressly for the purpose of shark fishing,
and no less than 20,000 of these rapacious fish were taken, without any
apparent diminution in their numbers. The shark oil obtained from them
was about 1,000 barrels.
There are shark fisheries on the eastern coast of Africa, and in
several parts of the Indian Ocean, for the sake of the fins, which are
exported to China. About 7,000 cwt. were imported into Canton, in 1850,
chiefly from India and the Eastern Archipelago. From 7,000 to 10,000
cwt. of sharks’ fins are shipped annually from Bombay, and about 1,400
cwt. from the Madras territories, to China. Sumatra, Manila, Malacca,
Arracan, and the Tenasserim Provinces, also send large quantities.
Dr. Buist, of Bombay, in a communication to the Zoological Society, in
1851, stated, ‘that there are thirteen large boats, with twelve men
in each, constantly employed in the shark fishery at Kurrachee; the
value of the fins sent to market varying from 15,000 to 18,000 rupees
(£1500 to £1800), or 1000 to 1200 rupees for each boat, after allowing
the Banian or factor his profit. One boat will sometimes capture at a
draught as many as 100 sharks of different sizes. The average capture
of each boat probably amounts to about 3000, so as to give the whole
sharks captured at not less than 40,000 a year. The great basking
shark, or mhor, is always harpooned: it is found floating or asleep
near the surface of the water.
‘The fish, once struck, is allowed to run till tired; it is then pulled
in, and beaten with clubs till stunned. A large hook is now hooked into
its eyes or nostrils, or wherever it can be got most easily attached,
and by this the shark is towed on shore; several boats are requisite
for towing. The mhor is often 40, sometimes 60, feet in length; the
mouth is occasionally 4 feet wide. All other varieties of shark are
caught in nets, in somewhat like the way in which herrings are caught
at home. The net is made of strong English whip-cord; the meshes about
6 inches; they are generally 6 feet wide, and from 600 to 800 fathoms,
or from three-quarters to nearly a mile, in length. On the one side are
floats of wood about 4 feet in length, at intervals of 6 feet; on the
other, pieces of stone. The nets are sunk in deep water, from 80 to 150
feet, well out at sea.
‘They are put in one day and taken out the next; so that they are down
two or three times a week, according to the state of the weather, and
success of the fishing. The lesser sharks are commonly found dead,
the larger ones much exhausted. On being taken home, the back fins,
the only ones used, are cut off, and dried on the sands in the sun:
the flesh is cut off in long strips, and salted for food; the liver
is taken out and boiled down for oil; the head, bones, and intestines
left on the shore to rot, or thrown into the sea, where numberless
little sharks are generally on the watch to eat up the remains of their
kindred. The fishermen themselves are only concerned in the capture
of the sharks. So soon as they are landed they are purchased up by
Banians, on whose account all the other operations are performed. The
Banians collect them in quantities, and transmit them to agents in
Bombay, by whom they are sold for shipment to China.’
At the Bonin Islands, the colonists have trained their dogs to catch
fish; and Dr. Ruschenburger, who visited the islands in the United
States’ ship _Peacock_, tells us, ‘that two of these dogs would plunge
into the water and seize a shark, one on each side, by the fin, and
bring it ashore in spite of resistance.’
Blumenbach states, ‘that the white shark weighs sometimes as much as
10,000 lbs.; and even a whole horse has been found in its stomach.’ I
may cite a few statements which have come under my notice in the course
of newspaper reading:--
The _New Orleans Picayune_ tells the following:--‘We have read many
fish stories, and they are generally of that tenour that the very name
inclines one to disbelieve them. We have one to tell now, and, as we
know the person who was the main actor in the incident, we can vouch
for its being true, particularly as there is ocular evidence of the
matter. Some days ago, the captain of a ship at anchor outside the
Pass, threw overboard a shark hook baited, not expecting in the least,
as the captain himself says, to catch anything of the fish tribe.
There was hooked, however, a shark of the spotted kind, and, as it
afterwards proved, a regular ‘man-eater.’ He had to be harpooned before
his capture could be effected. His size and weight may be imagined from
the fact, that it took 11 men to hoist him in, with a double lift on
the main yard. The monster measured 17 feet 11 inches in length, from
tail to snout, and 9 feet in circumference. He had seven rows of teeth,
three of the rows being almost hidden in the upper gums. His liver
exactly filled up a beef barrel. In his paunch was found the body of a
man in a half decomposed state. So far as could be judged, the corpse
was that of a well-dressed man, of medium-size--shirt white, with pearl
buttons, coarse silk under-shirt, cotton socks, and shoes nearly new,
of the Congress gaiter kind. The shark had also in his stomach several
pieces of old canvas, such as are used by vessels on their rigging. The
jawbone of this sea pirate has been brought up to the city. It is large
enough to take in a sugar barrel.’
A shark was caught a year or two ago, by the boats of one of the
East-end whaling establishments at Bermuda, which measured 18 feet in
length. Its liver yielded 72 gallons of oil. The jaws, when detached
from the body and extended to their full width, afforded space
sufficient for three persons--the tallest at least 5 feet 10 inches--to
stand erect within them. It had two-and-a-half rows of teeth.
The basking shark, or sun-fish (_Squalus maximus_), is the largest
of the genus. The average size is about 25 feet long, by 18 in
circumference, in the largest part. It often lies on the surface of
the water, apparently sunning itself, and very frequently may be seen
steadily swimming with its dorsal fin above the water. This species
is viviparous, and possesses nothing of the fierceness and voracity so
peculiar to the shark family.
A large one, caught not long ago in the Mersey river, Van Diemen’s
Land, 14 feet long, upon hoisting it upon deck, gave birth to 23 young
ones, each about 18 inches long.
‘Some 25 years since, the capture of this valuable fish was prosecuted
very successfully from Innis Boffin and the vicinity of Westport, at
which town, as well as Newport, there were works erected for trying
out the oil. About that date, as much as five pipes of oil of 120
gallons were received by one Dublin house alone per season. It has much
decreased of late years, which is attributable rather to the decline
of the means of pursuit than to the absence of the fish, as it is seen
every year in large numbers on the distant banks, and occasionally
close to the shore in packs of 25 or 30, in very fine weather. There
were four taken at Galway this year, and many were seen in the vicinity
of the Arran Islands. The liver has hitherto been considered the only
valuable part, averaging 30 cwts., and containing about 180 gallons of
fine oil, second only to sperm, and selling from 4_s._ to 5_s._ per
gallon. The carcase, which may be estimated at from four to five tons,
is of a gelatinous character, consequently of great value; _it is now
thrown away as useless_. Neither skill nor courage is required in the
capture; it being of a sluggish nature, and literally presenting its
most vulnerable part to the harpoon.’[22]
A correspondent of the _New York Tribune_, writing from Stone Bridge
House, Tiverton, Rhode Island, says:--‘A party of ladies and
gentlemen, on the evening of the 4th, caught and hauled about 20 of
these monsters (sharks) upon the bridge, measuring from 3 to 5 feet.
The sport is generally continued from twelve until nine o’clock in
the evening, and as each new-comer is laid at his scaly length up the
stone causeway, the ‘head-ache stick,’ as Uncle Ned quaintly calls it,
is applied to his hard sconce, until all propensity for biting off
swimmers’ legs has disappeared. One Deacon Smith caught, on the same
evening, an enormous shark, which on being beached, measured over 7
feet across the fins. But the crowning sport was reserved for the next
day, when Mr. R. W. Potter, of Pawtucket, went off with a party, among
whom were several ladies, and fastened to a huge shark, of the mackerel
species. The monster, on taking the bait and finding himself hooked,
went off with the line, like a harpooned whale, despite all efforts to
hold him. Having a small tow-boat at hand, Mr. P. took to that, and
paid out, the shark towing him rapidly a long distance into the bay,
when, getting tired, returned, and came toward the little boat with
expanded jaws, and made desperate fight to extricate himself, snapping
at the line to bite it off, and then throwing up his tail, would again
shoot off rapidly, carrying the boat after him, spinning through the
water. Hauling him cautiously back, however, he was at last mastered
by repeated vigorous blows with the end of the oar, which was finally
run down the rascal’s throat, in which condition he was towed ashore.
It required the united strength of six men, with a stout rope, to haul
the creature upon the beach, and he measured, from the tip of his nose,
over the fin, to the end of his tail, 3 feet 9 inches.’
A shark, 28 feet long, and measuring 18 feet round the body, was caught
in a weir, by John Horan, at Rice’s Island, between Eastport and Lubec.
His liver, it is said, filled three barrels, and yielded a large
quantity of valuable oil.
The _Rangoon Chronicle_ of 3rd March, 1854, reported the capture of a
shark of enormous size. The animal, it seems, got stranded on the shoal
or bar at Yangeensiah, from which it could not extricate itself. About
40 boatmen plunged into the water with dahs and spears, and commenced
a furious attack on the monster, who inflicted very serious wounds on
six of the party, stripping the flesh entirely from the thigh of one
and leaving the bone bare. After a hard fight, the shark fell a victim,
dyeing the water with his blood. The creature measured 35 feet, and
afforded by very imperfect cutting 365 lbs. of solid flesh, which the
men dried and brought to Rangoon for food.
The Barotse of Central Africa eat alligators. The meat has a strong,
musky odour, not at all inviting for any one except the very hungry.
After crossing the Kasai, Livingstone saw that he was in a land where
no hope could be entertained of getting supplies of animal food, for
one of the guides caught a light blue coloured mole and two mice for
his supper. The care with which he wrapped them up in a leaf and slung
them on his spear, told the Doctor that he would have but little
chance of enjoying larger game. At Cabango, in Western Londa, a large
amount of beer and beef was consumed at a funeral; yet when the leg
of a cow was offered to Bango, a Londa chief, he said that neither he
nor his people ever partook of beef, as they looked upon cattle as
human, and living at home like men. There are several other tribes who
refuse to keep cattle, though not to eat them when offered by others,
‘Because,’ say they, ‘oxen bring enemies and war;’ but this is the
first instance met with by Livingstone in which they have been refused
as food. The fact of these people killing pallahs for food shows that
their objection does not extend to meat in general. Near the Tanba, (W.
Londa,) Dr. Livingstone saw some women carefully tending little lap
dogs, which were to be eaten. The Mambari, while in the Borotse valley,
showed their habits in their own country, (S.E. of Angola,) digging up
and eating, even there, where large game abounds, the mice and moles
which infest the country.
The flesh of the sturgeon has been esteemed in all ages; but modern
nations do not consider it so great a luxury as the ancients; and,
although deemed a royal fish, it often hangs on hand in Billingsgate
market, and is retailed at a low price by the pound. This fish was in
high repute among the Greeks and Romans.
The flesh is white, delicate, and firm, and when roasted resembles
veal; it is generally eaten pickled, and what we receive in that form
comes from the Russian rivers or from North America. There are several
varieties of sturgeon, the flesh of most of which is nutritious,
wholesome, and of an agreeable flavour. The fat may be used as a
substitute for butter or oil.
The flesh of the sharp-nosed sturgeon of North America (_Acipenser
oxyrinchus_) is like coarse beef, quite firm and compact, but very rank
and unsavoury. The Indians of New Brunswick cut it up in large pieces
and salt it for winter use. It is only eaten by those who can obtain no
better fare. The flesh of a young fish is much more delicate than that
of an old one; when stewed with rich gravy, its flavour is not unlike
that of veal.
Mr. Wingrove Cooke, in his account of a select Chinese dinner,
says:--‘The next dish was sturgeon skull-cap--rare and gelatinous,
but I think not so peculiar in its flavour as to excuse the death of
several royal fish. This fish, being taken from its brazen, lamp-heated
stand, was succeeded by a stew of shark fins and pork. The shark fins
were boiled to so soft a consistency that they might have been turbot
fins. The Chinaman must have smiled at the unreasonable prejudices of
the occidentals when he saw some of us tasting the pork but fighting
shy of the shark. He probably, however, did not know that the same
occidentals would eat with relish of a fish which they themselves
enticed to their angle by a worm or a maggot. Next in order came a soup
composed of balls of crab. I have tasted this better prepared at Macao.
It assumes there the form of a very capital salad, made of crab and
cooked vegetables.’
The fondness of the Chinese for all gelatinous substances is well
known, and has been described by all those who have visited that
country and partaken of their banquets. In addition to employing
animals and parts of animals which are rejected in other countries, as
articles of diet, they import various substances which can be valuable
only as yielding gelatine of different degrees of purity; of these we
have examples in tripang, birdsnests, sharks’ fins, fish maws, and
agar-agar, a fucus.
The fresh water lamprey (_Petromyzon fluviatilis_) was formerly of
great importance as a delicacy, and also largely used as bait by
fishermen. In Germany another species (_P. Planeri_) are taken in large
quantities, fried, packed in barrels by layers, with bay leaves and
spices, sprinkled with vinegar, and thus exported to other countries.
The sea lamprey (_P. marinus_) is held in high estimation by
epicures in the United States and elsewhere, but is not eaten in the
British American Provinces. It is a formidable enemy to the royal
sturgeon, fastening upon its belly and eating into the flesh; and not
unfrequently a sturgeon has leaped into a canoe, in its efforts to
disengage itself from several of these troublesome parasites.
Lampreys, well known to have given a fatal surfeit to Henry I., when
made into pies, were anciently esteemed a ‘pretty present.’
Eels appear to have been early favourites, particularly in the
monasteries. The cellaress of Barking Abbey, Essex, in the ancient
times of that foundation, was amongst other eatables ‘to provide
russ aulx in Lenton, and to bake with _elys_ on Shere Tuesday:’ and
at Shrovetide she was to have ready ‘twelve _stubbe eles_ and nine
_schaft eles_.’ The regulation and management for the sale of eels
seems to have formed a prominent feature in the old ordinances of the
Fishmongers’ Company. There were artificial receptacles made for eels
in our rivers, called _Anguilonea_, constructed with rows of poles that
they might be more easily taken. The cruel custom of salting eels alive
is mentioned by some old writers.
The flesh of the eel (_Anguilla vulgaris_), being highly nutritious, is
excellent as food, but is sometimes found too oily for weak stomachs.
Eel pies and stewed eels cause a large demand in this metropolis, and
some 70 or 80 cargoes, or about 700 tons a year, are brought over from
Holland. The total consumption of this fish in England is estimated at
4,300 tons per annum. Eels are very prolific. They are found in almost
all parts of the world.
An abundance of large eels of fine quality are caught in the rivers and
harbours of New Brunswick.
If a market should be found for this description of fish from North
America, they could be furnished to an unlimited extent. My friend and
correspondent, Mr. Perley, says, ‘In the calm and dark nights during
August and September, the largest eels are taken in great numbers by
the Micmac Indians and Acadian French, in the estuaries and lagoons, by
torch-light, with the Indian spear. This mode of taking eels requires
great quickness and dexterity, and a sharp eye. It is pursued with much
spirit, as, besides the value of the eel, the mode of fishing is very
exciting.
‘In winter, eels bury themselves in the muddy parts of rivers, and
their haunts, which are generally well known, are called eel grounds.
The mud is thoroughly probed with a five pronged iron spear, affixed to
a long handle, and used through a hole in the ice. When the eels are
all taken out of that part within reach of the spear, a fresh hole is
cut, and the fishing goes on again upon new ground.’
It was by a mistake that the Jews abstained from eating eels. The
prohibition is as follows:--‘All that have not fins and scales, &c.,
ye shall have in abomination.’--Lev. xi., 10, 11. The _Siluridæ_,
which have no scales, were held in abomination by the Egyptians. In
describing one of them (the Schall) which he had found in the Nile,
M. Sonnini, says--‘A fish without scales, with soft flesh, and living
at the bottom of a muddy river, could not have been admitted into
the dietetic system of the ancient Egyptians, whose priests were so
scrupulously rigid in proscribing every aliment of unwholesome quality.
Accordingly, all the different species of _Siluri_ found in the Nile
were forbidden.’ This then was probably one of the forbidden kinds,
and this fact supports the opinion before ventured as to the origin of
the custom. The rest of the prohibition was probably levelled against
aquatic reptiles, which were generally looked upon as possessing
poisonous qualities.
It has been well observed by a recent popular writer, that any
Cockney, with two shillings and sixpence in his pocket, may regale
himself at Billingsgate, at Blackwall, or Richmond, on delicacies to
which the senate and people of Rome were utter strangers. Indeed,
it is no inconsiderable set off against the disadvantages of living
so far from the sun, that the supplies of northern fish markets are
incontestably and greatly superior to those of any Italian or Sicilian
pascheria: superior, 1st, because in those kinds which are common to
our great ocean, and their ‘great sea,’ our own are better flavoured;
because, 2ndly, even the finer sorts, which belong exclusively to
the Mediterranean, are for the most part poor; and 3rdly, and above
all, because there is an almost total want in its waters of species
which we consider, and advisedly, as our best. Were superiority to
be determined by mere beauty and variety of colouring, the market of
Billingsgate could not enter into competition for a moment with the
smallest fishing town in the south, where the fish are for the most
part coasters, and derive their gorgeous hues from the same buccina
and coquillage whence the Tyrians got their superb dyes. But as the
gayest plumage is by no means indicative of the bird best adapted for
the table, so brilliancy of scales affords no criterion by which to
judge of the culinary excellence of fish, the beauty of whose skin,
in this instance, contrasts singularly with the quality of the fish,
which is generally poor and insipid, and sometimes unwholesome and
even deleterious. The Mediterranean pelagians (or open sea-fish) have
neither brilliancy of colour nor delicacy of flesh to atone for the
want of it; so that no Englishman will repine to leave tunny beef to
the Sicilian ichthyophagist, whilst he has the genuine pasture-fed
article at home in place of it. Nor though, to such coarse feeders
as the ancient Greeks, sword-fish might be held equal to veal, will
his better instructed palate assent to such a libel upon wholesome
butcher’s meat. Mullet must indeed be admitted on all hands to be good
fish; but one good thing only in a hundred does not satisfy omnivorous
man, and _toujours Triglia_ is not better than _toujours Perdrix_, as
every one who has passed a winter at Naples knows to his cost. Sardines
are only palatable in oil; _au naturel_ they are exceedingly poor and
dry: and for that other small clupean, the anchovy (the latent virtues
of which are only elicited by the process which metamorphoses the fish
into sauce), British whitebait is far more than an equivalent.--But if
the Mediterranean has but few _alumni_ to be proud of, the poverty of
its waters is certainly more conspicuous in its deficiencies than in
its supplies; indeed, the instinct of all first-rate fish seems to be
to turn their tails upon this sea. Thus among the Salmonidæ, salmon and
smelt are alike unknown; of the Gadian family, all the finest species,
as cod, haddock, whiting, ling, and coal fish are wanting; and to
quote but one other example--
‘Whilst migrant herrings steer their myriad bands
From seas of ice to visit warmer strands,’
as we read in the Apocrypha of Dr. Darwin, not one ever entered the Bay
of Naples, unless salted in a barrel from England.[23]
The Finnon, Buckie, and Bervie smoked haddock is largely vended in
London and other large towns, being esteemed an excellent relish. They
are split, cleaned, and steeped in strong pickle about three hours, and
then smoked for fifteen or sixteen hours. After a kiln full is smoked
and cooled, the fish are packed in dry barrels the same as pickled
mackerel, excepting that every two tiers are packed face to face, so
that the back of one fish does not come in contact with the split side
of another fish. The increase in the timber trade of late years, and
the establishment of saw-mills, have rendered sawdust abundant, and the
Scotch fisherwives have made the discovery that haddocks can be smoked
with sawdust to look nearly as well as when smoked with peat; while
they have not the wisdom to anticipate the loss of custom which must
unavoidably ensue as soon as the deficiency of flavour is discovered.
Fresh herrings come in in enormous quantities to our metropolitan
markets, and, from the consumption of several millions of them, must be
esteemed a dainty by some. Pickled or cured herrings,--of which 580,814
barrels were salted in 1857, at the British Fisheries,--are chiefly
consumed abroad; the shipments to the Continent last year having been
219,000 barrels, and 58,534 barrels went to Ireland. In 1855, out
of a cure of 766,703 barrels, the Continental export reached 344,029
barrels. Last year (1857), 128,600 barrels went to Stettin.
Scotch herrings go to Russia quite as much as St. Petersburgh tallow
comes to London, 60,000 or 70,000 barrels passing the Sound, or going
_via_ Konigsberg and Dantzic. One great inducement to the Russian
population to purchase the herrings is, it is said, the quantity of
undissolved salt the barrels are found to contain.
It is in the form of red-herrings and bloaters that the largest
consumption of this fish takes place in the metropolis. The sale of
bloaters at Billingsgate is about 265,000 baskets of 160 each annually,
and about 50,000,000 of red-herrings.
There was a pleasant tradition current in Yarmouth not many years
since, that the ‘red’ herring was the result of accident. According
to the story, a fisherman had hung up some salted herrings in his
hut and forgotten them. They hung where they were exposed to the
smoke from the wood fire of the hut; and, some days afterwards,
his attention was attracted to them, when, being struck by their
appearance, he determined to see how one of them tasted. The result
was so satisfactory that he hastened to King John, who was then lying
near Norwich, to make a present of the remainder; when the herrings
were esteemed such a delicacy by the monarch that he then and there
expressed his determination to grant a charter of incorporation to the
town from which they were brought. The only certain portion of this
story is, that the first charter of Yarmouth was granted by King John.
There is a curious item in this town charter of Yarmouth, long famous
for its herring fair. The burgesses are obliged to send to the sheriffs
of Norwich 100 herrings, to be made into 24 pies; and these pies are
to be delivered to the Lord of the manor of East Carleton, who is to
convey them to the king.
The receipt for making herring pie would be a curious, though perhaps
not a valuable, addition to our modern cookery books. It is probably
lost, unless Her Majesty continues to receive these once prized
patties.[24]
The stromming, or herring of the North seas, is only about the size
of a sprat, but a much more delicate fish; when salted and mixed with
potatoes it is the staple food of the people, being washed down with a
bowl of milk, or a glass of corn-brandy.
The conger is found in the seas of Europe, of Northern Asia, and in
those of America, as far as the Antilles. It is very abundant on the
coasts of England and France, in the Mediterranean Sea, where it was
much sought after by the ancients, and in the Propontis, where it
was not long ago in considerable estimation. Those of Sicyon were
more especially esteemed. The flesh of this fish is white and well
flavoured; but as it is very fat, it does not agree with all stomachs.
In many places the conger eels are dried for exportation. For this
purpose, they are cut open in their under part, through their entire
length, the intestines are removed, deep scarifications are made upon
the back, the parts are kept separate by means of small sticks, and
they are suspended by the tail to poles, on the branches of trees. When
they are perfectly dry, they are collected in packets, each weighing
about 200 lbs.
The voracious conger eel (_Conger vulgaris_, of Cuvier; the _Muræna
conger_, of Linnæus,) although a coarse fish, forms a considerable
article of commerce in Cornwall and Devonshire. I only notice it here
from the fact, that it is sometimes dried and shipped to Spain and
other Catholic countries, where fish of any kind is acceptable. When
dried in a particular manner, the flesh used formerly to be ground or
grated to powder, and in this state was employed to thicken soup.
The _Murænæ conger_, were carefully reared in vivaria by the Romans. As
early as the time of Cæsar, the multiplication of the domestic _Murænæ_
was so great, that on the occasion of one of his triumphs, that great
general presented 6000 of them to his friends; Licinius Crassus reared
them so as to be obedient to his voice, and to come and receive their
food from his hands; while the celebrated orator, Quintus Hortensius,
wept over the loss of those of which death had deprived him.
Such is the testimony to the quality and estimation of the conger eel,
which Griffiths has collected in his _Supplement to Malacopterygii
apodes in Cuvier’s Animal Kingdom_. Its flesh does not agree with
all stomachs; but it is yet a matter of dispute what renders it so
frequently deadly. The condition of the liver of the fish in most cases
has a great deal to do with danger attending fish-poisons.
The sand eel (_Ammodytes tobianus_) and the sandlaunce (_A. lancea_),
though of small size, are very delicate eating, and vast numbers are
consumed in summer by the natives of the Hebrides. They are also much
sought after by the fishermen for bait.
The smelt or spirling (_Osmerus eperlanus_), found abundantly on the
British coasts, is a very delicate fish. It is generally taken in
greatest plenty at the mouths of large rivers, or in estuaries, such as
the Thames and Medway, from August to May, as well as on sandy shores,
in small nets; and always commands a ready sale. It has a peculiar
odour, whence its popular name, which has been compared to that of a
cucumber or a violet. This is strongest when the fish is first taken,
but it may be perceived by raising the gill covers, after the fish has
been for some time out of the water.
A whitebait dinner, at Blackwall or Greenwich, is one of the epicurean
celebrities of the metropolis; and the fishing for whitebait, which
commences about the beginning of April, and becomes abundant during the
summer months till September, is productive of considerable benefit
to those concerned. It was long supposed that these were the fry of
a larger fish, but they are now identified as a particular species
(_Clupea alba_), so named from the sides of the fish being uniformly of
a white colour. It attains to the length of 6 inches. The whitebait are
taken in long bag-nets, from vessels moored in the tide-way; and the
fish are taken out by untying the end of the hose, and shaking it into
the boat.
But there are small and delicate fish, which are substitutes for
whitebait, in other quarters of the world.
Thus Mr. T. Atwood (_History of Dominica_) tells us, ‘that the chief
dainty among the fresh-water fish of that island is the young frey,
with which the rivers there are filled twice or thrice every year, and
which are called by the French ‘Tréz-tréz.’ These consist of various
kinds of sea-fish just spawned, and with which that element swarms
for some miles distance from the shore, in numbers truly astonishing.
These little creatures come into the rivers like a living stream,
and in a short time swim two or three miles, to an amazing height up
the country. This they perform in a wonderful manner, skimming over
such rapid streams as repel their weak endeavours, from rock to rock,
the surfaces of which are covered with them; or seeking the smoothly
gliding stream at the sides of the banks, by degrees ascend the highest
parts of the rivers.
‘The first day of the appearance of these frey in the rivers, they are
transparent and clear as crystal, so that every bone in them may be
counted, and the movement of their vitals can be plainly discerned. The
second day after they lose much of that transparency; and the third
or fourth day, it is wholly lost by the nutriment which they feed on.
They are caught in baskets, in which is put a tablecloth or sheet, and
sinking the basket with stones, vast quantities are taken at a time.
They are fried in a batter made of flour and milk, or stewed with herbs
and spices, and are excellent food cooked either way.’
At Moutrah, a town situated in a deep bay, not far from Muscat, they
dry and export large quantities of a diminutive fish, about two inches
long, which are packed in bales. This species of fish literally fills
the waters of Oman. Dr. Ruschenberger (_Voyage Round the World_, p.
121) says, ‘They sometimes appeared in dense strata about the ship, so
as completely to hide the cable from view, which was distinctly seen
when they were not present.’
Don Pernety, in his _Journal of a Voyage to the Falkland Islands_,
speaks of a small fish, called by the Spaniards pajes, and by the
French _gras dos_, which was almost transparent, and of a most
exquisite delicacy. It was found excellent when fried, and not
inferior to the eel pout.
There is a small fish resembling a shrimp, not half-an-inch long, which
makes its annual appearance in some of the rivers of Peru, in February,
or in the beginning of March. It is called _chantisa_, and is really a
great delicacy, when prepared by the natives. The numbers which ascend
the rivers are so great, that on each side they appear to form a white
path in the water, about two feet broad, and several miles in length.
The women employ themselves in taking them, for which purpose they
have a canoe; two of them hold a piece of flannel, three yards long,
by the corners, and place it under the surface of the water, one end
being a little elevated, to prevent the chantisa from passing; and
when a considerable quantity are collected, the flannel is taken up
and emptied into the canoe, after which the operation is repeated. Mr.
Stephenson (_Travels in America_) says, he has frequently seen in the
course of two hours, from six to eight bushels taken in this manner by
these women. They are preserved by using as much salt as is necessary
to season them; they are then put into baskets, lined with leaves, and
a large stone is placed on the top, to press them into a solid mass,
like a cheese. After standing a day or two, the baskets are placed on
a frame made of canes, which is elevated about a yard from the ground;
they are then covered with plantain leaves, and a small fire of green
cedar, sandal, or other aromatic wood, is kindled underneath, for the
purpose of smoking them. After remaining 10 or 12 hours, the cakes
are taken out of the baskets, and again exposed to the smoke till it
has penetrated through them, when they are laid up for use. A small
portion of the smoked chantisa is generally added to the fish while
cooking, to which it communicates a very delicate flavour.
At the mouth of the river Columbia, a very small fish, about the size
of the sardine, is caught in immense numbers by the Chinooks. It is
called by them _uhlekun_, and is much prized on account of its delicacy
and extraordinary fatness. When dried, this fish will burn from one end
to the other with a clear, steady light, like a candle. The uhlekuns
are caught with astonishing rapidity by means of an instrument about
seven feet long; the handle is about three feet, into which is fixed a
curved wooden blade, about four feet, something the shape of a sabre,
with the edge at the back. In this edge, at the distance of an inch and
a half, are inserted sharp bone teeth, about an inch long. The Indian,
standing in the canoe, draws this edgeways with both hands, holding it
like a paddle, rapidly through the dense shoals of fish, which are so
thick, that almost every tooth will strike a fish. One knock across the
thwarts sharply deposits them in the bottom of the canoe. This is done
with such rapidity, that they will not use nets for this description of
fishing.[25]
The anchovy (_Engraulis encrasicolus_, Cuvier) is a small fish, much
resembling the sprat, which is often sold for it, but may be readily
distinguished from the sprat by the anal fin being remarkably short. It
is common on the southern coasts of France and Spain, on the shores of
Italy, Greece, and other parts of the Mediterranean, but those coming
from Gorgona (an island in the gulf of Leghorn) are esteemed the best.
Anchovies should be chosen small, fresh pickled, silver white on the
outside, and red within. They must have a round back, for those which
are flat or large, dark outside, with pale coloured flesh, and tapering
much towards the tail, are often nothing but sardines. First quality
anchovies are used as a condiment, and among epicures are esteemed a
luxury. The trade in them with the Italian States is very considerable;
about 150,000 lbs. being annually exported. The fishing is chiefly in
the night time, when a light being placed on the stern, the anchovies
flock around, and are caught in the nets. Mr. Couch, in his _Cornish
Fauna_, says, that he has seen it about the Cornish coast, of the
length of seven inches and a half, which is nearly double the length it
is met with in the Mediterranean. It abounds, he adds, towards the end
of summer, and if attention were paid to the fishing, enough might be
caught to supply the consumption of the British islands.
Frezier (_Voyage to the South Seas_) speaks of seeing a sort of anchovy
on the west coast of America, in such great numbers, that whole baskets
full of them were readily taken on the surface of the water.
The anchovy and tunny fisheries of Dalmatia are important, though
not so much so as during the last century; at present they furnish
employment to about 8,000 men.
Anchovies are imported in small kegs, weighing about 12 lbs. each. The
consumption varies here, from 50 to 100 tons a year.
Sheridan used to relate an amusing story of an Irish officer, who once
belonged to a regiment in Malta, who returned to England on leave
of absence, and, according to the custom of travellers, was fond of
relating the wonders he had seen. Among other things, he one day, in a
public coffee-room, expatiated on the excellence of living in general
among the military at Malta. But, said he, ‘as for anchovies, by the
powers, there is nothing to be seen like them in the known world;’
and he added, ‘I have seen the anchovies grow upon the trees with my
own eyes many’s the hundred times, and beautiful is the grove of them
the governor has in his garden on the esplanade.’ A gentleman present
disputed the statement that anchovies grew on trees, which the Irishman
with much warmth re-affirmed. The lie passed, a challenge was given,
and the upshot of the matter is thus humorously related.
‘The Englishman gave his address, and the next day the parties met,
attended by their seconds; they fired, and O’Flanagan’s shot took
effect in the fleshy part of his opponent’s thigh, which made the
latter jump a foot from the ground, and fall flat upon his back, where
he lay a few seconds in agony, kicking his heels. This being observed
by the Irishman’s second, he said:--‘You have hit your man, O’Flanagan,
that is certain, I think not dangerously, however, for see what capers
he cuts.’
‘‘Capers, capers!’ exclaimed the Irishman. ‘Oh! by the powers, what
have I done? What have I done? What a dreadful mistake!’ and running up
to his wounded antagonist, he took his hand, and pressing it eagerly,
thus addressed him:--‘My dear friend, if you’re kilt, I ax your pardon
in this world and in the next, for I made a devil of a mistake: and it
was capers that I saw growing upon the trees at Malta, and no anchovies
at all.’
‘The wounded man, smiling at his ludicrous explanation and apology,
said,--‘My good fellow, I wish you had thought of that a little sooner;
I don’t think you have quite killed me, but I hope you will remember
the difference between anchovies and capers as long as you live.’’
That highly esteemed fish, the sardine (_Clupea sardina_), which is
closely allied to the pilchard, though much smaller, is found chiefly
in the Mediterranean. It is taken in considerable quantities on our
shores, and is exceedingly plentiful on the coast of Algarva, in
Portugal, Andalusia and Granada in Spain, and along the shores of
Italy. The small sardines, caught on the coast of Provence, in France,
are esteemed the best. The French frequently cure them in red brine,
and when thus prepared, designate them anchovied sardines. Sardines
constitute a considerable portion of the food of the lower orders in
Lisbon. 6,269 cases of sardines were imported into San Francisco, in
1853.
In 1852, 576 millions of sardines were taken on the coast of Brittany,
which extends about 200 miles. Half of these were sold fresh and the
other half preserved in oil. 160 vessels manned by 3,500 sailors and
fishermen are engaged in the trade. The preparation, transport, and
sale of the fish employ 10,000 persons. 9,000 of these, of whom one
half are females, are occupied all the winter in making and mending
of nets. On shore, the preparation, conveyance, and sale of the fish
give occupation to 4,500 persons, of whom 2,500 are women; and in the
interior of the country 4,400 other persons are occupied in the sale.
The fishing lasts about 200 days, and yields a net profit to all
concerned of three millions of francs. The sardines disappear in
November and return in April. Where they go during these four months,
why they go, or what they do while gone, has never yet been discovered.
The fishermen say that the same individuals never come twice, that
every successive arrival is composed of fish of smaller size than those
that left last, and that they appear to be their young. At any rate,
they count implicitly on their appearance, and no sardine was ever yet
known to break an engagement thus tacitly entered into.
A very intelligent naturalist and correspondent of mine, Mr. R. Hill,
has furnished me with some interesting information respecting the West
Indian fishes. One of the best labroid fishes is the hog fish, both for
its flesh, thick, white, and luscious, separating in large strata, and
its exemption from small abdominal bones. It is one of the commonest
and yet one of the best fishes taken in the harbour of Port Royal,
either by the fish pot or the line, the only source for supplying the
Kingston market in the deep waters there.
The hog fish has its scales red with yellow at the base of each. It
feeds amongst rocks, attains 3 and 4 feet of length, though 2½ feet is
usually the largest dimension in Jamaica. The flesh is most delicious,
but its fullness and firmness make it good for drying and smoking, when
too large for a one day’s dish.
There are several _Lachnolaimes_ ordinarily in the market, but only one
properly called the hog fish (_Suillus_). The villous membrane that
covers part of the pharyngeals and palate gives it its scientific name,
‘woolly throat.’
The most beautiful is the _aigula_, the aigrette of the Windward
Islands. They are all sought after for the excellence of their flesh,
‘_la bonté de leur chair_,’ but one, the _caninus_, is occasionally
poisonous.
The yellow tail snapper (_Mesoprion cynodon_) and other species of the
genus, attain a large size, and are much esteemed in the East and West
Indies as an article of food.
The flesh of the Queen mullet (_Upeneus martinicus_) of the Indian and
American seas is very delicious, and resembles in some respects the
true mullet (_Mullus surmuletus_).
The paracuta (_Sphyræna Barracuda_), the pike of the ocean, has a
firm and palatable flesh, and is esteemed by many people. It proves,
however, sometimes poisonous when caught in certain localities.
The callipeva (_Mugil liza_) is an esteemed river fish of the West
Indian seas, which seldom extends further than the embouchures of
streams or into the ponds and marshes. Chief Justice Temple, of
Honduras, characterizes it as the salmon of the tropics; and indeed, it
very much resembles that prince of the finny tribe in its size, shape,
habits, and flavour. The flesh, however, is not red, neither is it so
firm as that of the salmon, but it is quite as fat and infinitely more
juicy and delicate. When cut in slices, folded in tissue paper, and
lightly fried--which is the only way in my opinion of dressing a fish,
the flavour of which is so volatile, so smooth, so ethereal, that it
more resembles an odour, or the rich fragrance of a thousand different
flowers mixed and mellowed by distance, than an actual taste on the
palate--nothing can surpass it;--to subject it unprotected to the
fumiginous influence of an iron pan, would be the act of a Hottentot
or a Tartar. Dressed in the manner I have mentioned, it would not have
disgraced Olympus, nor offended the critical taste of the Apicii, the
last of whom would have refrained from hanging himself whilst a single
callipeva remained in his fish pond. The callipeva is very excellent
when cured, and it is often brought in that state to the Belize market
in large quantities. The roe of this fish is very superior and almost
equals caviare. This is dried and sold separately. I may incidentally
mention that the large strong brilliant scales of this fish now enter
into commerce for the manufacture of those pretty fish-scale ornaments,
brooches, bracelets, &c., sold at the Crystal Palace and elsewhere.
The _Mugil curema_, another species, is taken about Port Royal
harbour, Jamaica, and when large, passed off in the Kingston market
for callipeva. The true callipeva or calipever, as it is indifferently
spelt, is the ‘white salmon’ of Jamaica, and weighs from 6 to 18 lbs.
It is caught in the brackish waters of the Ferry on the road to Spanish
Town.
Mullet of various kinds, the salt water species being white, and the
mountain or river species red, are one of the three delicacies of
Jamaica.
Then, there is the delicate smook, either fresh or salt water, weighing
from 10 to 16 lbs.; the stone bass, of the river or sea, much esteemed,
from 2 to 4 lbs.; the delicate black snapper, weighing 4 or 5 lbs.; the
chuck, a delicate fresh-water fish, of about 6 lbs.; and the cutlass, a
good flat frying fish: which will suffice to show that there need be no
lack of a dish of good fish for the West Indian epicure.
The anchovy or silver fish (_Engraulis edentatus_ of Cuvier and Val)
abounds on the palisade shallows of Port Royal harbour. They are a most
exquisite fry, cooked, strung together on a palm straw through the eye
by half-dozens, and served up as they serve whitebait.
King fish are only occasionally taken within the harbour, at Port
Royal Bank. They are very delicate eating and weigh from 10 to 20 lbs.
The king fish mackerel (_Cymbium regale_) is taken at the head of the
harbour by being gently towed for with a line. The pine fish, in great
estimation with the Jews, which ranges from four to thirty pounds, are
frequently harpooned from Port Royal dock yard, six feet long.
The sun fish, or lucannany of Demerara, is excellent food, being firm,
fat, and with few bones; owing to its extreme lusciousness, it is
difficult to salt or dry. It is about two feet in length and attains to
7 or 8 lbs. in weight.
The arawan is another Guiana fish, particularly fine as food, but like
the last named, very fat and luscious.
The pacou are caught in large numbers by means of weirs or dams, and
weigh on an average 7 lbs. each. They are split, salted, and dried,
and when cured, highly prized. The morocoto, or osibu, is also a most
delicious fish, in taste nearer resembling flesh than fish, and eagerly
sought after by the epicure.
If the gourami, which the French have introduced to the tanks and ponds
of Cayenne and their West Indian Islands, was entitled to no more than
half the praise Commerson bestows upon it, it must be considered a
fish worth some trouble and expense to possess. ‘Nihil inter pisces,’
he says, ‘tum marinos, tum fluviatiles, exquisitius unquam degustavi.’
If neither the fishes of the sea nor those of fresh water streams,
to Commerson, who had described so many fishes, and tasted as many
as he had described, were found to exceed the deliciousness of the
gourami,--the _Osphromenus olfax_,--it should be imported into every
West Indian colony. The Dutch at Batavia, in Java, have long bred it
in large earthen vases, changing the water daily, and feeding it on
herbs of rivers and ponds, particularly on the _Pistia natans_. In the
Mauritius, they have become a common river fish, and are esteemed the
most delicate of the dishes brought to table.
Capt. Philibut carried the specimens of the gourami from Mauritius
to Cayenne. Out of 100 taken on board he lost 23 on the passage. The
French colonists feed and breed it in ponds, much as the Barbadians
do the caffum (_Megalops Atlanticus_). The caffum is allied to the
herring, and weighs 12 or 15 lbs.; and though an important stand-by for
a dinner in Barbados, it is an inferior fish.
Twenty years ago, I well remember that Mr. Richard Hill called
attention in Jamaica to the gourami, which was first then being
introduced as a tank fish into Martinique and Guadaloupe. His
communication appeared in Dr. Paul’s _Physical Journal_, published at
Kingston.
It is supposed that this valuable fresh-water fish was procured
originally from China, but not a single author gives intimation of
it in the natural history of the Chinese empire. So interesting a
species, among people so attentive to the breeding and cultivating
whatever can be added to their food supplies, must have been brought
under their notice. The Dutch have it only artificially bred in Java,
but neither Renard, Valentine, Russell, nor Buchanan, who have all
written largely on the fishes of India and of the Indian Islands, are
acquainted with any such river-fish as the gourami. In India they
give the name _gouragi_ or _koragi_ to a fish known to naturalists as
the _Ophicephalus_, and the probability is that Commerson, who first
noticed the _Osphromenus olfax_, had corruptly applied that word and
made _gourami_ of it.
This delicious fish, so easily bred and fed, from its food being the
duck weed of the ponds, has a contour plump, round, and massy like
the carp of Europe. The colour is a burnished brown, somewhat golden
tinted, faintly ruddy, particularly on the head and fins. Vertical
bands of bronze stretch obliquely from the back to the belly;--and the
ventral fin in its first spine is lengthened into a long thread as long
as the entire fish from head to tail. It belongs to a very curious
family distinguished as _labyrinthan-pharyngeals_. The structure of
fishes of this family is peculiar:--it consists of the upper surface of
the pharyngeal bones being divided into leaves, which form cavities and
ledges, more or less complicated, for the retention of water, very much
like the web of cells in the paunch of the camel. This apparatus lies
immediately under the opercula. It is closely shut in, and pours out a
ceaseless stream to moisten the gills and keep them from drying up when
the fish quits the water and betakes itself to the grass, either to
feed on herbs or to change its domicile when the ponds grow muddy and
stagnant.
The ancient writers on Natural History were familiar with the character
of these curious _pharyngeals_. Theophrastus, in his Treatise, speaks
of certain of the fishes of India that come forth from the rivers
at times, and then return to them again: and he mentions that they
resemble mullets. The strange habit of the _Anabas_, which has received
this name from its climbing predilections, (anabaino, ascendo,) is
well authenticated. M. Daldorf, a Lieutenant in the service of the
Dutch East India Company, in an article in the _Linnæan Transactions
for 1797_, mentions that, in the month of November 1791, he took one
of these anabas fishes from the cleft foot-stalk of a palm tree,
growing near a pond. The fish was five feet above the water, and was
endeavouring to ascend still higher. Another observer, M. John, tells a
similar story. The fish, he says, usually remains in the muddy bottom
of ponds and lakes; but it will take to creeping on dry ground for
several hours, by the inflexion of its body; and by the assistance of
its serrated opercula, and the spines of its fins, it will climb on the
palm-trees which are in the neighbourhood of ponds, along which drops
the water that the rains have accumulated at their tops.--(Griffith’s
_Supplement to Cuvier’s Animal Kingdom_. _Fishes_, p. 361.)
Though the gourami belongs to the family of fishes, having a reservoir
for water to moisten the gills when they quit their ponds, it does not
climb trees as the anabas, but only traverses the grass. This fish
would be a most desirable acquisition to our colonies. It could be
readily procured from Guadaloupe. It is as remarkable for its size as
its flavour. It becomes as large as a turbot, and is equally delicious.
It would be soon naturalized in our streams. The female hollows a
little fosse in the edge of the reservoir in which it is kept, and
there deposits its eggs.
The pirarucu (_Sudis gigas_) is a splendid fish 5 or 6 feet long, with
large scales of more than an inch in diameter, and beautifully marked
and spotted with red.
The lakes in Brazil contain great quantities of them, and they are
salted and dried for the Para market. It is a very fine flavoured
fish, the belly in particular being so fat and rich that it cannot be
cured, and is therefore generally eaten fresh. ‘This fish’ (remarks Mr.
Wallace) ‘with farinha and some coffee made us an excellent supper; and
the alligator’s tails which I now tasted for the first time, was by no
means to be despised. A smaller kind is that eaten, the flesh being
more delicate than in the larger species.’
The sheep’s head, or, in more scientific language, the _Sargus ovis_,
is a favourite fish in North America, where it visits the coasts in
large shoals during the summer and autumn. The principal fishery is
off the coasts of New York, and thousands are occasionally taken
at a single cast of the large nets used at some places. The fish,
immediately on their capture, are packed in ice, and sent to the New
York market, where they have been known to sell as high as £7 for one
of large size, although the usual price for one is only about a dollar.
This fish is pretty generally considered throughout the States, both by
epicures and others, as an almost _sans-pareil_; and Dr. Mitchell, who
has written much on American ichthyology, is of the same opinion.[26]
The green cavalla (_Caranx Bartholomæi_) is very good eating, and
much in demand. They are caught by the Barbados fishermen, sometimes
in nets and in large numbers. Another species, the Jack ‘or John and
Goggle-eye,’ as it is locally termed (_C. Plumieri_), is in some
seasons of the year very poisonous. When they are suspected of being
so, an experiment is tried upon a duck, by giving her one of them to
swallow, and if at that season it is poisonous, the duck dies in about
two hours.
The flounder or plaice (_Rhombus ocellatus_), a fish which belongs to
the turbots, is a very delicate fish.
The common flying-fish (_Exocœtus Roberti_) is so abundant in some
seasons of the year about Barbados, that they constitute an important
article of food, and during the season, a large number of small boats
are occupied in fishing. They are very delicate and tender. Some
experiments have been made to preserve them, by salting and smoking,
and with perseverance this would probably be successful, and a new
dainty be added to European tables. Such large numbers are occasionally
caught that they meet with no sale, and are thrown away, or used as
manure.[27]
Sprats are a cheap delicacy with the lower classes in this country, and
are pretty plentiful at times, but they are also greatly esteemed in
the West India Islands. A species, called the ‘yellow-tailed sprat,’
proves unfortunately poisonous at certain periods of the year, chiefly
among the Leeward and Virgin Islands.
The cuckold or horned coney fish (_Monacanthus tomentosus_) is much
used as food, and, when stuffed and baked, considered a delicacy.
Under the general name of the Spanish mackerel, several species of
_Cymbium_, _C. Caballa_, _C. regale_, and _C. immaculata_, are caught
in the West Indian seas. They are a coarse, dry fish, and not much
esteemed, except when _coveeched_. To coveech a fish, it must be cut
into junks, fried with onions and oil, and afterwards potted with
vinegar, a little pepper or cloves, fried onions, and some oil.
It becomes an article of trade in that manner, and a considerable
quantity, according to Sir Robert Schomburgk, is sent from the Leeward
Islands and Barbados to Guiana.
The young king-fish, termed _Coramour_ in the West Indies, kept in a
fish pond or craal for some time, is esteemed a great delicacy.
The mud-fish (_Eleotris gyrinus_), found in the water courses of
Antigua, is also considered a dainty. This fish is common in the
streamlets and creeks of the other West Indian Islands, and is
considered a most delicious fish when in full perfection. It resembles
the smelt in appearance, and is easy of digestion.
The common cod of Newfoundland (_Morrhua vulgaris_) is well known as
an article of food the wide world over. It is always a thick, well-fed
fish, and often attains a great weight, sometimes 70 or 80 lbs., and
even more.
There is another variety, slightly, though permanently distinct, the
American cod, fine specimens of which may be seen in the fish market of
Halifax, Nova Scotia, during the season; their quality is admirable.
Dried cod for the Brazils are packed in large flat tubs, called drums,
into which they are pressed by a powerful screw. Each drum contains
exactly 128 lbs. of dry fish, that being the Portuguese quintal; and
the drums are shaped to suit the convenience of the Brazilians, who
transport them into the interior of South America slung in pairs upon
mules. For the Mediterranean markets, the fish are stowed in the
holds of the vessels in bulk, and seldom receive damage, such is the
excellent manner in which they are cured and stowed. The best and
whitest of the cod are required for the Neapolitan market, for even
the Lazzaroni of Naples are very particular as to the quality of their
fish.
On the coast of Norway, cod are caught in nets, and it is stated by
Mr. Laing, in his journal of a residence in that country, that these
nets are becoming more in use every season. For this fishery, every
boat is provided with six or eight nets, each twenty fathoms in length,
and thirty meshes deep. The mesh of the cod net is six inches from
knot to knot, and is made of three-ply hemp thread. The back ropes and
ground ropes of each net are fastened to the net, and the whole are set
like Scotch herring nets, only with longer buoy-ropes. The cod nets
are set at night, in 60 to 80 fathoms water, and are taken up in the
morning. The introduction of nets in the cod fishery is said to have
improved very considerably the condition of the inhabitants of the
coast of Norway, as by means of nets, the quantity of fish caught has
been nearly doubled. It is not at all unlikely, that cod nets might be
used with advantage on the Gulf-coast of New Brunswick, especially in
the early part of each season, when the cod come close to the shore in
pursuit of herring, capelin, and gaspereaux.
‘Some of the purely national dishes of Sweden, as lut-fisk on
Christmas-eve, are most extraordinary things, lut-fisk being the stock
fish steeped in a solution of potash until in fact decomposition takes
place. On Christmas-eve, the great evening of Sweden, this thing is
boiled and eaten with oil sauce; and this, together with grot, which
is simply boiled rice, form the Christmas dishes of Sweden, just as
roast beef and plum pudding do of England. The smell of the lut-fisk
is terrific, but a true Swede clings to his national dish on Julaften
as much as any beef-eating Englishman does to his. The poor often
substitute boiled corn for rice; and at all times rye porridge made
with milk, not water, is their common food; the number of meals might
seem to make amends for their quality. Fish is almost the staple of
food; quantities are salted in the autumn, and even in winter. They
are taken in a most ingenious manner from under ice. You see holes cut
in certain distances, and a man seated on a stool at the furthest end
on each side. The man you are looking at appears to be sitting idly
on the ice, but suddenly he puts his hand into the small opening cut
in it, and pulls up a bright coloured little fish, and then another
and another, throwing them on the frozen lake, where they jump about,
displaying their colours, poor things, to advantage, and suffering
cruelly.’[28]
Much more attention is now paid to the prosecution of the fisheries,
and the preparation of the fish for export, in our North American
colonies. Last season, an enterprising firm in Carleton, New Brunswick,
sent to the Gulf of St. Lawrence a vessel of 30 tons, fitted with the
necessary apparatus and well supplied, for the preparation of spiced
salmon; which vessel, after an absence of two months and a half,
returned with a full fare of the estimated value of £1,750, or yielding
a profit of about 700 per cent. on the outlay, with all expenses
defrayed!
A large New Brunswick vessel recently brought to Liverpool 100 boxes,
containing 1,200 tons of preserved lobsters, of the presumed value of
£300, also the result of colonial enterprise.
The flesh of the sea-perch or cunner (_Ctenolabrus cæruleus_),
sometimes called, on account of its prevailing colour, the blue perch,
is sweet and palatable. They are skinned before being dressed. The fish
is taken by myriads, on the coasts of Maine and Massachusetts.
The striped bass (_Labrax lineatus_) is a very fine salt-water fish,
and so is the diminutive white bass, better known by its popular name
‘white perch.’ They are a very fine fish for the table when in season.
Their ordinary weight is from four to six ounces in September; they
are often taken above half-a-pound in weight; the largest seen weighed
above a pound.
A schull of the striped bass, 500 or 600 in number, weighing from 4
to 8 lbs. each, have often been taken at one haul of the net, in New
Brunswick. They ascend fresh-water streams for shelter during the
winter, and were formerly taken in large quantities in the Richibucto
and Miramichi rivers. The fish gathered in large shoals, lying in a
dull, torpid state under the ice, and holes being cut, they were taken
in nets in immense numbers, corded up stiff on the ice, like fire-wood,
and sent off in sled-loads to Fredericton and St. John.
The chub is usually considered a coarse fish, but those of large size,
eaten fresh, are very palatable. Mr. Yarrell says, ‘that boiling chub
with the scales on is the best mode of preparing it for table.’
‘The brook-trout of America’ (_Salmo fontinalis_), says Mr. Herbert,
‘is one of the most beautiful creatures in form, colour, and motion
that can be imagined. There is no sportsman, actuated by the true
animus of the pursuit, who would not prefer basketing a few brace
of good trout, to taking a cart-load of the coarser and less game
denizens of the water. His wariness, his timidity, his extreme cunning,
the impossibility of taking him in clear and much fished waters, except
with the slenderest and most delicate tackle--his boldness and vigour
after being hooked, and his excellence on the table, place him without
dispute next to the salmon alone, as the first of fresh-water fishes.
The pursuit of him leads into the loveliest scenery of the land, and
the season at which he is fished for is the most delightful portion of
the year.’
The sea-trout of the basin of Bonaventura are of large size, 3 lbs.
and upwards, brilliantly white, in fine condition, very fine and well
flavoured.
The summer gaspereaux, or alewives, (_Alosa tyrannus_) are an
exceedingly fat fish, and well flavoured; the only objection to them is
their oily richness. Besides their being fatter, they are smaller and
more yellow in colour than the spring fish.
To the epicure, a fresh caught salmon-trout of the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, especially early in the season, will always afford a rich
treat. The flesh is of a brilliant pink colour, and most excellent: its
exceeding fatness early in the season, when it first enters the mixed
water of the estuaries, is such that it can be preserved fresh but a
very short time. The sportsman will find it a thoroughly game fish;
rising well at a brilliant fly of scarlet ibis and gold, and affording
sport second only to salmon fishing. In some parts of the Gulf they
have been caught weighing 5 to 7 lbs.
That beautiful and savoury fish, the smelt, is a great table delicacy
with us; but on the Gulf coasts of New Brunswick, large quantities are
used every season merely for manure.
As food, the skate is held in very different degrees of estimation in
different places. In London, large quantities are consumed, and crimped
skate is considered delicate and well flavoured; but on some parts of
the English coast, although caught in considerable numbers, the flesh
is seldom eaten, and is only used for baiting lobster pots. The French
are great consumers of the skate; and its flesh is used extensively
both at New York and Boston. By many it is deemed a great delicacy.
After the fish is skinned, the fleshy part of the huge pectoral fins,
which is beautifully white, is cut into long thin slips, about an inch
wide; these are rolled like ribbon, and dressed in that form.
The capelan (_Mallotus villosus_), the smallest species of the
salmon family, possesses like the smelt the cucumber smell, but it
differs from the smelt in never entering fresh-water streams. As an
article of bait for cod, and other fish of that class, the capelan
is a fish of much importance; whenever abundant, the cod-fishing is
excellent. It has been found as far north in the arctic region as man
has yet penetrated; and it forms so important an article of food in
Greenland, that it has been termed the daily bread of the natives. In
Newfoundland, it is dried in large quantities, and exported to London,
where it is sold principally in the oyster shops.
The large, flat-fish known as the halibut (_Hippoglossus vulgaris_),
which sometimes attains the weight of 300 lbs, is often taken by the
cod-fishers in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. These fish are cut in slices,
and pickled in barrels, in which state they sell at half the price
of the best herrings. The flesh, though white and firm, is dry, and
the muscular fibres coarse. The fins and flaps are however esteemed
delicacies.
The mackerel of the British North American coasts is of a much finer
flavour than those caught on the shores of Europe.
The salmon are also noted for their very fine flavour.
If there are no turbot, brill, or sole, in the St. Lawrence, there
are other delicacies. A species of eel is exceedingly abundant and
frequently of large size. One of these, a sea-eel, split, salted,
and smoked, without the head, was 30 inches in length, and 15 inches
in diameter, breadth as split, nearly the size of an ordinary
smoked salmon and quite as thick. 300 barrels of large eels, taken
with the spear in the Buctouche river, are usually salted-down for
winter use. They are generally excessively fat, the flesh very white
and exceedingly well flavoured. Packages of eels have been lately
imported into London from Prince Edward’s Island. Smoked eels are very
delicious, and they have even begun to preserve these fish thus at Port
Phillip.
The fisheries of the North American lakes and rivers are not prosecuted
as they might be, but are beginning to receive more attention. The
white-fish (_Corregonus albus_) is found in all the deep lakes west of
the Mississippi, and indeed from Lake Erie to the Polar Sea. That which
is taken in Leech Lake is said by amateurs to be more highly flavoured
than even that of Lake Superior. There is another species of this
fish, called by the Indians tuliby or ottuniby (_Corregonus artidi_),
which resembles it, but is much less esteemed. Both species furnish a
wholesome and palatable food.
The French Canadians call this fish _Poisson Pointu_, and the English
term them ‘gizzard fish.’ The origin of the latter name appears to
be, that the fish feeds largely on fresh-water shell fish and shelly
molluscs; and its stomach thereby gains an extraordinary thickness, and
resembles the gizzard of a fowl. The stomach, when cleaned and boiled,
is a favourite morsel with the Canadian voyageurs.
The white-fish of the bays and lakes of Canada is represented to be
the finest fish in the world by the Canadians. The flavour of it is
incomparable, especially when split open and fried with eggs and crumbs
of bread. They weigh on the average about 2 lbs. each when cleaned--100
of them filling a good sized barrel. Those caught in Lake Huron are
more highly prized than any others.
Several Indian tribes mainly subsist upon this fish, and it forms the
principal food at many of the fur posts for eight or nine months of the
year, the supply of other articles of diet being scanty and casual.
Its usual weight in the northern regions is from 2 to 3 lbs., but it
has been taken in the clear, deep, and cold waters of Lake Huron, of
the weight of 13 lbs. The largest seen in the vicinity of Hudson’s Bay
weighed between 4 and 5 lbs., and measured 20 inches in length, and 4
in depth. One of 7 lbs. weight, caught in Lake Huron, was 27 inches
long.
Among other species of fish that inhabit these great inland seas are
the mashkinonge, or mashkilonge, the pike or jack, the pickerel or
gilt carp, the perch, and a species of trout called by the Chippeways,
namogus.
A huge mashkilonge, so ravenous is its propensities, is often caught
from the stern of a steamer in full speed, by throwing out a strong
line with a small tin fish attached. A marked peculiarity of most of
the Lake fish is the quantity of fat, resembling that of quadrupeds,
which they contain, entirely different from the salt-water fish--while
their flavor differs from that of the latter, being much more delicate
and white than that of river fish.
Lake Superior abounds with fish, particularly trout, sturgeon, and
white-fish, which are caught at all seasons and in large quantities.
Of these the trout, weighing from 12 to 50 lbs., and the white-fish,
weighing often over 20 lbs., are perhaps the most important.
The salmon trout are equally large, weighing from 10 to 70 lbs.
Lake Champlain also abounds with fish, among which are salmon,
lake-shad, pike, and other fish.
The reciprocity treaty has given a new field to the fisheries on the
Canada side of Lake Huron. Some 200 American fishermen are now engaged
within fifty miles each side of Goderich in the business. This has
greatly stimulated the Cannucks, and it is estimated 400 of them are
now engaged in the same business. About 100 miles of the Lake shore is
lined with gill nets and seines. Every boat that comes in has a large
number of salmon-trout from 30 to 50 lbs. weight. White-fish are very
large. The fish caught at Collingwood terminus of the northern railway,
from Toronto, are packed in ice, and go to Oswego, Rome, Utica, Albany,
and New York. Great quantities taken at Goderich go in ice from thence
to Cleveland and Cincinnati.
The Toronto and Oswego markets are supplied with fish from Collingwood,
and a well organized company, with nets, ice-houses, &c., might do a
fine business by supplying the New York, Boston, and other American
markets, daily with trout, bass, and white-fish from the waters of
Georgian Bay.
Fishing with the scoop net is the most laborious of all modes of
fishing. It was found in practice at the Sault St. Marie by the
Baron De Hortan, when he penetrated to that point in 1684. It has
been practised ever since, because it is the only mode by which the
white-fish can be taken. They go there to feed and not to spawn; the
bottom of the river is a rocky broken ground, and the current runs at
the rate of 12 miles per hour; the eddy in which the fish are found is
of small circuit, and only one canoe at a time can enter it. The canoe
is forced into it by setting poles. The man in the bow has a scoop net,
the handle to which is about 15 feet in length. He has only time to
make one stroke with the scoop, the next instant the canoe is whirled
away by the current far below the point where the stroke was made.
The plunge of the scoop may be successful or not according to chance;
one fish or half-a-dozen may be taken, or very frequently none. As
soon as one canoe is thus swept away, another one supplies its place,
and in this manner some eight or ten canoes in rapid succession take
their turn. Canoes are used because, being lighter, they can be forced
up where it would not be possible to put a boat. Even though the
white-fish would take the hook, still in such rapid water it could not
be used.
Again, the character of nearly the whole of the coasts of Lakes Huron
and Superior forbids any other mode of fishing than by gill nets.
Gill nets are often set in 60 feet of water, and the fish cannot be
taken at such localities in any other mode, except at some seasons of
the year when they will take the hook.
Again, there are localities along Lake Superior, where fish such as
the rock sturgeon and mashkilonge can only be taken with the spear, and
that in 30 feet water; the bottom is so disturbed, distorted, upheaved,
and broken by volcanic action, that gill nets cannot be used, and the
fish can only be reached in the hollows, crevices, and chasms of the
rock where they lie, by means of a spear, which is thrown and has a
line attached to the extremity.
The _Lake Superior Journal_ says:--‘Angling through the ice to a depth
of 30 fathoms of water is a novel mode of fishing somewhat peculiar to
this peculiar region of the world. It is carrying the war into fishdom
with a vengeance, and is denounced, no doubt, in the communities on the
bottoms of these northern lakes as a scaly piece of warfare. The large
and splendid salmon-trout of these waters have no peace; in the summer
they are enticed into the deceitful meshes of the gill-net, and in the
winter, when they hide themselves in the deep caverns of the lakes,
with fifty fathoms of water above their heads, and a defence of ice
two or three feet in thickness on the top of that, they are tempted to
destruction by the fatal hook. Large numbers of these trout are caught
every winter in this way on Lake Superior. The Indian, always skilled
in the fishing business, knows exactly where to find them and how to
kill them. The whites make excursions out on the Lake in pleasant
weather to enjoy this sport. There is a favourite resort for both fish
and fishermen near Gros Cap, at the entrance of Lake Superior, through
the rocky gateway between Gros Cap and Point Iroquois, about 18 miles
above the Sault, and many a large trout at this point is pulled up from
its warm bed at the bottom of the Lake in winter, and made to bite the
cold ice in this upper world. To see one of these fine fish, four or
five feet in length, and weighing half as much as a man, floundering
on the snow and ice, weltering and freezing to death in its own blood,
oftentimes moves the heart of the fisherman to expressions of pity. The
_modus operandi_ in this kind of great trout fishing is novel in the
extreme, and could a stranger to the business overlook at a distance
a party engaged in the sport, he would certainly think they were mad,
or each one making foot-races against time. A hole is made through
the ice, smooth and round, and the fisherman drops down his large
hook, baited with a small herring, pork, or other meat, and when he
ascertains the right depth, he waits--with fisherman’s luck--some time
for a bite, which in this case is a pull altogether, for the fisherman
throws the line over his shoulders and walks from the hole at the top
of his speed till the fish bounds out on the ice. I have known of as
many as fifty of these splendid trout caught in this way by a single
fisherman in a single day; it is thus a great source of pleasure and a
valuable resource of food, especially in Lent; and the most scrupulous
anti-pork believers might here ‘down pork and up fish’ without any
offence to conscience.’
The Cleveland _Plain-dealer_ has a lengthy account of the trade of the
house of J. M. Craw and Son, of that city. It says:--‘At the warehouse,
133, River street, in this city, is a grand depôt of its receipts.
From this place large supplies of salt provisions, fisherman’s tackle,
seines, lines, and everything needed on the coasts of the upper lakes,
are forwarded. At Washington Harbour, in Green Bay, engagements are
made with the fishermen of 118 boats, each of which has a head
fisherman, who has his crew engaged in fishing. Over 300 men are
constantly engaged, spring and fall, in that locality in catching,
packing, and forwarding fish. Similar settlements of fishermen are
scattered all along the coasts of Lakes Michigan, Superior, Huron, and
Erie. The number of varieties of Lake fish fit for packing is large,
including white-fish, siskawit, trout, pickerel, cat-fish, bass,
herring, perch, shad, and bayfish. The amount of fish received by Craw
and Son, in 1856, exceeded 14,000 barrels, and as their receipts this
year from Lake Michigan will be about 6,000 barrels, an increased
aggregate is anticipated. This large amount is so much added to the
food of the country, and constitutes an important addition to its
wealth. From the details of this single house we may learn something of
the extent of the entire trade.’
In the Baikal Lake, Siberia, there is a fish (_Callyonimus
Baicalensis_) from four to six inches long, so very fat, that it melts
before the fire like butter. It yields an oil sold to great advantage
to the Chinese.
The _Lake Superior Journal_, of October 27, notices the arrival of a
100 barrels of the famous siskawit from Isle Royale, and learns from
one of the fishermen that there have been caught this season between
300 and 400 barrels of this fish, together with a few trout and white
fish. They fish on that island for this fish principally, as the
siskawit are worth as much again as whitefish and mackinac trout in the
lake markets.--The siskawit is said to be the fattest fish that swims,
either in fresh or salt water. The fishermen assert, that one of these
fish, when hung up by the tail in the hot sun of a summer day, will
melt and entirely disappear, except the bones. In putting up about 50
barrels this season, one of the fishermen made two and a half barrels
of oil from the heads and ‘leaf fat’ alone, without the least injury
to the marketableness of the fish. Besides this leaf fat, the fat or
oil is disseminated ‘in a layer of fat and a layer of lean’ throughout
the fish. They are too fat to be eaten fresh, and are put up for market
like whitefish and trout.
‘Fish being here very scarce,’ (Falls of the Uaupés,) ‘we were
obliged,’ says Mr. Wallace, ‘to live almost entirely on fowls, which,
though very nice when well roasted, and with the accompaniment of ham
and gravy, are rather tasteless, simply boiled or stewed, with no
variation in the cookery, and without vegetables.
‘I had now got so thoroughly into the life of this part of the country,
that like everybody else here, I preferred fish to every other article
of food. One never tires, and I must again repeat, that I believe there
are fish here superior to any in the world.
‘Our fowls cost us about a penny each, paid in fish-hooks or salt, so
that they are not such expensive food as they would be at home. In
fact, if a person buys his hooks, salt, and other things in Para, where
they are about half the price they are in Barra, the price of a fowl
will not exceed a halfpenny; and fish, pacovas, and other eatables that
this country produces, in the same proportion.
‘Many of the fish of the Rio Negro are of a most excellent flavour,
surpassing anything I have tasted in England, either from the fresh
or the salt waters; and many species have real fat, which renders the
water they are boiled in a rich and agreeable broth. Not a drop of this
is wasted, but with a little pepper and farinha is all consumed, with
as much relish as if it were the most delicate soup.’[29]
Pirarucú, the dried fish, which with farinha forms the chief
subsistence of the native population of Brazil, and in the interior is
the only thing to be obtained, resembles in appearance nothing eatable,
looking as much like a dry cow-hide, grated up into fibres, and dressed
into cakes, as anything I can compare it with. When eaten, it is boiled
or slightly roasted, pulled to pieces and mixed with vinegar, oil,
pepper, onions, and farinha, and altogether forms a very savoury mess
for a person with a good appetite and a strong stomach.
If we pass to the Pacific coasts of South America, we find the most
esteemed fish are the robalo, the corvino, the lisa, and the king-fish.
The robalo (_Esox Chilensis_, _Hemiramphus Brazillensis_ of Cuvier,)
is nearly of a cylindrical form, and from two to three feet long. It
is coated with angular scales of a golden colour upon the back, and
silver on the belly; the fins are soft and without spines, the tail
is truncated, and the back marked longitudinally with a blue stripe,
bordered with yellow. The flesh is very white, almost transparent,
light, and of a delicious taste. Those taken upon the Araucanian coast
are the most in repute, where they are sometimes caught of eight pounds
weight. The Indians of Chiloe smoke them, after having cleaned and
soaked them for 24 hours in sea water, and, when sufficiently dry, pack
them up in casks of 100 each, which are generally sold for about three
dollars. The robalo prepared in this manner is said to be superior to
any other kind of dried fish.
The corvino (_Sparus Chilensis_) is nearly of the same size as the
robalo; it is sometimes, however, found of five or six feet in length.
This fish has a small head, and a large oval body, covered with broad,
rhomboidal scales, of a mother-of-pearl colour, marked with white. The
tail is forked, and the body encircled obliquely, from the shoulders
to the belly, with a number of brownish lines. The fins are armed
with spiny rays, and the flesh is white, firm, and of a good taste,
particularly when fried. It would probably be better still if it were
prepared like that of the tunny.
The lisa (_Mugil Chilensis_) in its form, scales, and back is much like
the common mullet, but is distinguished by the dorsal fin, which in the
lisa is entire. There are two species of this fish, the sea and the
river lisa, neither of which exceeds a foot in length; the first is a
very good fish, but the latter is so exquisite, that it is preferred by
many to the best of trout.
Another esteemed fresh-water fish of Chile is the bagre, or luvur
(_Silenus Chilensis_, probably the _A. geneionis inermis_), which has a
smooth skin, without scales, and is brown upon the sides, and whitish
under the belly. In appearance, it is not very prepossessing, for in
form it resembles a tadpole; the head being of a size disproportionate
to the length of the body, which does not exceed eleven inches at the
most. It has a blunt mouth, furnished like that of the barbel with
barbs. It has a sharp spine on the back fins, like the tropical bagre,
but its puncture is not venomous, as that is said to be. The flesh is
yellow, and the most delicious of any esculent fish that is known.
There is said to be another species of this fish inhabiting the sea,
which is black--the same, probably, that Anson’s sailors called, from
its colour, the chimney-sweep.
While on the subject of fish common to this locality, I may mention
that the Abbé Molina states, that ‘the river Talten, which waters the
Araucanian provinces, produces a small fish called _paye_, which, as I
have been assured by those who have seen them, is so diaphanous, that
if several are placed upon each other, any object beneath them may be
distinctly seen. If this property is not greatly exaggerated, this fish
might serve to discover the secret process of digestion and the motion
of the fluids.’
Mr. Ruschenberger thus describes a Hawaiian restaurant:--‘The earth
floor of a straw hovel was covered by mats. Groups of men squatted in
a circle, with gourd plates before them, supplied with raw fish and
salt-water, and by their side was an enormous gourd, of the dimensions
of a wash tub, filled with poë, a sort of paste made of taro. They ate
of the raw fish, occasionally sopping the torn animal in the salt water
as a sauce, then sucking it, with that peculiar smack which indicates
the reception of a delicious morsel.’
The noble salmon, which honest Izaak Walton justly calls, ‘the king of
fresh-water fish,’ is too well known as a choice article of food to
need description. A jowl of fresh salmon was one of the requisites,
in 1444, at the feast of the Goldsmiths’ Company; and in 1473, three
quarters of Colnbrook salmon are charged 6_s._ 4_d._; and at a fish
dinner of the same company in 1498, among large quantities of fish
mentioned, are a fresh salmon 11_s._; a great salmon £1; and two
salmon-trout 2_s._ 8_d._ In 1518, for ij. fresh samon xvijˢ jᵈ Item,
a fresh samon xiijˢ iiijᵈ; and in the eighth year of King Henry VIII.
iiij. fresh samons are charged xlˢ
In the great rush after gold, the fisheries of the Pacific coast, which
have been famous for years past for their extent and value, have not
received that attention which they merit. Now that the living tide has
again set in strongly towards the North-West, the demand for food to
feed the thousands will cause the fishery to be more largely developed.
The whole coast is particularly rich in the more valuable species of
the finny tribe.
A San Francisco paper states:--‘The salmon of California and Oregon,
with which our markets are supplied in the fresh and cured state,
are nowhere surpassed in quality or flavour. Our rivers, bays, and
estuaries are alive with these valuable fish, and the fishermen
are busy in securing them during the present run. It is estimated
that there are 400 boats on the Sacramento river alone, engaged in
fisheries. The boats are valued at 60,000 dollars, the nets at 80,000
dollars, and seines at 6,000 dollars. The fishing season lasts from the
1st of February to the 1st of August, during which time the estimated
average of each boat per day is 30 dollars, or an aggregate of 12,000
dollars. The hauling seines yield 100 dollars each per day, or 2,000
dollars in the aggregate. The fish thus caught supply the markets
of San Francisco, Sacramento, Marysville, and the mining towns in
the interior. Sometimes 2,000 lbs. are sent to one order. The amount
shipped daily to San Francisco at present is from 5,000 to 6,000 lbs.,
which will be increased as the season advances.
‘The fishing smacks outside the harbour in the vicinity of Drake’s
Bay, Punto de los Reyes, Tomales, and similar points, as well as other
portions of the coast, are busily engaged in the trade.
‘This business is becoming every year of greater interest, and the
attention of our legislature has recently been drawn to its proper
regulation and protection. A description of the fishes common to these
waters, with an account of their habits, quality, and relative value,
would be of great interest.
‘In addition to salmon there are other varieties of fish deserving
more than a passing notice. Much difficulty is experienced in
classifying them under the proper heads, and recognizing the species
under their various arbitrary names. The sturgeon, the rock cod, the
mackerel--which, although it bears some resemblance to the Atlantic
fish is inferior to it in flavour and fatness--the herring, the smelt,
the sardine, and other varieties found in our markets, are all more
or less valuable. Myriads of sardines abound along the whole southern
coast. The Bay of Monterey has especially become famous for its
abundance of this small but valuable fish. It is a matter of surprise
that the taking and preparation of this fish, which enters so largely
into the commerce of the world, has never been attended to as a source
of revenue and profit in this region. The experiment certainly is worth
testing. There are doubtless many persons here, familiar with the trade
as practised on the coast of France, whose services might be secured in
the business.’
Another Californian paper, the _Sacramento Union_, remarks:--‘The
fishing interest in the Sacramento at this point is increasing and
expanding with astonishing rapidity, from year to year, and from
month to month. The water of the river must be alive with salmon, or
such numbers caught daily would sensibly reduce their numbers. But
experienced fishermen inform us, while the run lasts, so countless is
the number, that no matter how many are employed in the business, or
how many are taken daily, no diminution can be perceived. Even the
‘tules’ between this and the Coast Range are reported to be filled
with salmon. The run this year is said to be greater than ever before
known at this season. The extraordinary run of the present time is only
expected to continue for something like three weeks. They seem to run
in immense schools, with some weeks intervening between the appearance
of each school, during which the numbers taken are light, as compared
with the quantity taken during a time like the present. No account is
kept of the number engaged in fishing, or of the amount caught, and
all statements relative thereto are made from estimates obtained from
those who have experience in the business, and probably approximate
correctness. These estimates give the number of men employed now in
taking fish in the Sacramento at about 6OO--the number of fish taken
daily, on an average, at 2,000--their average weight 17 lbs., making
34,000 lbs. per day. Two cents per lb., which is probably more than
the present average price by the quantity, would give a daily income
to those employed of 680 dollars, not very high pay. Either the number
of men engaged in the business, we imagine, must be over estimated,
or the number of fish caught under estimated. It requires two men to
man a boat, which would give 300 boats for 600 men: 2,000 fish a day
would give to each man a fraction over three as his share. We presume
few are fishing who do not catch a good many more than that number.
We saw a boat-load, the product of the previous night, consisting of
66 salmon, weighed yesterday morning. They averaged a fraction over
17 lbs., and gave 33 as the number caught by each man, instead of
three, as estimated above. Say the 600 fishermen man, on an average,
200 boats a night; the average number caught by each boat put at 20,
and the sum total would be 4,000 fish, instead of 2,000, as estimated.
Our impression is that the latter comes nearer the mark than the
former, as a good many of the fishermen send their fish directly to
San Francisco; others take them to different points for salting. Large
numbers are salted down daily, several firms and individuals being
extensively engaged in this branch of the trade. The fish are put
down in hogsheads, which average, when filled, about 800 lbs. From
1,000 to 3,000 lbs. are put down daily by those engaged in salting. An
acquaintance has filled 65 hogsheads this season. The most of those
engaged in salting live on the Washington side of the river, and salt
their fish there. Including those engaged in salting, catching, and
selling, probably the fish business furnishes employment for 1,000 men.’
The salmon is found in no other waters in such vast multitudes as are
met in the rivers emptying into the Pacific. On the Atlantic side,
the leading fish feature is the run of shad in the spring; on the
Pacific side, salmon ascend the rivers at all seasons, in numbers
beyond all computation. In California and Oregon, the rivers are alive
with them; the great number taken by fishermen are but a drop from
the bucket. Above this, on the coast side, tribes of Indians use no
other food. As a table luxury, they are esteemed by most persons the
finest fish caught. Unlike many fish, they contain but few bones, and
the orange-coloured meat can be served in slices to suit customers.
It is emphatically the meat for the million; it costs so little--not
a quarter that of other meats--that rich and poor can feast upon
salmon as often in the day as they choose to indulge in the luxury.
In the course of a few years, salmon fishing will extend itself to
all the prominent rivers in the North Pacific States. Catching and
curing salmon will then have become a systematized business; the fish
consumption will then have extended itself generally over those States,
and more than likely become, in the meantime, an important article of
export.
While upon the subject of these fisheries, it may be added, that a
considerable portion of the Chinese population, both at San Francisco
and at Sacramento, have engaged extensively in this business. In
the vicinity of Mission Creek, near the former city, they have gone
into the business upon a large scale. The average ‘catch,’ each day,
is estimated at about 5,000 lbs., for which a ready market is found
among the Chinese population, at five dollars per cwt. The process of
catching, cleaning, and curing, presents a busy and curious scene.
Sir John Bowring remarks that, ‘The multitudes of persons who live
by the fisheries in China afford evidence not only that the land is
cultivated to the greatest possible extent, but that it is insufficient
to supply the necessities of the overflowing population; for
agriculture is held in high honour in China, and the husbandman stands
next in rank to the sage, or literary man, in the social hierarchy.
It has been supposed that nearly a tenth of the population derive
their means of support from fisheries. Hundreds and thousands of boats
crowd the whole coasts of China--sometimes acting in communities,
sometimes independent and isolated. There is no species of craft by
which a fish can be inveigled which is not practised with success
in China. Every variety of net, from vast seines, embracing miles,
to the smallest hand-filet in the care of a child. Fishing by night
and fishing by day--fishing in moonlight, by torchlight, and in utter
darkness--fishing in boats of all sizes--fishing by those who are
stationary on the rock by the seaside, and by those who are absent
for weeks on the wildest of seas--fishing by cormorants--fishing by
divers--fishing with lines, with baskets--by every imaginable decoy and
device. There is no river which is not staked to assist the fisherman
in his craft. There is no lake, no pond, which is not crowded with
fish. A piece of water is nearly as valuable as a field of fertile
land. At daybreak every city is crowded with sellers of live fish, who
carry their commodity in buckets of water, saving all they do not sell
to be returned to the pond or kept for another day’s service.
The fishing grounds of Van Diemen’s Land are periodically visited by
a splendid fish named arbouka, a well-known piscatory visitant on the
coast of New Zealand. Great numbers of these beautiful denizens of the
deep have been caught, varying in weight from 60 lbs. to 100 lbs. each.
The trumpeter is one of the most magnificent of Tasmanian fish; and is
unrivalled in the quality of its flesh by any visitant in those waters.
A demand has been created for them in Victoria; and before long, a
stirring trade will be established between the two colonies in these
beautiful fish.
The native cooking-oven of New Zealand, called the unu, is a very
curious contrivance, and is thus described by Mr. S. C. Brees. It
consists of a round hole, about two or three feet in diameter, and
twelve inches deep, in which some wood is placed and lighted. Large
pebble-stones are then thrown on the fire and heated, which remain at
the bottom of the hole after the wood is consumed; the stones are next
arranged, so as to present a level surface, and sprinkled with water;
wild cabbage or other leaves are moistened and spread over them, upon
which the food intended to be cooked is laid; the whole is then covered
over with leaves and flax-baskets, and lastly, filled over with earth,
which completes the operation. After allowing it to remain a certain
time, according to circumstances, which the cook determines with the
utmost precision, the oven is opened and the food removed. Eels and
potatoes are delicious when cooked in this manner, and every other kind
of provision.
The seer-fish (_Cybium guttatum_) is generally considered the finest
flavoured of the finny race that swims in the Indian seas; it has a
good deal the flavour of salmon.
There are several esteemed fish obtained round Ceylon. The Pomfret
bull’s eye (_Holocentrus ruber_) is found at certain seasons in
abundance on the southern coast of Ceylon, in deep water. It is
greatly esteemed by the natives as an article of food, and reaches a
considerable size, frequently nearly two feet in length. The flesh
is white and solid. For splendour and beauty, this fish is almost
unsurpassed.
A fish called by the natives great-fire (_Scorpæna volitans_) is eaten
by the native fishermen, the flesh being white, solid, and nutritive.
Linnæus describes the flesh as delicious.
The pookoorowah (_Holocentrus argenteus_) is a very delicious fish,
seldom exceeding twelve or thirteen inches in length. The gal-handah
(_Chætodon araneus_), a singular and much admired fish, only about
three inches in length, has a delicate and white flesh, and is greatly
esteemed.
In Java and Sumatra, a preparation of small fish, with red-rice,
having the appearance of anchovies, and the colour of red-cabbage, is
esteemed a delicacy. So in India, the preparation called tamarind fish
is much prized as a breakfast relish, where the acid of the tamarind is
made use of for preserving the white pomfret-fish, cut in transverse
slices. The mango-fish (_Polynemus longifilis_, Cuvier; _P. paradiscus_
of Linnæus), about eight or nine inches long by two deep, is much
esteemed in India. At Calcutta the _Lates nobilis_, different species
of _Polynemus_, and the _Mugil Corsula_, daily cover the tables of
Europeans, who will more readily recognize these fishes under the names
of the _Begti_ or _Cockup_, _Sudjeh_, _Tupsi_, and the Indian Mullet.
At the Sandheads may be found some of those delicious fishes, which
are more familiar to the residents of Madras and Bombay, for instance,
the Indian soles, the roll-fish, and above all, the black and white
pomfrets, and the bummolah, which latter in a dried state is known
by the name of the Bombay duck. The bummolah is a small glutinous
transparent fish, about the size of smelt.
There are many excellent fish obtained from the sea round the Cape
Colony, and about 2,500 tons are shipped annually to the Mauritius,
forming nearly three fourths of the island consumption; the principal
consumers being the coolie labourers or Indian population.
Geelbeck, or yellow mouth, sometimes called Cape salmon (_Otolithus
æquidens_, Cuv. and Val.), is the finest as to quality; they are
taken abundantly with the hook and line, or net, and weigh about 14
lbs. The cost of preparation ready for shipment is about £12. It forms
an article of food for the poor and lazy. The Malays at the Cape cure
a great deal in vinegar (for home consumption), the same as pickled
salmon in England; and it is not a bad representative of it. For
exportation they are opened down the back, the intestines taken out,
head cut off, salted for a night, and dried in the sun.
Snook (_Thyrsites atua_), similar to the baraconta, is a long, slim,
oily fish, taken with any shining bait; it is a perfect salt-water
pike, very strong and ferocious, and is dispatched, after being pulled
on board, by blows on the head with a kind of knob-kerrie. These are
cured the same way as the geelbeck; the cost of production is about £16
per ton. They are highly prized by the colonists, and esteemed before
any fish imported into Mauritius, fetching about £2 per ton more than
cod. These fish are very fine eating when cured fresh. They are also
much esteemed in Ceylon. The Malays cure them without salt by drying in
the sun, with a little pepper and spice; they are then delicious.
Silver fish (_Dentex argyrozona_) are similar to the bream of England;
each weighs from 6 to 8 lbs. They are got up for shipment the same as
the others; the cost of production is about £10 per ton. They are the
least esteemed of any at the Mauritius market, but when fresh they
are very nice eating. The bastard silver fish (_D. rupestris_) is
considered one of the very finest fishes in the colony. It is esteemed
for foreign markets. Harders are a mullet, about eight inches long,
which are principally cured in small casks in brine, for up-country
use. The Cape farmers are very fond of them, but few are exported.
They have also mackerel very large, very fat, which are better cured
than fresh.
The Jacob Evertsen (_Sebastes capensis_), so called after a Dutch
captain, remarkable for a red face and large projecting eyes, is a fish
which, though common in Table Bay almost at all seasons, is highly
prized for its flesh by most colonists. Another species, the sancord
(_S. maculatus_), which is not so common, is a very delicious fish. The
kabeljauw (_Sciæna hololepidota_) is a large fish from two to three
feet long, common on the coast, being caught with the hook and the
drag-net. It is one of the staple fishes in the Cape Town market; dried
and salted like cod it is exported to the Mauritius and elsewhere. Its
flesh when young is good, but firm and dry in adult individuals. The
baardmannetje (_Umbrina capensis_, Pappe), another newly described fish
of the same family, which is chiefly caught in False Bay during summer,
measures from 2 to 2½ feet, and is reputed for its delicious flesh.
The hangberger (_Sargus Hottentotus_), a fish about 18 inches long,
which is common in Table Bay from June to August, is much in request,
particularly at the time when it is with roe. It is also cured and
pickled for economical purposes. It feeds on shell fish, and is caught
with the hook.
The Hottentot fish (_Sargus capensis_), from 12 to 14 inches long,
which is mostly confined to Table Bay and the West Coast, may be caught
at all seasons with the hook. It is not only a superior table fish, but
forms when salted and dried an article of export.
The roode steen brassem of the Dutch (_Chrysophrys laticeps_, Cuvier)
is a bulky fish, often exceeding 3½ feet in length and 14 inches in
breadth. It is very voracious, and feeds generally on crabs and cuttle
fish (_Sepia_ and _Loligo_). As food it is much prized, and is also
cured for exportation.
The Roman fish (_Chrysophrys cristiceps_) is one of the prettiest and
most delicious fish met with in the Cape markets. It is generally
acknowledged to be a superior dish.
The daggerath (_Pagrus laniarius_) is of a dark rose colour, about 12
inches long. It is highly prized in the colony for its delicious flesh.
This handsome fish owes its surname, _laniarius_ (butcher), both to its
colour and to its sharp teeth and voracity.
The windtoy (_Cantharus Blochii_) is a delicious table fish, more
commonly caught in winter, and often put up in bundles along with
the Hottentot fish (_Sargus capensis_). The flesh of the dasje fish,
another species (_Cantharus emarginatus_), is also highly esteemed as
food.
There is a fish called by the colonists the bamboo fish (_Boops
salpa_), from feeding on algæ and being caught principally in
localities where there is an abundance of sea-weed. On account of its
vegetable nourishment, it exhibits at times a particular smell when
embowelled, and is for that reason called stink-fish by some of the
fishermen. It is a rich and delicate fish, and though scarce in the
Cape Town market, is common in Saldanha Bay, where it is dried and
salted for home consumption.
The flesh of the bastard Jacob Evertsen (_Pimelepterus fuscus_) is well
flavoured and very nice. This fish is of a uniform dusky brown colour.
It feeds on shell-fish.
The galleon fish (_Dipterodon capensis_) is more plentiful in the
western division of the Cape Colony; it is highly esteemed as food
and always fetches a good price. It is, however, disliked by some on
account of the many black veins traversing its flesh, and is at times
rather unwholesome, from being too rich and requiring good digestive
organs.
The elft-fish (_Temnodon saltator_) is uniformly lead coloured, shaded
with dark green on its back. From leaping now and then out of the water
it has obtained its name of _saltator_ (jumper). It is held in great
esteem as a table fish, and the younger individuals are truly deemed a
dainty.
There are several species of mullet recorded as inhabitants of the
bays and rivers of the Cape Colony. All of them are caught with the
net. They make good table fish, but are more frequently salted or
smoke-dried (under the name of bokkoms) like the herring, and thus
preserved, form a very considerable article of home consumption as well
as of export.
The klip-fish (_Blennius versicolor_, Pappe) is greatly reputed for its
flesh, which is nice, well flavoured, and wholesome.
The flesh of the bagger (_Bagrus capensis_) is extremely delicate, and
bears a greater resemblance to that of the eel than that of any other
sea fish in the colony. Owing to its ugliness, this curious fish,
which hides itself among stones in muddy water the better to entrap
its unsuspecting prey, is from popular prejudice less prized than it
deserves.
English writers on Ichthyology comment very unfavourably on the merits
of the hake (_Gadus merluccius_) and call it ‘a coarse fish, scarcely
fit for the dinner table.’ At the Cape its qualities are generally and
fully appreciated; in fact, its flesh is highly delicate and little
inferior to that of the haddock (_Gadus æglefinus_). At times it makes
its appearance in large shoals. It is then abundantly caught, salted,
and dried, for exportation. The cured or dried Cape stock-fish is an
excellent dish, far superior to that insipid stuff introduced from
Holland or other countries.
The rock-cod (_Serranus Cuvierii_) is highly esteemed as an article of
food.
Sardines in myriads swarm round Table Bay, at one season of the year;
klip-fish, king klip-fish, and soles (rather scarce), are considered a
luxury.
It is hardly requisite to say much of that cosmopolitan fish, the sole,
which is for its delicacy prized as well at the Cape as elsewhere.
Thousands of cray-fish are caught daily; four of the largest can be
obtained for a penny; but it is not fashionable to eat them, although
they are very good.
The quantity of fish throughout the whole extent of the coast,
bordering on the Agulha’s bank, is immense, and would be the richest
fishery in the world. Exports of sardines in the French style, of
potted cray-fish in the American, and the choicest fish preserved fresh
in tins, might be made profitable.
I may add here that Dr. L. Pappe, of Cape Town, to whom I am indebted
for my information on the Cape fishes, has published in the Colony an
interesting synopsis of the edible fishes at the Cape of Good Hope,
in which he furnishes much new and interesting descriptive scientific
detail.
INSECTS.
Insects furnish more food delicacies than is generally supposed. In the
popular _Introduction to Entomology_, by Kirby and Spence, it is well
remarked, that,
‘If we could lay aside our English prejudices, there is no reason why
some of the insects might not be eaten, for those used by various
nations as food, generally speaking, live on vegetable substances, and
are consequently much more select and cleanly in their diet than the
pig or the duck, which form a favourite part of our food. They who
would turn with disgust from a locust, or the grub of a beetle, feel
no symptoms of nausea when a lobster, crab, or shrimp is set before
them. The fact is, that habit has reconciled us to the eating of these
last, which, viewed in themselves, with their threatening claws, and
many feet, are really more disgusting than the former. Had the habit
been reversed, we should have viewed the former with appetite, and the
latter with abhorrence--as do the Arabs, who are as much astounded at
our eating crabs, lobsters, and oysters, as we are at their eating
locusts.’
Herrick, an old author, 200 years ago, in describing a feast given by
Oberon to the fairy elves, alludes to the insects as amongst their
choicest cates.
‘Gladding his palate with some store
Of emmet’s eggs: what would he more?
But beards of mice, a newt’s stewed thigh,
A bloated earwig, and a fly.
With the red-capp’d worm that’s shut
Within the concave of a nut,
Brown as his tooth;--a little moth,
Late fatten’d in a piece of cloth.’
Herrick’s _Hesperides_, 1658.
COLEOPTERA.
Many larvæ of insects, and especially of beetles, are eaten in
different parts of the world.
The grub of the palm weevil (_Cordylia palmarum_), which is the size
of the thumb, has long been in request in the East and West Indies.
The natives of Surinam roast and eat them as something exquisite.
In Jamaica, where it is known as the grou-grou worm, I have seen it
eaten commonly. A grub named _Macauco_ is also there in request at the
principal tables. It is eaten both by whites and blacks, who empty,
wash, and roast them, and find them delicious. A similar insect is
dressed at Mauritius, and eaten by all classes.
An old writer--Brookes, _On the Properties and Uses of Insects_, 1772,
says--‘They are eaten by the French, in the West Indies, after they
have been roasted before the fire, when a small wooden spit has been
thrust through them. When they begin to be hot, they powder them with a
crust of rasped bread, mixed with salt, and a little pepper and nutmeg.
This powder keeps in the fat, or at least, sucks it up; and when they
are done enough, they are served up with orange juice. They are highly
esteemed by the French, as excellent eating.’
The larva, or grub, of one of the species of beetles which infest
cocoa-nut trees, is called _Tucuma_, or _Grugou_, in British Guiana.
It is about two or three inches long, and three-quarters of an inch in
diameter, and the head is black. They are reckoned a great delicacy
by wood-cutters and epicures of the country, and they are generally
dressed by frying them in a pan. By some they are preferred in a raw
state, and after seizing them by the black head, they are dipped in
lime-juice, and forthwith swallowed.
The late Mr. J. C. Bidwell, a botanist, travelling in Australia,
states--‘I never before tasted one of the large grubs, which are a
favourite food of the blacks. They are about four inches long, and
about as thick as a finger. They inhabit the wood of the gum-trees. I
had often tried to taste one, but could not manage it. Now, however,
hunger overcame my nausea. It was very good, but not as I had expected
to find it--rich; it was only sweet and milky.’
Sir Robert Schomburgk writes:--‘The decaying woods of the West India
islands, the Central and some of the southern portions of America,
afford a delicacy to the Indian, which many colonists do not even
refuse, in the larvæ of a large beetle, which is found in considerable
numbers in the pith, when the trunk is near its decay. The larva, or
grub, is frequently of the size of the little finger; and, after being
boiled or roasted, resembles in its taste beef marrow. The Indians
of Guiana frequently cut down the Mauritia palm, for the purpose of
attracting the beetle to deposit its eggs in it, and when they collect
a large quantity, they are roasted over a slow fire, to extract the
fat, which is preserved in calabashes.
The Roman epicures fattened some of these larvæ, or grubs, on flour.
Some naturalists think that the grubs of most of the beetles might
be safely eaten; and that those of the cockchafer, which feeds upon
the roots of grass, or the perfect insects themselves, which, if we
may judge from the eagerness with which cats, and turkeys and other
birds devour them, are no despicable morsel, might be added to our
food delicacies. This would certainly be one means of keeping down the
numbers of these occasionally destructive animals.
The Goliath beetles are said to be roasted and eaten by the natives of
South America and Western Africa, and they often make a _bonne bouche_
of splendid insects which would gratify many an entomologist. Although
the large prices of £30, £40, or £50, which used to be asked for them,
are now very much reduced, fine specimens of some of the species even
now fetch five to six pounds for cabinet specimens.
The Australian aborigines are gourmands in their way, and able to
appreciate the good things which surround them. Mr. Clement Hodgkinson
in a work on Australia says:
‘Bellenger Billy amused me very much by his curious method of diving
to the bottom of the river in search of cobberra, the large white
worms resembling boiled maccaroni, which abound in immersed wood. He
swam to the centre of the river with a tomahawk in his hand, and then
breathing hard that his lungs might be collapsed, he rendered his body
and tomahawk specifically heavier than water, and sank feet foremost
to the bottom. After groping about there for some moments, he emerged
on the river’s edge, with several dead pieces of wood, which he had
detached from the mud. Although I had tasted from curiosity various
kinds of snakes, lizards, guanas, grubs, and other animals which the
blacks feed upon, I never could muster resolution enough to try one of
these cobberra; although, when I have been engaged in the survey of
salt-water creeks, and I felt hot and thirsty, I have often envied the
extreme relish with which some accompanying black could stop and gorge
himself with this moist, living marrow.’
The women of Turkey cook and eat a certain beetle (_Blaps sulcata_) in
butter to fatten themselves.
ORTHOPTERA.
In the next order of insects, the locust tribe, as they are the
greatest destroyers of food, so, as some recompense, they furnish a
considerable supply of it to numerous nations. They are recorded to
have done this from the most remote antiquity, some Ethiopian tribes
having been named from this circumstance locust-eaters. The generic
name of the locusts, _Gryllus_, sounds like an invitation to cook
them. Pliny relates that they were in high esteem as meat amongst the
Parthians. When there is a scarcity of grain, as a substitute for flour
the Arabs grind locusts in their hand-mills, or pound them in stone
mortars. They mix this flour with water into a dough, and make thin
cakes of it, which they bake like other bread. They also eat them in
another way; they boil them first a good while in water, and afterwards
stew with oil or butter into a kind of fricassée of no bad flavour.
The large kinds of locust are made use of in several quarters as food,
and in the markets of the Levant fresh and salted locusts are vended.
Hasselquist tells us, that when corn is scarce, the Arabians grind the
locusts in hand-mills, or pound them in stone mortars, and bake them as
bread; and that even when there is no scarcity of corn, the Arabs stew
them with butter and make them into a kind of a fricassée, the flavour
of which is by no means disagreeable. Why should land shrimp sauce not
be equal to sea shrimp sauce?
Locusts, Cumming tells us, afford fattening and wholesome food to man,
birds, and all sorts of beasts. The hungry dogs and hogs feed greedily
on them,--so that there are plenty of enemies to prey in time upon
these wholesale depredators. Young turkeys live almost entirely on them
in some parts of America, and become very fat when they are plentiful.
Hence, if so many animals thrive upon them, they must necessarily be
dainty food.
It is not only by the inhabitants of the Great Desert that the locusts
are hailed with joy. The Kafirs also give them a hearty welcome, and
make many a good meal upon them too,--not only eating them in large
quantities, but making a sort of coffee-colored soup of their eggs.
Locusts are cooked in various ways--roasted, boiled, and fried. They
are also salted and smoked, and packed away against a time of scarcity.
It is said, they taste very much like fish, and are particularly light,
delicate, and wholesome food. They are carried into many of the towns
of Africa by waggon-loads, as we bring poultry to market.
The Hottentots are highly rejoiced at the arrival of the locusts in
their country, although they destroy all its verdure, eating them in
such quantities as to get visibly fatter than before, and making of
their eggs a brown or coffee-coloured soup.
In the Mahratta country in India, the common people salt and eat them.
This was anciently the custom with many of the African nations, some
of whom also smoked them.
Dishes of locusts are generally served up at the principal tables in
Barbary, and esteemed a great delicacy. They are preferred by the Moors
to pigeons; and a person may eat a plateful of 200 or 300 without
feeling any ill effects. They usually boil them in water half-an-hour,
having thrown away the head, wings, and legs, then sprinkle them with
salt and pepper and fry them, adding a little vinegar.
Another traveller describes the way they are prepared for food in the
desert of Zahara.--‘In and about this valley were great flights of
locusts. During the day, they are flying around very thickly in the
atmosphere; but the copious dews and chilly air in the night render
them unable to fly, and they settle down on the bushes. It was the
constant employment of the natives in the night to gather these insects
from the bushes, which they did in great quantities. My master’s
family, each with a small bag, went out the first night upon this
employment, carrying a very large bag to bring home the fruits of their
labor. My mistress, Fatima, however, and the two little children,
remained in the tent. I declined this employment, and retired to rest
under the large tent. The next day, the family returned loaded with
locusts, and, judging by the eye of the quantity produced, there
must have been about fifteen bushels. This may appear to be a large
quantity to be gathered in so short a time, but it is scarcely worth
mentioning when compared with the loads of them gathered, sometimes,
in the more fertile part of the country over which they pass, leaving
a track of desolation behind them. But as they were the first, in
any considerable quantity, that I had seen, and the first I had seen
cooked and eaten, I mention it in this place, hoping hereafter to give
my readers more particular information concerning these wonderful and
destructive insects, which, from the days of Moses to this time, have
been considered, by Jews and Mahometans, as the most severe judgment
which Heaven can inflict upon man. But, whatever the Egyptians might
have thought in ancient days, or the Moors and Arabs in those of modern
date, the Arabs who are compelled to inhabit the desert of Zahara, so
far from considering a flight of locusts as a judgment upon them for
their transgressions, welcome their approach as the means, sometimes,
of saving them from famishing with hunger. The whole that were brought
to the tent at this time were cooked while alive, as indeed they always
are, for a dead locust is never cooked. The manner of cooking is by
digging a deep hole in the ground, building a fire at the bottom, as
before described, and filling it up with wood. After it is heated
as hot as is possible, the coals and embers are taken out, and they
prepare to fill the cavity with the locusts, confined in a large bag. A
sufficient number of the natives hold the bag perpendicularly over the
hole, the mouth of it being near the surface of the ground. A number
stand round the hole with sticks. The mouth of the bag is then opened,
and it is shaken with great force, the locusts falling into the hot
pit, and the surrounding natives throwing sand upon them to prevent
them from flying off. The mouth of the hole is then covered with sand,
and another fire built upon the top of it. In this manner they cook all
they have on hand, and dig a number of holes sufficient to accomplish
it, each containing about five bushels. They remain in the hole until
they become sufficiently cooled to be taken out with the hand. They are
then picked out, and thrown upon tent-cloths or blankets, and remain
in the sun to dry, where they must be watched with the utmost care to
prevent the live locusts from devouring them, if a flight happens to
be passing at the time. When they are perfectly dried, which is not
done short of two or three days, they are slightly pounded, and pressed
into bags or skins, ready for transportation. To prepare them to eat,
they are pulverized in mortars, and mixed with water sufficient to
make a kind of dry pudding. They are, however, sometimes eaten singly,
without pulverizing, by breaking off the head, wings, and legs, and
swallowing the remaining part. In whatever manner they are eaten, they
are nourishing food.’
Captain Stockenstrom, in a paper in the _South African Journal_ on
these insects, observes, ‘Not only the locust-bird, but every animal,
domestic and wild, contributes to the destruction of the locust
swarms; fowls, sheep, horses, dogs, antelopes, and almost every living
thing, may be seen devouring them with equal greediness; whilst the
half-starved Bushmen, and even some of the colonial Hottentots,
consider them a great luxury, consuming great quantities fresh, and
drying abundance for future emergencies. Great havoc is also committed
among the locusts by their own kindred; for as soon as any one of them
gets hurt, or meets with an accident which impedes his progress, his
fellow travellers nearest to him immediately turn upon him, and devour
him with great voracity.’
Mr. Moffat (_Missionary Labours in South Africa_) states--‘The locusts
for food are always caught at night, when they are at rest, and
carried in sacks to the nearest encampment or village, to be prepared
for keeping. A very small quantity of water is put into a pot, and the
locusts, piled up to the very brim, are covered very closely, so that
they are rather steamed than boiled. They are next carefully separated
and laid out to dry, which the heat of an Arabian or African sun does
thoroughly and speedily; after which they are winnowed to get rid of
the wings and legs, when they are laid up in heaps, or packed in bags
of skin for future use. Sometimes the dry locusts are beaten into a
powder, of which, with water and a little salt, a kind of pottage is
made.’
Mr. R. Gordon Cumming, in the course of his rambles in Africa, fell in
with swarms of locusts, and gives interesting accounts respecting them.
Here are some extracts from his work:--
‘The next day, as we crossed a vast plain, a flight of locusts passed
over our heads during upwards of half-an-hour, flying so thick as to
darken the sun. They reached in dark clouds as far as we could see, and
maintained an elevation of from 6 to 300 or 400 feet above the level of
the plain. Woe to the vegetation of the country on which they alight!
* *
‘On the march we crossed a swarm of locusts, resting for the night on
the grass and bushes. They lay so thick that the waggons could have
been filled with them in a very short time, covering the large bushes
just as a swarm of young bees covers the branch on which it pitches.
Locusts afford fattening and wholesome food to man, birds, and all
sorts of beasts; cows and horses, lions, jackals, hyænas, antelopes,
elephants, &c., devour them. We met a party of Batlapis carrying heavy
burdens of them on their backs. Our hungry dogs made a fine feast on
them. The cold frosty night had rendered them unable to take wing until
the sun should restore their powers. As it was difficult to obtain
sufficient food for my dogs, I and Isaac took a large blanket, which we
spread under a bush, whose branches were bent to the ground with the
mass of locusts which covered it, and having shaken the branches, in
an instant I had more locusts than I could carry on my back. These we
roasted for ourselves and dogs. Soon after the sun was up, on looking
behind me, I beheld the locusts stretching to the west in vast clouds,
resembling smoke; but the wind soon after veering round, brought them
back to us, and they flew over our heads, for some time actually
darkening the sun. * * * * * * * *
‘The dullness of the scene, however, was enlivened by a wondrous flight
of locusts, the largest I had ever beheld. The prospect was obscured
by them as far as we could see, resembling the smoke arising from a
thousand giant bonfires; while those above our heads darkened our path
with a double flight, the one next the ground flying north, while the
upper clouds of them held a southerly course. The dogs, as usual, made
a hearty meal of them. * * * *
‘We crossed the Limpopo, and having followed it for five miles, we at
length got into a country so densely covered with locusts that the
spore was no longer visible. A large herd of elephants had, during
several previous nights, however, been there feasting upon these
insects.’
According to Niebuhr, the Arabians distinguish several kinds of
locusts, to which they give separate names. They refer only to the
delicacy of its flesh, and not to the nature of the insect. The red
locust is termed _Merrken_, as it is esteemed by the epicures much
fatter and more succulent than the light locust, which is called by
them _Dubbe_, because it has a tendency to produce diarrhœa. The
inhabitants of Arabia, Persia, Africa, and Syria, are accustomed to
eat them. The Turks have an aversion to this kind of food; but if the
Europeans express the same, the Arabians remind them of their fondness
for crabs, &c. This kind of food, however, is supposed to thicken the
blood, and produce melancholy.
The custom of feeding upon locusts seems more generally diffused than
is supposed, and is not merely confined to Africa and Arabia. They are
eaten by the Nanningetes in the Malay Peninsula.
Dampier states that, on islands near Timor, ‘They make also a dish of
locusts, which come at certain seasons to devour their potatoes. They
take them with nets, and broil or bake them in an earthen pan. This
dish,’ he adds, ‘eats well enough.’
And the author of _A Mission to Ava_ speaks of them as a Burmese dainty.
‘The most notable viand produced consisted of fried locusts. These were
brought in, hot and hot, in successive saucers, and I was not sorry to
have the opportunity of tasting a dish so famous. They were by no means
bad, much like what we might suppose fried shrimps to be. The inside is
removed, and the cavity stuffed with a little spiced meat.’
The Rev. R. Sheppard caused some of our large English grasshoppers,
or field crickets, to be cooked in the way here recommended, only
substituting butter for vinegar, and found them to be excellent food.
From these statements it will be seen, that the locusts which formed
part of the sustenance of John the Baptist, and about which there has
been much controversy among learned men, could be nothing else but the
animal locust, so common a food in the East, and even in Africa, to the
present day. They are eaten even by the North American Indians.
‘Among the choice delicacies with which the California Digger Indians
regale themselves during the summer season,’ (says the _Empire County
Argus_,) ‘is the grasshopper roast. Having been an eye witness to the
preparation and discussion of one of their feasts of grasshoppers,
we can describe it truthfully. There are districts in California,
as well as portions of the plains between Sierra Nevada and the
Rocky Mountains, that literally swarm with grasshoppers, and in such
astonishing numbers that a man cannot place his foot to the ground,
while walking there, without crushing great numbers. To the Indian
they are a delicacy, and are caught and cooked in the following
manner:--A piece of ground is sought where they most abound, in the
centre of which an excavation is made, large and deep enough to
prevent the insect from hopping out when once in. The entire party
of diggers, old and young, male and female, then surround as much of
the adjoining grounds as they can, and each with a green bough in
hand, whipping and thrashing on every side, gradually approach the
centre, driving the insects before them in countless multitudes, till
at last all, or nearly all, are secured in the pit. In the meantime,
smaller excavations are made, answering the purpose of ovens, in
which fires are kindled and kept up till the surrounding earth, for
a short distance, becomes sufficiently heated, together with a flat
stone, large enough to cover the oven. The grasshoppers are now taken
in coarse bags, and after being thoroughly soaked in salt water for a
few moments, are emptied into the oven and closed in. Ten or fifteen
minutes suffice to roast them, when they are taken out and eaten
without further preparation, and with much apparent relish, or as is
sometimes the case, reduced to powder and made into soup. And having
from curiosity tasted, not of the soup, but of the roast, really, if
one could but divest himself of the idea of eating an insect, as we do
an oyster or shrimp, without other preparation than simple roasting,
they would not be considered very bad eating, even by more refined
epicures than the Digger Indians.’
NEUROPTERA.
Another order of insects contains the so-called white-ant tribe
(_Termes_), which, in return for the mischief it does at certain times,
affords an abundant supply of food to some of the African natives. The
natives of Western Australia pull out the young from the nests at one
season of the year and eat them. Ducks and fowls also feed greedily on
them.
In many countries, the termites, or white-ants, serve for food. In some
parts of the East Indies, the natives catch the winged insects, just
before their period of emigration, in the following manner:--They make
two holes, the one to the windward, the other to the leeward; at the
leeward opening, they place the mouth of a pot, the inside of which
has been previously rubbed with an aromatic herb, called bugera; on
the windward side, they make a fire of stinking materials, which not
only drives these insects, but frequently the hooded snakes also, into
the pots, on which account they are obliged to be cautious in removing
them. By this method, they catch great quantities, of which they make,
with flour, a variety of pastry, which they can afford to sell very
cheap to the poorer ranks of people. When this sort of food is used
too abundantly, it produces, however, cholera, which kills in two or
three hours. It also seems that, in some form or other, these insects
are greedily eaten in other districts. Thus, when after swarming shoals
of them fall into the rivers, the Africans skim them off the surface
with calabashes, and, bringing them to their habitations, parch them in
iron pots over a gentle fire, stirring them about as is usually done in
roasting coffee; in that state, without sauce or any other addition,
they consider them delicious food, putting them by handfuls into their
mouths, as we do comfits.[30]
‘I have,’ says Smeathman, ‘eaten them dressed in this way several
times, and think them delicate, nourishing, and wholesome. They are
something sweeter, though not so fat and clogging, as the caterpillar
or maggot of the palm-tree snout-beetle (_Curculio palmarum_), which
is served up at all the luxurious tables of the West Indian epicures,
particularly of the French, as the greatest dainty of the western
world.’
Ants are eaten in many countries. In Brazil, the yellow ant, called
cupia, and a larger species under the name of tama-joura, are much
esteemed, being eaten by the aborigines mixed with resin for sauce. In
Africa, they are stewed with butter. Ants have really no unpleasant
flavour, but are very agreeably acid. In some parts of Sweden, ants are
distilled along with rye, to give a flavour to the inferior kinds of
brandy.
The large saubas (red-ants) and white-ants are an occasional luxury to
the Indians of the Rio Negro; and when nothing else is to be had in the
wet season, they eat large earth-worms, which, when the lands in which
they live are flooded, ascend trees, and take up their abode in the
hollow leaves of a species of _Tillandsia_, where they are often found
accumulated by thousands. Nor is it only hunger that makes them eat
these worms, for they sometimes boil them with their fish to give it an
extra relish.[31]
The cocoons of the wood ant (popularly and erroneously called ants’
eggs) are collected on the Continent as food for nightingales and
larks. A recent writer tells us, that in most of the towns in Germany
one or more individuals make a living, during summer, by the business.
He describes a visit to an old woman at Dottendorf, near Bonn, who had
collected for fourteen years. She went to the woods in the morning,
and collected in a bag the surfaces of a number of ant hills where the
cocoons were deposited, taking ants and all home to her cottage, near
which she had a tiled shed, covering a circular area, hollowed out in
the centre, with a trench full of water around it. After covering the
hollow in the centre with leafy boughs of walnut or hazel, she strewed
the contents of her bag on the level part of the area within the
trench, when the nurse-ants immediately seized the cocoons and carried
them into the hollow under the boughs. The cocoons were thus brought
into one place, and after being from time to time removed, and the
black ones separated by a boy, who spread them out on a table and swept
off what were bad with a strong feather, they were ready for market,
being sold for about 4_d._ or 6_d._ a quart. Considerable quantities of
these cocoons are dried for winter food for birds, and are sold in the
shops.
Humboldt mentions that he saw insects’ eggs sold in the markets of
Mexico, and which are collected on the surface of lakes. Under the
name of axayacat, these eggs, or those of some other species of fly,
deposited on rush mats, are sold as a caviare in Mexico. Something
similar, found in the pools of the desert of Fezzan, serves the Arabs
for food, having the taste of caviare.
In the _Bulletin de la Société Impériale Zoologique d’Acclimation_,
M. Guerin Méneville has published a very interesting paper on a sort
of bread which the Mexicans make of the eggs of three species of
hemipterous insects.
According to M. Craveri, by whom some of the Mexican bread, and of the
insects yielding it, were brought to Europe, these insects and their
eggs are very common in the fresh waters of the lagunes of Mexico. The
natives cultivate, in the lagune of Chalco, a sort of carex called
touté, on which the insects readily deposit their eggs. Numerous
bundles of these plants are made, which are taken to a lagune, the
Texcuco, where they float in great numbers in the water. The insects
soon come and deposit their eggs on the plants, and in about a month
the bundles are removed from the water, dried, and then beaten over a
large cloth to separate the myriad of eggs with which the insects had
covered them.
These eggs are then cleaned and sifted, put into sacks like flour,
and sold to the people for making a sort of cake or biscuit called
‘hautlé,’ which forms a tolerably good food, but has a fishy taste, and
is slightly acid. The bundles of carex are replaced in the lake, and
afford a fresh supply of eggs, which process may be repeated for an
indefinite number of times.
It appears that these insects have been used from an early period, for
Thomas Gage, a religionist, who sailed to Mexico in 1625, says, in
speaking of articles sold in the markets, that they had cakes made of a
sort of scum collected from the lakes of Mexico, and that this was also
sold in other towns.
Brantz Mayer, in his work on Mexico (_Mexico as it was and as it is_,
1844), says,--‘On the lake of Texcuco I saw men occupied in collecting
the eggs of flies from the surface of plants, and cloths arranged in
long rows as places of resort for the insects. These eggs, called
_agayacath_’ (Qy. _axayacat_), ‘formed a favourite food of the Indians
long before the conquest: and when made into cakes, resembles the roe
of a fish, having a similar taste and appearance. After the use of
frogs in France, and birdsnests in China, I think these eggs may be
considered a delicacy, and I found that they are not rejected from the
tables of the fashionable inhabitants of the capital.’
The more recent observations of Messrs. Saussure, Sallé, Virlet
D’Aoust, &c., have confirmed the facts already stated, at least, in the
most essential particulars.
‘The insects which principally produce this animal farinha of Mexico,
are two species of the genus _Corixa_ of Geoffroy, hemipterous insects
of the family of water-bugs. One of the species has been described
by M. Guerin Méneville as new, and has been named by him _Corixa
fermorata_: the other, identified in 1831 by Thomas Say as one of those
sold in the market at Mexico, bears the name of _Corixa mercenaria_.
The eggs of these two species are attached in innumerable quantities
to the triangular leaves of the carex forming the bundles which are
deposited in the waters. They are of an oval form with a protuberance
at one end and a pedicle at the other extremity, by means of which they
are fixed to a small round disc, which the mother cements to the leaf.
Among these eggs, which are grouped closely together, and sometimes
fixed one over another, there are found others, which are larger, of
a long and cylindrical form, and which are fixed to the same leaves.
These belong to another larger insect, a species of _Notonecta_, which
M. Guerin Méneville has named _Notonecta unifasciata_.’[32]
It appears from M. Virlet d’Aoust, that in October the lakes Chalco and
Texcuco, which border on the city of Mexico, are haunted by millions
of small flies, which, after dancing in the air, plunge down into
the shallowest parts of the water, to the depth of several feet, and
deposit their eggs at the bottom.
‘The eggs of these insects are called hautle (haoutle), by the Mexican
Indians, who collect them in great numbers, and with whom they appear
to be a favourite article of food.
‘They are prepared in various ways, but usually made into cakes, which
are eaten with a sauce flavoured with chillies. To collect the eggs
the Indians prepare bundles of rushes, which they place vertically in
the lake at some distance from the shore. In about a fortnight, every
rush in these bundles is completely covered with eggs. The bundles are
then drawn out and dried in the sun upon a cloth for not more than an
hour, when the eggs are easily detached. The bundles of rushes are then
placed in the water again for another crop.’[33]
Mr. Ruschenberger, the surgeon to the American expedition to Siam, in
describing a state feast given to the officers, states that the dinner
was remarkable for the variety and exquisite flavour of the curries.
Among them was one consisting of ants’ eggs, a costly and much esteemed
luxury of Siam. They are not larger than grains of sand, and to a
palate unaccustomed to them, are not particularly savory. They are
almost tasteless. Besides being curried, they are brought to the table
rolled in green leaves, mingled with shreds or very fine slices of fat
pork. Here was seen an ever-to-be-remembered luxury of the East.
HYMENOPTERA.
It would hardly be suspected that bees serve for food in Ceylon and
some other places,--an ungrateful return for their honey and wax.
The African Bushmen eat the caterpillars of the butterflies.
The Chinese, who waste nothing, after they have unwound the silk from
the cocoons of the silk-worm, send the chrysalis to table. They also
eat the larvæ of a hawk-moth, some of which tribe, Dr. Darwin tells us,
are, in his opinion, very delicious. The natives of New Holland eat
the caterpillars of a species of moth, and also a kind of butterfly,
which they call _bugong_, which congregate in certain districts,
at particular seasons, in countless myriads. On these occasions,
the native blacks assemble from far and near to collect them; and
after removing the wings and down, by stirring them on the ground,
previously heated by a large fire, winnowing them, eat the bodies, or
store them up for use, by pounding and smoking them. The bodies of
these butterflies abound in an oil, with the taste of nuts; when first
eaten, they produce violent vomitings and other debilitating effects;
but these go off after a few days, and the natives then thrive and
fatten exceedingly on this diet, for which they have to contend with a
black crow, which is also attracted by the butterflies, and which they
dispatch with their clubs, and use as food.
Two insects, a kind of butterfly, and a thick, white grub, found
chiefly in dead timber, are much esteemed by the aborigines of
Australia as articles of food. The former is eaten at certain seasons
by whole tribes of natives in the northern districts. Their practice
is to follow up the flight of the insects, and to light fires at
night-fall beneath the trees in which they have roosted. The smoke
brings the butterflies down, and their bodies are pounded together into
a sort of fleshy loaf. Upon this delicacy the natives not only feed,
but fatten. The white grub is swallowed whole in his living state, and
is much sought for by sable epicures.
In India, and in South America, these grubs are also eaten as a dainty.
The trunk of the grass-tree, or black-boy (_Xanthorea arborea_), when
beginning to decay, furnishes large quantities of marrow-like grubs,
which are considered a delicacy by the aborigines in Western Australia.
They have a fragrant, aromatic flavour, and form a favourite food among
the natives, either raw or roasted. They call them _bardi_--and they
are also found in the wattle tree, or mimosa. The presence of these
grubs in a _xanthorea_ is thus ascertained: if the top of one of these
trees is observed to be dead, and it contain any bardi, a few sharp
kicks given to it with the foot will cause it to crack and shake, when
it is pushed over and the grub extracted, by breaking the tree to
pieces with a hammer. The bardi of the _xanthorea_ are small, and found
together in great numbers; those of the wattle are cream coloured, as
long and thick as a man’s finger, and are found singly. The excrement
of the latter oozes from under the bark, of the appearance and
consistence of clear gum. The galls formed on several species of sage
by gall flies, in the Levant, are highly prized for their aromatic and
acid flavour, especially when prepared with sugar. They constitute, in
fact, a considerable article of commerce from Scio to Constantinople,
where they are regularly sold in the market. They are known as sage
apples, and in Greece are made into a kind of conserve, which is highly
esteemed.
HEMIPTERA.
Coming to another order of insects, the cicada, or chirping flies, we
find that these were eaten by the polished Greeks, and accounted very
delicious. They were caught, strung, sold, and greedily devoured; and
especially the females were relished on account of their white eggs.
One species, a very long-lived one, which, if spared, lives to the age
of 17 years, is still eaten by the Indians of America, who pluck off
the wings and boil them. The aborigines of Australia eat them raw,
after stripping off the wings.
The 17-year locusts, while in an underground grub state, are a
favourite food of various species of animals. Immense numbers are
destroyed by hogs before they emerge from the ground; they are also,
when in their perfect state, eagerly devoured by chickens, squirrels,
and many of the larger birds. The Indians likewise consider them a
delicate food when fried; and in New Jersey they have been turned to a
profitable account in making soap.
No insects are more numerous with us than caterpillars, and sad havoc
they occasionally commit among our cabbages and cauliflowers. Now
we generally make wry faces, when a stray one is served up with our
greens, and the cook is severely taken to task; but these are reckoned
among the chief delicacies of an African Bushman’s meal.
The Hottentots eat them boiled and raw, and soon get into good
condition on this food. They bring large calabashes full of them to
their habitations, and parch them in iron pots over a gentle fire,
stirring them about as is done in roasting coffee. In that state,
without sauce or other addition, they serve them up as delicious food,
and eat them by handfuls, as we do sugar-plums.
One traveller tells us he has eaten them dressed in this way several
times, and thought them delicate, nourishing, and wholesome, being
sweeter than the grub of the weevil of the palm, and resembling in
taste sugared cream or sweet almond paste.
ARACHNIDA.
What will be said to spiders as food? But these form an article in the
list of the Bushman’s dainties in South Africa, according to Sparrman;
and the inhabitants of New Caledonia, Labillardiere tells us, seek
for, and eat with avidity, large quantities of a spider nearly an
inch long, which they roast over the fire. Even individuals amongst
the more polished nations of Europe are recorded as having a similar
taste; so that if you could rise above vulgar prejudices, you would
in all probability find them a most delicate morsel. If you require
precedents, Reaumur tells us of a young lady, who, when she walked in
her grounds, never saw a spider that she did not take and crunch upon
the spot. Another female, the celebrated Anna Maria Schurman, used to
eat them like nuts, which she affirmed they much resembled in taste,
excusing her propensity by saying that she was born under the sign
_Scorpio_.
If you wish for the authority of the learned: Lalande, the celebrated
French astronomer, was equally fond of these delicacies, according
to Latreille. And if, not content with eating spiders seriatim, you
should feel desirous of eating them by handfuls, you may shelter
yourself under the authority of the German immortalized by Rosel, who
used to spread them upon bread like butter, observing that he found
them very useful.[34]
These edible spiders, and such like, are all sufficiently disgusting,
but we feel our nausea quite turned into horror when we read in
Humboldt, that he has seen the Indian children drag out of the earth
centipedes 18 inches long, and more than half an inch broad, and devour
them.
CRUSTACEA.
The flesh of all crustaceous animals, although in great request, is
rather difficult of digestion; and much of it cannot be eaten with
impunity. There are classes of persons who are as averse to use
shell-fish for food, as a Mahommedan or Mussulman are to partake
of pork. It is therefore curious to reflect how, and where, the
thousands of tons of crustacea and shell-fish taken to Billingsgate
and Hungerford markets are disposed of. Lobsters, cray-fish, prawns,
shrimps, oysters, mussels, periwinkles, and whelks, are there every
morning in great abundance, and the high retail prices they fetch, show
that this description of food must be well relished by the Londoners.
The land crabs of the West Indies are an esteemed delicacy, and the
ravenous pigs feed on them with equal avidity to the great danger of
their health.
I need not here advert to the migratory habits of the crabs, to their
uniting at certain periods in vast numbers, and moving in the most
direct course to the sea, marching in squadrons and lines, and halting
twice a-day for feeding and repose. These movements may often be seen
in Jamaica, and other West Indian islands, where millions on millions
string themselves along the coast on progresses from the hills to the
sea, and from the sea to the hills.
The reader of Bishop Heber’s _Indian Journal_ will remember his account
of the land crabs at Poonah. ‘All the grass land generally through the
Deckan swarms with a small land crab, which burrows in the ground, and
runs with considerable swiftness, even when encumbered with a bundle of
food almost as big as itself. This food is grass or the green stalks of
rice; and it is amusing to see them sitting as it were upright, to cut
their hay with their sharp pincers, then waddling off with the sheaf to
their holes as quietly as their side-long pace will carry them.’
This is not the same land crab of which we are speaking, but it is a
graphic picture of the _Gecarcina ruricola_, in its habit of feeding.
They cut up roots and leaves, and feed on the fallen fruit of trees;
but we have little more than conjecture for the cause of their
occasional deleterious qualities. Impressed with the notion that the
crabs owe their hurtful qualities to the fruit of the manchineel
tree, Sloane imagined that he had explained the fatal accidents which
have occurred to some persons after eating them, from neglect, or
inattentiveness to precaution in cleaning their interior and removing
the half digested particles of the fruit. It has been ascertained that
they feed on such dangerous vegetables of the morass as the _Anona
palustris_, a fruit exceedingly narcotic. It is well enough known that
the morass crab is always to be suspected. The land crabs, however,
collect leaves less for food than to envelop themselves in, when they
moult. After concealment for a time within their burrows, they come
forth in those thin teguments forming a red tense pellicle, similar to
wet parchment, and are more delicate in that condition, and more prized
for the table. The white crabs are the most bulky of the tribe, and are
the least esteemed, and the most mistrusted.
Land-crabs, says a Jamaica paper, of March last, are to be seen on
the highways between this, Montego Bay, and Gum Island, just like
bands of soldiers, marching to a battle-point of concentration. This
bids fair to supply the epicure, at an easy rate, with this class of
crustacea. It is one of the most remarkable, for it is composed of
animals breathing by means of branchiæ or gills, and yet essentially
terrestrial; so much so, indeed, that they would perish from asphyxia
if submerged for any length of time.
I select Browne’s account of the habits of the black or mountain crab,
because he resided many years in Jamaica, and seems to have lost no
opportunity of making personal observations; and his remarks tally with
my own experience, from three years’ residence in Jamaica.
‘These creatures are very numerous in some parts of Jamaica, as well as
in the neighbouring islands, and on the coast of the main continent;
they are generally of a dark purple colour, but this often varies, and
you frequently find them spotted, or entirely of another hue. They
live chiefly on dry land, and at a considerable distance from the sea,
which, however, they visit once a year to wash off their spawn, and
afterwards return to the woods and higher lands, where they continue
for the remaining part of the season; nor do the young ones ever fail
to follow them, as soon as they are able to crawl. The old crabs
generally regain their habitations in the mountains, which are seldom
within less than a mile, and not often above three from the shore, by
the latter end of June, and then provide themselves with convenient
burrows, in which they pass the greatest part of the day, going out
only at night to feed. In December and January they begin to be in
spawn, and are then very fat and delicate, but continue to grow richer
until the month of May, which is the season for them to wash off their
eggs. They begin to move down in February, and are very much abroad in
March and April, which seems to be the time for the impregnation of
their eggs, being then frequently found fixed together; but the males,
about this time, begin to lose their flavour and richness of their
juices. The eggs are discharged from the body through two small round
holes situated at the sides, and about the middle of the under shell;
these are only large enough to admit one at a time, and as they pass
they are entangled in the branched capillaments, with which the under
side of the apron is copiously supplied, to which they stick by the
means of their proper gluten, until the creatures reach the surf, where
they wash them all off, and then they begin to return back again to the
mountains. It is remarkable that the bag or stomach of this creature
changes its juices with the state of the body; and while poor is full
of a black, bitter, disagreeable fluid, which diminishes as it fattens,
and at length acquires a delicate, rich flavour. About the month
of July or August, the crabs fatten again and prepare for moulting,
filling up their burrows with dry grass, leaves, and abundance of
other materials: when the proper period comes, each retires to his
hole, shuts up the passage, and remains quite inactive until he gets
rid of his old shell, and is fully provided with a new one. How long
they continue in this state is uncertain, but the shell is observed to
burst, both at the back and sides, to give a passage to the body, and
it extracts its limbs from all the other parts gradually afterwards. At
this time, the fish is in the richest state, and covered only with a
tender membraneous skin, variegated with a multitude of reddish veins;
but this hardens gradually after, and becomes soon a perfect shell like
the former; it is, however, remarkable, that during this change, there
are some stony concretions always formed in the bag, which waste and
dissolve gradually, as the creature forms and perfects its new crust.
A wonderful mechanism! This crab runs very fast, and always endeavours
to get into some hole or crevice on the approach of danger; nor does it
wholly depend on its art and swiftness, for while it retreats it keeps
both claws expanded, ready to catch the offender if he should come
within its reach; and if it succeeds on these occasions, it commonly
throws off the claw, which continues to squeeze with incredible force
for near a minute after; while he, regardless of the loss, endeavours
to make his escape, and to gain a more secure or a more lonely covert,
contented to renew his limb with his coat at the ensuing change; nor
would it grudge to lose many of the others to preserve the trunk
entire, though each comes off with more labour and reluctance, as their
numbers lessen.’
There are several varieties of land crabs, such as the large white,
the mulatto, the black, and the red. The black and red crabs are most
excellent eating: when in season, the females are full of a rich
glutinous substance, called the eggs, which is perfectly delicious.
Epicurean planters, in some of the West Indian Islands, have crab pens,
(after the manner of fowl coops,) for fattening these luxuries. The
best manner of dressing them is to pick out all the flesh from the
shell, making it into a stew, with plenty of cayenne pepper, dishing
it up in the shell; in this way they are little inferior to turtle.
They are usually simply boiled, or roasted in the embers, by which they
are deprived of their luscious flavour, and become not only insipid in
taste but disgusting to look at.
In Dominica, they form an ingredient in the well-known ‘pepper-pot.’
The black crabs are also picked from their shell, stewed with Indian
kale and pods of chilhies, and eaten with a pudding made of maize flour
or rice; this dish is greatly esteemed by most of the inhabitants.
In the islands and cays of the Bahamas group, land crabs literally
swarm, and afford food for the inhabitants the greatest part of the
year: even the hogs are fed upon them. It is the grey or white kind of
crab, common to Cuba and the Bahamas. In the autumn they are very fat,
and equal in flavour to the black species of Jamaica. They are found
in myriads in all parts, and thought a great delicacy; but a stranger
tires of them in a few weeks.
The black crab is very fat and delicious; but the white and the mulatto
crabs are sometimes dangerous, from feeding upon poisonous leaves and
berries. To prevent any evil consequences, the flesh is washed with
lime-juice and water.
Land crabs were probably plentiful in Italy, in the time of Virgil, for
in his _Fourth Georgic_ he forbids the roasting of red crabs near an
apiary, the smell of them being disagreeable to the bees.
There is a species of fresh-water crab, the mason (_Cancer
cementarius_), met with in Chile, the flesh of which is very white,
and represented to be preferable to that of any other species of
fluvial or marine crab. It is about eight inches long, of a brown
colour, striped with red. They are found in abundance in almost all the
rivers and brooks, on whose shores they build themselves, with clay,
a small cylindrical tenement which rises six inches above the surface
of the ground, but admits the water, by means of a subterranean canal
extending to the bed of the river. They are easily caught, by letting
down into the water a basket, or osier-pot, with a piece of meat in it.
That well-known crustacean, or ‘shell-fish’ as it is popularly
termed,--the lobster (_Astacus gammarus_), although it is no fish at
all, is found in great plenty about most of the European and American
shores, and greatly esteemed as a very rich and nourishing aliment.
In this country lobsters are considered in season from November till
the end of April. They are not allowed to be caught on the coasts of
Scotland between the 1st of June and the 1st of September, under a
penalty of £5. Lobsters must not be offered for sale in this country
under eight inches in length. Like the crab, the lobster casts its
shell annually. It begins to breed in the spring, and continues
breeding during the greater part of the summer. Lobsters are
occasionally caught on the shores and in the neighbourhood of rocks,
which they frequent, by the hand; but they are usually trapped in
baskets, or pots made of osier-twigs, which are baited with garbage,
and thrown into the sea, the situation being marked by a buoy of cork.
Lobsters are very abundant about Scilly and the Land’s End, and near
Montrose in Scotland. In the Orkney and Shetland Islands, the value of
the lobsters caught in 1833 was £1,800, which gave employment to 216
boats, and about 500 men. They are sent principally to Leith. Those
caught near Heligoland are esteemed the most delicate. The largest
fishery for these crustaceans is on the coasts of Norway, from whence
we import more than a million a year. Upwards of half-a-million are
caught on the shores of Scotland and Ireland. Lobsters are found almost
everywhere on the North American coasts, and in the Bay of Chaleur, in
such extraordinary numbers, that they are used by thousands to manure
the land.
Mr. Perley, in his _Report on the Sea and River Fisheries of New
Brunswick_, states, ‘That at Shippagan and Caraquette, carts are
sometimes driven down to the beaches at low water, and readily filled
with lobsters left in the shallow pools by the recession of the tide.
Every potato field near the places mentioned is strewn with lobster
shells, each potato hill being furnished with two or three lobsters.
‘Within a few years,’ he adds, ‘one establishment has been set up on
Portage Island, at the mouth of the River Miramachi, and another at
the mouth of the Kouchibouguac River, for putting up lobsters, in tin
cases, hermetically sealed for exportation. In 1845, no less than
13,000 cases of lobsters and salmon were thus put up at Portage Island.
In 1847, nearly 10,000 cases of lobsters, each case containing the
choicest parts of two or three lobsters, and one-and-a-half tons of
fresh salmon in 2-lb. and 4-lb. cases, were put up at Kouchibouguac.
The preservation of lobsters in this manner need only be restricted by
the demand, for the supply is unlimited. The price paid for lobsters,
at the establishment on Portage Island, is 2_s._ per 100. They are all
taken in small hoop nets, chiefly by the Acadian French of the Neguac
villages, who, at the price stated, could with reasonable diligence,
make £1 each in the 24 hours; but as they are somewhat idle and easily
contented, they rarely exert themselves to earn more than 10_s._ per
day, which they can generally obtain by eight or ten hours’ attention
to their hoop nets.
‘In 1848, about 4,000 lbs. of lobsters were put up at Portage Island
in 1-lb. or 2-lb. tin cases. The quantity preserved was much less than
usual, owing to the prevalence of cholera in the United States, and
the consequent want of a market there. One Frenchman had, unassisted,
caught 1,200 lobsters in part of one day. About 25 men are employed at
this preserving establishment during the season.
‘Mr. Woolner has a small but very complete establishment for preserving
lobsters, at Petit Rocher, in the Bay of Chaleur. In the season
of 1849, he only put up a small quantity, 2,000 lbs., in tins. He
purchases from the settlers the white part of the lobsters, boiled and
free from shell, at 2_d._ per lb., which is salted in plain pickle, and
packed in barrels, for sale at Quebec. He shipped last year 11,000 lbs.
of salted lobsters.’
Next to timber, lobsters form one of the greatest articles of Norwegian
export. On the rocky shores of Christiansand, they are found in greater
numbers than in any other part of the world; and from Bergen, which
lies farther to the north, as many as 260,000 pairs have been exported
in one year. Mr. J. E. Saunders, of Billingsgate, into whose hands
almost the entire trade of these crustaceans has fallen, often sells
15,000 lobsters before breakfast of a morning; and in the height of the
season, the sale not unfrequently amounts to 30,000. They are sent in
great numbers from Scotland to the markets of London, Liverpool, and
Birmingham--60 or 70 large boxes of them being transmitted at a time by
train. Our fishermen, it is true, take them occasionally in pots round
the coast, but no systematic fishery is carried on for them.
A company was recently formed at Berwick to import them alive, in
welled smacks, from the coast of Norway. They are also brought into
Southampton from Brittany and Ireland in welled smacks, which carry
from 7,000 to 8,000 each.
‘Lobster-carrying is subject to the following contingencies:--Thunder
kills them when in the well; also proximity to the discharge of heavy
ordnance. Mr. Scovell lost several thousand from the latter cause, one
of his smacks having anchored at night too near the saluting-battery at
Plymouth. Calms also destroy the lobsters in the well, but onward or
pitching motion in a seaway does not affect them. They keep alive one
month in the well without food.’[35]
An artificial pond, or saltern, has been formed at Hamble, in the
Southampton water, for keeping lobsters alive in. It is about 50
yards square, by 10 to 12 feet deep, with shelving sides of brick or
stone and cement, and a concrete bottom, having a lock or weir at the
entrance, for the admission and exit of salt water at the bottom (the
Hamble being a fresh-water stream). This pond cost about £13,000. The
lobsters are fed on fish, and fatten. Sometimes there are as many as
70,000 lobsters in this pond. All weak lobsters are kept in baskets and
sold first. Even here, however, their cannibal-like propensities are
not extinguished; for the powerful make war upon, and incorporate into
their own natures, the weak. There are feeders and keepers employed
at the saltern, who, with long poles, hooked at the end, drag out the
fish as they are wanted for the market from their marine menagerie. The
instant the pole touches a fish, the latter grasps it savagely with its
claws, and does not loose its hold until it is on _terra firma_. When
large quantities are required, the pond is drained. These shell-fish
are enormous creatures, the body with the claws being as long as a
man’s arm. As the lobsters and cray-fish climb nimbly up the sides of
the watery caravan, they look like a collection of purple-coloured
monkeys or stunted baboons; and there is something frightful in the
appearance and noiselessness of these chatterless simiæ, climbing about
their liquid den, and approaching the surface to look at the spectator.
They are sent to the metropolis in hampers, packed in fern in winter
and in ice in summer.
The Americans in the large cities and inland towns seem to be as
fond of lobster salads and curries as we Britishers are; and it is
estimated, that there are annually consumed in and about Boston,
700,000 lobsters, the prime cost of which is £16 per 1,000. This makes
the snug little sum of £11,200. 500,000 of the lobsters come from the
State of Maine, and the remaining 200,000 are taken from Massachusetts
Bay. About 700 men are engaged in catching the lobsters, and some 800
tons of shipping in carrying them to Boston, exclusive of what are
conveyed by steamboat and railroad.
Here is a poetical narrative, of American origin, bearing upon this
crustacean:--
THE LOBSTER.
_Whereby hangeth a tayle, and eke a moral._
A Doctor and a Lawyer, went together merrily,
Adown the North-west Arm to take a dip into the sea.
Arrived, the Doctor coolly took a rather ‘heavy wet,’
A Lobster just as coolly took the Doctor by the feet.
He, careful man, his health and wind most prudently had heeded,
And little thought that either toe an amputation needed;
He felt the Lobster on his skill most cuttingly reflected,
And to his surgical attempt decidedly objected.
With ready forceps, tooth and nail, the lobster set to work--
While all in vain the Doctor tried to baulk him by a jerk.
‘Midst present pain his anxious thoughts began afar to roam,
On forceps, scalpels, lancets, knives, and stout probangs _at home_.
But, _lacking these_, the foe to face, he felt somehow afraid,
And therefore lustily he called the Lawyer to his aid.
He, cunning man, well versed in quirks and quibbles of the law,
Sagaciously searched how to find in Lobster’s claim a flaw.
The claim of _tenure_ to rebut, at once, he vainly sought;
Possession was nine points, he knew, and so the Lobster thought.
He saw the lobster quite secure within his own domain,
And to entice him thence began to work his ready brain.
One foot the Doctor yet had free, and this, with shuffling gait,
He offered to the other claw--a very tempting bait.
But, gently moving back, he ’scaped the meditated nip,
And shoreward still, with toe outstretched, most cannily did skip.
At length from his domain withdrawn, the Lobster gasps for air,
And vainly strives to battle with this wise confederate pair.
The Lawyer charged him with assault, and quick a claim put in,
That for the same the damages be laid upon his skin.
Attachment writ at once he took, upon the offending _claws_;
And moved he should be boiled alive, in vengeance for the laws.
The Lobster in his mute amaze, allowed that _clause_ to pass;
Nor had the foresight to exclaim ‘Produce your capias!’
So borne along all bodily, and sore against his will,
The Lobster proved the heavy weight, of more than lobster’s ill.
For they not only _boiled_ but _ate_, his body, claws and all;
And most provokingly enjoyed the inglorious festival.
They cracked his shell, and cracked their jokes--pulled off that leg
and this--
Forgetful all of ‘_Nil nisi bonum de mortuis_.’
Now hence be warned, ye bustling men, and in your projects pause--
Beware into your neighbour’s pot, how you thrust in your claws.
Ye busy wights! reflect ye how this luckless Lobster got,
By injudicious meddling, from cold water into hot.
To tread upon another’s toes, I pray be not too bold--
But when you’re in _cold_ water, try to _keep_ the water cold.
Lord Anson mentions having caught cray-fish at Juan Fernandez of eight
and nine lbs. weight, that were of an excellent flavour. Lobsters are
also found in such quantities on the same island, that the fishermen
have no other trouble to take them than to strew a little meat upon the
shore, and when they come to devour the bait, as they do in immense
numbers, to turn them on their backs with a stick. This is gravely
asserted by the Abbé Molina, in his _History of Chile_, so I suppose it
must be true. Turning a turtle is a common practice, but I should think
it somewhat difficult to get a lobster on its back. By this simple
method thousands of lobsters are taken annually; and the tails, which
are in high estimation, dried and sent to Valparaiso.
A late traveller, in his _Life in China_, describes a very peculiar
dish:--‘When our party of six had seated themselves at the centre
table, my attention,’ he says, ‘was attracted by a _covered_ dish,
something unusual at a Chinese meal. On a certain signal, the cover
was removed; and presently the face of the table was covered with
juvenile crabs, which made their exodus from the dish with all possible
rapidity. The crablets had been thrown into a plate of vinegar just
as the company sat down--such an immersion making them more brisk and
lively than usual. But the sprightly sport of the infant crabs was
soon checked, by each guest seizing which he could, dashing it into
his mouth, crushing it between his teeth, and swallowing the whole
morsel without ceremony. Determined to do as the Chinese did, I tried
this novelty also with one--with two. I succeeded, finding the shell
soft and gelatinous, for they were tiny creatures, not more than a day
or two old. But I was compelled to give in to the third, which had
resolved to take vengeance, and gave my lower lip a nip so sharp and
severe, as to make me relinquish my hold, and likewise desist from any
further experiments of this nature.’
Shrimps (_Crangon vulgaris_) and prawns (_Palæmon serratus_) frequent
shallow waters along the sandy coasts of the British Islands, of
America, Europe, and indeed most countries. Besides furnishing
nutriment to great numbers of fish, aquatic birds, &c., they are in
great request in England for the table--the consumption in London
alone being enormous. In 1850, 192,295 gallons were received and sold
at Billingsgate Market, weighing 875 tons, and valued at £6,000. In
the Sandwich Islands, shrimps are eaten alive as a _bonne bouche_,
with salad and vinegar; but we prefer them in this country boiled.
Shrimping by the dredge net, or sweep net, affords abundant employment
to numerous persons. On the North American coasts shrimps are more
plentiful than on the European shores. At times, the waters of the
Straits of Northumberland appear as if thickened with masses of shrimps
moving about, their course being plainly indicated by the fish of all
descriptions which follow in their wake, and feed upon them greedily.
Potted shrimps are considered a dainty, and meet ready sale in the
metropolis as a breakfast relish.
Those _bons vivants_ who are fond of these delicious small fry, will
no doubt eat them with an increased relish after reading the following
paragraph:--
‘The office of shrimps seems to be that analogous to some of the
insects on land, whose task is to clear away the remains of dead animal
matter after the beasts and birds of prey have been satiated. If a dead
small bird or frog be placed where ants can have access to it, those
insects will speedily reduce the body to a closely cleared skeleton.
The shrimp family, acting in hosts, as speedily remove all traces
of fish or flesh from the bones of any dead animal exposed to their
ravages. They are, in short, the principal scavengers of the ocean;
and, notwithstanding their office, they are highly prized as nutritious
and delicious food.’
‘Amongst the shell-fish tribe,’ says a writer in the _Caledonian
Mercury_, ‘the _prawn_ is considered the most delicious, and of course
is the most costly. Prawn-fish, which are about double or three times
the size of a shrimp, are in general sold at the rate of 1_s._ per
dozen. This high price may be owing to their scarcity, in comparison
with the quantity of shrimps sent to market, with a view to give
prawn-fishers encouragement to prosecute the trade. The prawn-fish
are not what many people suppose, ‘only shrimps of a larger size.’
Their heads and fore-claws are differently marked, showing at once the
distinction. The habits of the two fish are also different. The shrimp
burrows in the sand, causing fishermen to use trawl-nets for their
capture. They are caught in greatest numbers on sandbanks, about the
entrance of estuaries. The prawn-fish chiefly locate amongst rocks, and
hard bottom, where there is much tangle and sea-weed. The fishermen
at Bognor, in Sussex, and some place on the Isle of Wight, catch
prawns in wicker-worked baskets, shaped exactly like those wire-worked
rat-traps that have the entrance on the top, so that ‘when the rat
gets in, it can’t get out again.’ Several hundreds of these baskets
baited with any sort of garbage, fish heads, &c., are set amongst the
rocks at low water, where they remain until the tide has flown to its
full, and again ebbed. The baskets are then overhauled, to see what
luck. Prawn-fishing, like every other description of fishing, is not
always to be depended on. Some tides, not one prawn may be found in
hundreds of baskets; at other times every trap may have secured its
victims. From five up to 60, and as high as 70 prawns have at times
been taken in one trap. The baskets with which the English fishermen
catch lobsters are just of the same shape as the prawn-trap, the only
difference being that they are of larger dimensions.’
Immense prawns (_Camaroes_) are very plentiful at Rio Janeiro.
Strangers are often told as a joke, that these are kept in pits, and
fed with the dead bodies of slaves, thrown to them from time to time,
and many people will in consequence not touch them.
The following instructions for cooking shrimps and prawns may be
acceptable in out-of-the-way localities, where they are bought alive
from the fishermen:--
‘To dress shrimps and prawns, so that they might at once be tasty and
look well to the eye, is considered a very nice point for the cook to
perform. A pot, containing a pickle that will nearly float an egg, is
put on the fire. When the pickle begins to boil, the prawns (all alive)
are put into it, which of course sends the pickle below the boiling
point for a time. A brisk fire must be kept up under the pot, and when
the pickle again boils up, the prawns are cooked. Should they not be
boiled sufficiently, they are as soft as pulp, and if boiled too much,
they are hard as horn. The fish are removed from the pot and spread on
a table, sprinkling over them a little salt. A cloth is then thrown
over the whole, which keeps in the steam. By this operation, the steam
melts the salt, and imparts to the prawn that beautiful red and glossy
appearance seen on them whilst in the London fishmongers’ shops.’
It might probably be possible to save some of our refuse shrimps, which
get too stale to find customers here, and dry them for export to the
East, where they are in great demand. The trade in dried shrimps in
Siam amounts to 60 tons a year; and they cannot get enough of them to
pound up with their rice.
Dried prawns form a considerable article of trade in the Philippines.
The Malays and the Siamese, who eat dried prawns and dried mussels,
must have very tough stomachs to digest them, and it would take an
ostrich’s gizzard, one would suppose, to triturate other tough dried
molluscs used, in different localities, such as the _Haliotis_ dried.
Thus the ‘pearl womb,’ as the mantle or flesh of the pearl-oyster
(_Meleagrina margaritifera_) is called, is strung and dried, and when
cooked with cassia buds is eaten with rice. Numerous minute pearls are
often found in this substance (as is sometimes the case with the common
oyster) during mastication.
There is scope enough to be found for drying this mollusc, when
a government pearl fishery is on at Ceylon, for then millions of
pearl-oysters are thrown on the shore, after being opened, and left
there to rot.
Under the name of _Balachong_ or _gnapee_, there is a mess made in
Burmah, Sumatra, &c., of prawns, shrimps, or any cheap fish, pounded
into a consistent mass, and frequently allowed to become partially
putrid. It is largely used by the natives as a condiment to their rice,
as no vegetable food is deemed palatable without it; and a considerable
trade is carried on with it, its use extending to every country from
China to Bengal.
In all populous cities there is great consumption of oysters, both of
the large common kinds termed ‘scuttlemouths’ by the venders, and of
the more expensive and small delicate fed ‘native.’ Even the mangrove
or tree oyster is esteemed in the tropics. One hundred or two hundred
of these parasitic oysters may often be found on a single bough,
pendent in the water, in the rivers of Africa, or the West Indies.
We can well conceive the astonishment of Columbus and his mariners
when, in the Gulf of Paria, they first found oysters clinging to the
branches, their mouths open as was supposed, to receive the dew, which
was afterwards to be transformed into pearls.
The spawn of the fish is attached by a glutinous substance to any
object with which it comes in contact, and the adhesion continues until
the oyster is forcibly removed. On the southern coasts of the United
States, in Florida and Louisiana, oysters may thus be seen growing
as it were on trees, or the limbs at least of those which have sunk
into the water, by the weight of the foliage, or from any other cause.
The opossum and the racoon feed upon these oysters, procuring them by
lifting the boughs from the water, and hence the American name racoon
oysters, a term they are universally known by. They are of a long
slender shape, and growing very rapidly, always have thin and delicate
shells.
The value of the oysters sold in the city of New York now exceeds
£1,250,000 sterling. The money invested in the trade by 150 wholesale
dealers is about £100,000, and the number of persons employed in the
business, directly or indirectly, including saloon keepers, street
venders, &c., is 50,000. Of the whole amount sold in the markets,
about two-thirds come from Virginia, which has a more extensive oyster
trade than any other State in the Union. The residue is obtained,
according to the _New York Herald_, from the waters of their own
State, and those of New Jersey--the East River furnishing the largest
quantity. A considerable supply is procured from Shrewsbury and York
Bay; but very few of the latter are consumed in the city, as they
are cultivated particularly for the western market. One of the most
interesting features in the business is the transplanting of oysters,
or their removal from the ‘rock,’ or natural bed, to an artificial
one. This process is of peculiar importance, and absolutely necessary
to the successful prosecution of the trade. It would, in fact, be
next to impossible to supply the market during the whole year, but
for the general system of transplanting which is pursued by all the
dealers. More than a million dollars’ worth are removed every year
to artificial beds, and by this means prevented from spawning, which
renders them unfit for use. Thus, a large proportion of the East River
oysters were originally obtained from the North River, where the soil
and water are not considered so favourable to their cultivation. Of
the fifty thousand persons engaged in the business, the majority, of
course, are dependent upon their own labour for support; but there are
a considerable number of the dealers, or, as they might more properly
be called, oyster merchants, who possess large fortunes, amassed from
the sale of oysters alone. They are amongst the most worthy of her
citizens, and New York is not a little indebted to their enterprise for
her extensive business in what has now become an indispensable article
of food.
It is only within the last thirty years that the oyster trade was
established in New York. Before that time, it is true, oysters were
sold there; but the business transacted was exceedingly limited, and
there was little or no inducement for persons to engage in it. Nearly
all that were brought to market were procured from the natural beds,
for the benefits to be obtained from planting were but imperfectly
understood by a few of the dealers, or entirely unknown to them. In the
course of a few years, however, the business grew into importance, and
men of capital and enterprise engaged in it. The planting of beds--a
very essential part of the trade--was commenced; the few oyster boats,
of diminutive size, engaged in supplying New York, became an immense
fleet; an extensive trade began with Virginia; the East River became
a mine of wealth to those who worked its beds; the coasts of the bays
and the shores of the rivers were explored and given over to the tongs,
the scraper, and the dredges of the oystermen. It was found that by
removing the oyster from its natural bed to an artificial one, it could
not only be increased in size, but improved in quality, and rendered
fit for use at any period of the year. This was a very important matter
to understand, for there are certain months when the oyster is unfit
for use, in consequence of its being full of spawn. While they remained
in the natural bed, they were always subject to this objection; but
if not permitted to lie too long in the artificial one, they could be
preserved free from spawn. Although they increased in size, they seldom
or never became more numerous by transplanting. Hundreds of vessels are
constantly employed, during certain months, in transplanting in the
East River, in Prince’s Bay, and other parts of the State.
The appended summary will give some further idea of the extent of the
oyster trade in New York:--
Number of boats of all sizes, from fifty to two
hundred and fifty tons, employed in the
trade in Virginia oysters 1,000
In the East and North River trade 200
In the Shrewsbury trade 20
In the Blue Point and Sound trade 100
In the York Bay trade 200
-----
Whole number of boats 1,520
The following table will show the annual amount of sales of all kinds
of oysters by the wholesale dealers in New York:--
Sales of Virginia oysters, including those dollars.
planted in Prince’s Bay 3,000,000
Sales of East and North River oysters 1,500,000
Do. of Shrewsbury oysters 200,000
Do. of Blue Point and Sound oysters 200,000
Do. of York Bay oysters 300,000
---------
Sales 5,200,000
Baltimore is another great seat of the American oyster trade. A single
firm there has amassed, during the last ten years, a fortune of
£500,000, by simply transporting oysters to the Western States, all
of which were obtained at the oyster banks of the eastern shore of
Virginia, and sent over the Baltimore and Ohio railroad to Cumberland,
and thence to the Ohio river in stages. The firm paid to this railway
company, in one year, for transporting oysters alone, above £7,000.
Another large and enterprising firm in Baltimore, forwards daily to
the West, by way of the Susquehanna railroad, and the Pennsylvania
improvements, _eight tons_ of oysters, in cans. The operations of this
one concern comprise the opening of _2,500 bushels of oysters per
day_, giving constant employment to 150 men and boys! The shells are
carried for manure to all parts of Virginia and North Carolina. In the
‘shocking’ of oysters, the shells will increase about one fourth in
measurement bulk; this would give a total of about 6,000,000 bushels of
shells, which sell for one penny per bushel, making a return of £25,000
for the shells alone.
The whole shores of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries are adapted
to the fattening of the oyster, and as but one year is required for a
full growth in the beds, an immense profit accrues to those engaged
in the business--a profit which is estimated at some 300 to 600 per
cent. There were, a few years ago, 250 vessels engaged in the business,
which averages about 900 bushels to the cargo, and requires nine to ten
days for the trip. These vessels making, in the aggregate, 6,000 trips
during the eight months in the year in which they are engaged, gives a
total of 4,800,000 bushels per year sold in the Baltimore market. The
oysters used to bring an average price of 1_s._ 8_d._ per bushel, which
makes a grand total of £160,000 per year paid wholesale for oysters by
the dealers in Baltimore.
With the spread of population, and the progress of settlement in the
interior States, the price of this shell fish is advancing, for a late
number of the _Baltimore Patriot_ states:--
‘For some time past these delicious bivalves have been very scarce
and in great demand, advancing materially in price. There are several
causes for their upward tendency in value. First, in consequence of
their scarceness, and the difficulty of procuring them, owing to cold,
unfavourable weather. Secondly, an increased demand has sprung up from
the west. Large numbers are being shipped in barrels, in the shell and
otherwise, to Chicago, Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Wheeling, Louisville,
and, in fact, to almost every town and city beyond the Alleghenies. A
sojourner in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky,
Missouri, or even Iowa and Kansas, may, at this season of the year, sit
down to a dish of fresh oysters, live and kicking, enjoying luxurious
refreshment in comparatively small towns nearly 2,000 miles from
Chesapeake. Large shipments of oysters are also making to New York,
Boston, and various parts of the north, whilst millions are being
put up in cans, hermetically sealed, and sent to all parts of the
world. Not long ago, we saw a friendly letter from the mountains of
Switzerland, boasting that the writer had just partaken of a dish of
delicious Baltimore oysters. It would not surprise us to see the demand
far out-reaching the supply, and a gradual augmentation of price. They
are now bringing 1 dollar 25 cents to 1 dollar 62¾ cents per bushel
at our wharves, and command 9 dollars to 10 dollars per barrel in the
shell at Chicago. Equally high prices are given in all the western
cities.’
In one of his recent messages to the Virginia legislature, Governor
Wise states, that Virginia possesses an area of 1,680,000 acres
of oyster beds, containing about 784,000,000 bushels of oysters.
It is estimated that the mother oyster spawns annually at least
8,000,000; yet, notwithstanding this enormous productive power, and
the vast extent of oyster beds, there is danger of the oyster being
exterminated, unless measures are adopted to prevent fishermen from
taking them at improper seasons of the year.
A bill was lately introduced in the Virginia legislature, the main
features of which are to the following effect:--
1st. Prohibits the taking of oysters by non-residents. 2nd. Provides
for the protection of oyster beds during the spawning season. 3rd.
Taxes on licenses for taking and transporting oysters, calculated to
yield an average of three and a half cents of revenue per bushel. 4th.
The appointment of inspectors, &c., to superintend the renting of
planting grounds. 5th. The purchase and equipment of four steamers for
the enforcement of the law--said steamers to cost a total of 30,000
dollars, and to be employed at a yearly expense of about 7,000 dollars.
The oyster trade is extensively carried on at Boston. Messrs. Atwood
have nine vessels exclusively employed in the business, five of which
are clipper-built schooners, freighting oysters from the south. They
have 75 acres of flats, near what is called White Island, on the Mystic
river, where the fresh oysters of the south are transplanted, to grow
and fatten in water much softer than their native element, and where
they keep a supply in the summer months, and for the winter stock.
It is estimated that the quantity of oysters now planted in the waters
of Newhaven harbour, United States, is 500,000 bushels. Estimating 200
oysters to the bushel, this would give one hundred millions of oysters.
These oysters are for the early fall trade, and are apart from the
enormous quantities imported and opened there during the winter months.
In the Plaquemines region of Louisiana, upwards of 500 men are engaged
in the oyster trade, 150 of which number dredge the oysters from the
bays, the rest are employed in conveying them to New Orleans. For this
purpose, 170 small luggers, sloops, and schooners, of from five to
fifteen tons burthen, are in use for five months in the year. During
the summer months, they find employment in carrying shells from the
islands to the forts and to the city. These made into concrete by a
mortar of lime, sand, and hydraulic cement, form the most substantial
and imperishable wall known. For public works in process of erection,
the city streets, and ornamental walks at private residences, the
collection of oyster shells affords good summer employment to this
class of persons. From the best information to be had on the subject,
the parish of Plaquemines sends a weekly supply to the city of New
Orleans of at least 4,000 barrels of oysters, amounting in value during
the season to about £25,000.
A South African paper, of a late date, observes:--
‘The natives of this vicinity have recently begun to offer for sale
bottles filled with oysters--not ‘natives’--separated from the shell,
and floating in their own liquor. The unlimited supply of this
delicious food, obtainable on the coast, now that the natives have
acquired a notion of the trade, will enable many, to whom oysters had
become things of memory, to renew again ‘the days of auld lang syne.’
The shells are so firmly attached to the rocks, that we do not think it
would pay white men to follow this pursuit; at all events, they could
not afford to sell the oysters cheap enough for extensive use. But the
somewhat rough process adopted by ‘our coloured brethren’ (or rather
‘sisters,’ we believe), though it destroys the beauty of the fish, does
not injure its flavour, which we can pronounce to be equal to that of
the ‘real native’ of the British seas.’
Mussels are chiefly eaten by the lower classes, but they are also
largely employed for bait, which all marine animals will take; some
millions of them are used for this purpose at the fishing stations. In
one district alone, their value for this object is £13,000.
A choice kind of large mussel, known under the name of Hambleton
hookers, is taken out of the sea, and fattened in the Wyre, Lancashire,
within reach of the tide.
Some of the mussels found along parts of the South American coasts,
especially the Magellanic, and the Falkland Islands, are very large,
about six inches long, by three broad. Dr. Pernety, in his _Journal of
the Voyage to the Malouine islands_, says,
‘We more than once attempted to eat some of these, but found them so
full of pearls that it was impossible to chew them; the pearls being
very hard, endangered the breaking of our teeth, and when they were
broken in pieces, they left a kind of sand in the mouth, which was very
disagreeable.’
Several species of gapers are used as food, both in Britain and on
the Continent, as the _Mya arenaria_, known to the fishermen about
Southampton by the whimsical name of _old maids_--in some parts of
England and Ireland they are much used; and the _Mya truncata_,
which is very plentiful in the northern islands, where it is called
_Smurslin_, when boiled forms a supper dish. Though not so delicate as
some of the other shell fish eaten, it is by no means unpalatable.
The scallop was held in high estimation by the ancients, and is still
sought for in Catholic countries. The _Pecten maximus_ is frequently
used in England. When pickled and barrelled for sale, it is esteemed a
great delicacy. Another species, the _Pecten opercularis_, is employed
for culinary purposes in Cornwall, where it is known by the name of
frills, or queens. To our list of bivalves may be added the _Mactra
solida_, which is used as food by the common people about Dartmouth,
and the _Venus pullastra_, called by the inhabitants of Devonshire,
pullet, and eaten by them.
Large clams and mussels are eaten in the United States, but in the
Lower British American Provinces they are principally used as bait for
fish. The scallops are also of very large size, and are more commonly
eaten than they are with us.
Scalloped oysters, although very dainty eating, are most indigestible.
The business of digging clams is engaged in by a large number of
persons on the North American coasts. There are two varieties,
distinguished as the hard shell and the soft shell. They are eaten
largely in spring, when they are in the best condition. Clams are much
prized by persons residing at a distance from the sea coast, and they
are frequently sent into the interior, where they meet a ready sale,
as they can be sold at a very low price. They are salted and preserved
in barrels, and used by fishermen as bait for cod-fish. For many years
past the digging and salting of clams for the Boston market has been
an important business. These shell-fish abound in the extensive flats
at the mouths of some of the rivers. The flats are daily covered by
the tide, and afford the feeding ground which the clams require. Clams
multiply with astonishing rapidity: they are dug in the winter and
spring. The business furnishes employment for men and boys, that in
former years were occupied in winter fishing. The work is done, of
course, at low water. When the tide is out, on pleasant winter days,
one will often see gangs of 10, 20, or 50 men and boys busily employed
in turning up the mud on the flats, picking up the clams, and putting
them into buckets. The implement which they use is a stout fork with
three flat prongs, each about an inch wide, and 10 or 12 inches long.
The men go out on the flats in wherries, when the tide is retiring, and
push an oar into the mud, and make fast the boat to it, and as soon
as the water has left the boat, commence operations. When a bucket is
filled, it is emptied into the boat. They continue their work until the
tide comes in again sufficiently to float the boat, when they pull to
the wharf. On many places on the shores of these flats there are groups
of small huts, 10 or 12 feet square, with stone chimnies running up
on the outside, furnished within with a small stove and two or three
stools for seats. The clams are deposited in these huts, and in those
parts of the day when the tide is in, so that the men cannot work out
on the flats, and in stormy weather, they are employed in ‘shocking’
them, as it is called, that is, in opening the shell and taking out the
clam, which is done with a small stout knife. As the clams are taken
from the shell, they are dropped into a bucket; when the bucket is
filled, they are emptied into a barrel. Around these huts, it is not
uncommon to see heaps of clam shells larger than the huts themselves,
the accumulation of the winter’s labour. The clam diggers sell the
produce of their labour to traders, who send their teams round to the
huts weekly or daily, according to the weather, carry them to their
store-houses, and repack and salt them, and head them up in barrels,
when they are ready for the market.
A species of _Murex_ (_M. loco_) is highly esteemed in Chile. It is
very white and of a delicious taste, but rather tough; and in order to
render it tender, it is generally beaten with a small stick before it
is cooked.
The periwinkle (_Turbo littoreus_) is more extensively used as food
than any of the other testaceous univalves. It would hardly be supposed
that so trifling an article of consumption as periwinkles could form
a matter of extensive traffic; but the quantity consumed annually in
London has been estimated at 76,000 baskets, weighing 1,900 tons, and
valued at £15,000. This well-known mollusc is found on all the rocks
and shores of our own islands which are left uncovered by the tide, and
also in America and other countries.
The cockneys and their visitors are deeply indebted to the industrious
inhabitants of Kerara, near Oban, for a plenteous treat of this rather
vulgar luxury; and the Kerarans are no less obliged to the Londoners
for a never-failing market, for what now appears to be their general
staple article. They are gathered by the poor people, who get 6_d._ a
bushel for collecting them. From Oban they are forwarded to Glasgow,
and thence to Liverpool, _en route_ to London. Very few are retained in
transit, better profits being obtained in London, even after paying so
much sea and land carriage.
Every week there are probably 30 tons or more of this insignificant
edible sent up to London, from Glasgow, all of which are collected near
Oban, and must be a means of affording considerable employment, and
diffusing a considerable amount weekly in wages, amongst the numerous
persons employed. The periwinkles are packed in bags, containing from
two to three cwt. each, and keep quite fresh until they arrive at their
ultimate destination. In London they sell at 3_d._ a pint.
Whelks (the _Buccinum undatum_) are another shell-fish which, though
despised on the sea coasts, are a favourite dish, boiled or pickled,
among the poorer classes in the metropolis, as the gusto manifested at
the street-stalls in London evidences. Boys and children of a larger
growth frequently indulge in a ‘hapenny’ or penny saucer of these
dainties. Large quantities of whelks are transmitted from Mull to
London; some steamers from the north bring six or seven tons at a time.
Several species of snails (_Helix_) are employed for culinary purposes.
The largest of these, the _Helix pomatia_, was a favourite dish among
the Romans, who fattened them with bran sodden with wine. They are
still used largely in many parts of Europe, during Lent, after having
been fed with different kinds of herbs. The Africans and Brazilians eat
snails.
The _Helix hortensis_ has also been employed as food, and they are
prescribed medicinally, being administered like slugs in consumptive
cases.
Many are familiar with the passage in Pliny (_Hist._ lib. ix., c. 56),
who, on the authority of Varro, relates the incredible size to which
the art of fattening had brought the snails. Even assuming the snails
were African _Achatina_ or _Bulimi_, there must, one should think,
be some mistake in the text, which says, ‘Cujus artis gloria in eam
magnitudinem perducta sit, ut octoginta quadrantes caperent singularum
calices.’ Pennant, referring to this and to Varro (_De Re Rustica_)
says, ‘If we should credit Varro, they grew so large that the shells of
some would hold ten quarts!’
People need not admire the temperance of the supper of the younger
Pliny (_Epist._ lib. i.; _Epist._ xv.), which consisted of only a
lettuce a-piece, three snails, two eggs, a barley cake, sweet wine and
snow, in case his snails bore any proportion to those of Hirpinus.
Among the pictures in the dressing-rooms at Chiswick House, the seat
of the Duke of Devonshire, there is one, by Murillo, of a beggar boy
eating a snail pie.
The snail is now a very fashionable article of diet in Paris; and has
also spread to America. Snails are eaten in Tuscany and Austria. They
were highly esteemed by the Romans, our masters in gastronomy. In the
provinces of France, where the vine is cultivated, snails of large size
abound. They are gathered by the peasants, put in small pans for a few
days, salt water thrown on them, to cause them to discharge whatever
their stomachs may contain; then boiled, taken out of the shell, and
eaten with a sauce, and considered a luxury by the vine dressers.
There are now 50 restaurants, and more than 1,200 private tables in
Paris, where snails are accepted as a delicacy by from 8,000 to 10,000
consumers. The monthly consumption of this mollusc is estimated at
half a million. The market price of the great vineyard snail is from
2_s._ to 3_s._ per 100; while those of the hedges, woods, and forests,
bring only 1_s._ 6_d._ to 2_s._ The proprietor of one snailery, in the
vicinity of Dijon, is said to clear nearly £300 a year by his snails.
In Switzerland, where there are gardens in which they are fed in many
thousands together, a considerable trade is carried on in them about
the season of Lent; and at Vienna, a few years ago, seven of them were
charged at an inn the same as a plate of veal or beef. The usual modes
of preparing them for the table are either boiling, frying them in
butter, or sometimes stuffing them with force-meat; but in whatever
manner soever they are dressed, it is said their sliminess always in a
great measure remains.
An anecdote is told of Drs. Black and Hutton, which shows how difficult
it is for philosophy to wage a war with prejudice. It chanced that
the two doctors had held some discourse together upon the folly of
abstaining from feeding on the testaceous creatures of the land,
while those of the sea were considered as delicacies. Wherefore not
eat snails?--they are well known to be nutritious and wholesome--even
sanative in some cases. The epicures of olden times enumerated among
the richest and raciest delicacies the snails which were fed in the
marble quarries of Lucca. The Italians still hold them in esteem. In
short, it was determined that a gastronomic experiment should be made
at the expense of the snails. The snails were procured, dieted for a
time, then stewed for the benefit of the two philosophers: who had
either invited no guest to their banquet, or found none who relished in
prospect the _pièce de resistance_. A huge dish of snails was placed
before them; but philosophers are but men after all; and the stomachs
of both doctors began to revolt against the proposed experiment.
Nevertheless, if they looked with disgust on the snails, they retained
their awe for each other; and each conceiving the symptoms of internal
revolt peculiar to himself, began with infinity of exertion to swallow,
in very small quantities, the mess which he internally loathed. Dr.
Black, at length, ‘showed the white feather,’ but in a very delicate
manner, as if to sound the opinion of his messmate:--‘Doctor,’ he said,
in his precise and quiet manner, ‘Doctor--do you not think that they
taste a little--a very little, green?’ ‘Green! green, indeed--take them
awa’, take them awa’,’ vociferated Dr. Hutton, starting up from table,
and giving full vent to his feelings of abhorrence. And so ended all
hopes of introducing snails into their _cuisine_.
At the town of Ulm, in Wurtemburg, on the left bank of the Danube,
snails are fed in great quantities for various markets in Germany and
Austria, but especially for that of Vienna, where they are esteemed a
great delicacy, after having been fed upon strawberries. About 20,000
okes (each nearly 3 lbs.) of snails are annually exported from Crete,
valued at 15,000 Turkish piastres.
The breed of large white snails in England is to be found all along
the escarpment of the chalk range, and is not confined to Surrey. It
is said to have been introduced into England by Sir Kenelm Digby, and
was considered very nutritious and wholesome for consumptive patients.
Indeed, to this day, considerable quantities are sold in Covent Garden
market for this purpose. They are sometimes made into a mucilaginous
broth, and at others swallowed in a raw state.
In the Island of Bourbon, the French use them to make a soup for the
sick.
At Cape Coast Castle the luxuries of the natives are fish soup, made of
dried unsalted fish, and snail soup with land crabs in it; and beyond
Ashantee the food consists of plantains and large snails, 300 or 400 of
which dried on a string sell for a dollar. These snails are the great
African _Achatina_, which are the largest of all land-snails, attaining
a length of eight inches.
A species of barnacle, called the parrot bill (_Balanus psittacus_),
is much esteemed by the inhabitants of Chile. From 10 to 20 of these
animals inhabit as many small separate cells, formed in a pyramid of
a cretaceous substance. These pyramids are usually attached to the
steepest parts of rocks at the water’s edge, and the animal derives its
subsistence from the sea, by means of a little hole at the top of each
cell. The shell consists of six valves, two large and four small; the
large ones project externally in the form of a parrot’s bill, whence
the animal has received its specific name. When detached from the
rocks, they are kept alive in their cells for four or five days, during
which time they occasionally protrude their bills as if to breathe.
They are of different sizes, though the largest do not exceed an inch
in length, and are very white, tender, and excellent eating.[36] Capt.
P. P. King, R.N., confirms this, and says they form a common and highly
esteemed food of the natives, the flesh equalling in richness and
delicacy that of the crab.
ANNELIDA.
Palolo is the native name of a species of sea-worm (_Palolo viridis_),
which is found in some parts of Samoa, the Navigator’s Islands, in the
South Pacific Ocean--and of which the following singular account is
given by the Rev. J. B. Stair, of the South Sea Missions. They come
regularly in the months of October and November, during portions of
two days in each month, viz: the day before and the day on which the
moon is in her last quarter. They appear in much greater numbers on the
second than on the first day of their rising, and are only observed
for two or three hours in the early part of each morning of their
appearance. At the first dawn of day, they may be felt by the hand
swimming on the surface of the water; and as the day advances their
numbers increase, so that by the time the sun has risen, thousands may
be observed in a very small space, sporting merrily during their short
visit to the surface of the ocean. On the second day they appear at
the same time, and in a similar manner, but in such countless myriads,
that the surface of the ocean is covered with them for a considerable
extent. On each day, after sporting for an hour or two, they disappear
until the next season, and not one is ever observed during the
intervening time. In size they may be compared to a very fine straw,
and are of various colours and lengths, green, brown, white, and
speckled, and in appearance and mode of swimming, resemble very small
snakes. They are exceedingly brittle, and if broken into many pieces,
each piece swims off as though it were an entire worm. The natives are
exceedingly fond of them, and calculate with great exactness the time
of their appearance, which is looked forward to with great interest.
The worms are caught in small baskets, beautifully made, and when
taken on shore are tied up in leaves in small bundles, and baked.
Great quantities are eaten undressed; but either dressed or undressed,
are esteemed a great delicacy. Such is the desire to eat Palolo by
all classes, that immediately the fishing parties reach the shore,
messengers are dispatched in all directions with quantities to parts of
the island on which none appear.’
At a recent exhibition of paintings, a lady and her son were regarding
with much interest a picture which the catalogue designated as _Luther
at the Diet of Worms_. Having descanted at some length upon its merits,
the boy remarked, ‘Mother, I see Luther and the table, but where are
the worms?’
CEPHALOPODA.
In recent times, and in some parts of the Levant even now, as we
learn from Forbes and Spratt’s _Lycia_, the cuttle-fish of different
species were used as articles of food; and we know from the works of
travellers, that in other parts of the world, when cooked, they are
esteemed as luxuries.
Besides the common cuttle-fish (_Sepia octopodia_), two or three other
singular species are found on the Chilian coasts of the Pacific. The
first, the ungulated cuttle-fish (_Sepia unguiculata_), is of a great
size, and instead of suckers, has paws armed with a double row of
pointed nails, like those of a cat, which it can, at its pleasure,
draw into a kind of sheath. This fish is of a delicate taste, but is
not very common. The second is named (_Sepia tunicata_), from its
body being covered with a second skin, in the form of a tunic; this
is transparent, and terminates in two little semicircular appendages
like wings, which project from either side of the tail. Many wonderful
and incredible stories are told by sailors of the bulk and strength of
this fish; it is however certain that it is frequently caught of 150
lbs. weight, on the coast of Chile, and the flesh is esteemed a great
delicacy. The sea around Barbados is frequented by a species of the
order _Cephalopoda_, which is used as an article of food by the lower
classes of the inhabitants, namely the bastard cuttle-fish, or calmar,
(_Loligo sagitatta_, Lam.).
The flesh of the large cephalopodous animals, (_Loligo_ of Lamark; _les
Calmars_ of Cuvier,) was esteemed as a delicacy by the ancients. Most
of the eastern natives, and those of the Polynesian Islands, partake
of it, and esteem it as food; they may be seen exposed for sale in the
bazaars or markets throughout India.
The natives of most of the islands in the China Seas dry the _Sepiæ_
and _Octopi_, as well as the soft parts of the _Haliotis_, _Turbo_,
_Hippopus_, _Tridacna_, &c., and make use of them as articles of food.
But from my little experience of this kind of diet, notwithstanding
the assertion of the learned Bacon, in his _Experiment Solitary
touching Cuttle-ink_, that the cuttle is accounted a delicate meat,
and is much in request, I should say that it is as indigestible and
unnutritious as it is certainly tough and uninviting. Cephalopods,
however, are eaten at the present day on some parts of the
Mediterranean coasts; and in Hampshire I have seen the poor people
collect assiduously the _Sepiæ_ and employ them as food.
The common snail of the Meiacoshimahs is eaten by the natives, as the
_Helix aspersa_ and _H. pomatia_ are occasionally in Europe.
The Malays are fond of the _Cerithium telescopium_ and _palustre_ found
in the Mangrove swamps. They throw them on their wood fires, and when
sufficiently cooked, break off the sharp end of the spine, and suck the
tail of the animal through the opening.
‘The poor people of the Philippines relish the _Arca inequivalvis_,
boiling them as we do cockles or mussels; the flesh, however, is red
and very bad-flavoured. Some _Monodonta_ which I have eaten among
the Korean Islands are quite peppery, and bite the tongue, producing
the same unpleasant effects upon that organ as the root of the _Arum
maculatum_, or leaves of the Taro, but in much less intense degree; and
a species of _Mytilus_, found in the same locality, has very similar
unpalatable qualities.’[37]
Of the several species of urchins or sea-eggs, one, the _Echinus
albus_, is eaten by the Chilians and others. The white urchin is of a
globular form, and about three inches in diameter; the shell and spines
are white, but the interior substance is yellowish and of an excellent
taste.
There is a marine delicacy of the Chinese which must not be passed
unnoticed; it is a kind of sea-slug, varieties of _Holothuria_, fished
for on the coral reefs of the Eastern seas, and known under the names
of _Bêche-de-mer_ and _Tripang_.
When dried it is an ugly looking dirty-brown colored substance, very
hard and rigid until softened by water, and a very lengthened process
of cooking, after which it becomes soft and mucilaginous. It is
rendered down into a sort of thick soup, after partaking of which a
Chinaman sleeps in the seventh heaven of Chinese bliss. It looks like a
dried sausage or blood-pudding, and some resemble a prickly cucumber.
There are at least 33 different varieties enumerated by the Chinese
traders and others skilled in its classification, for fashion and
custom have caused each variety to have a different market. While the
gourmand of the South smacks his lips on the juicy white and black, the
less cultivated taste of those at the North is satisfied with the red
and more inferior varieties. One of the inferior kinds is slender, and
of a dark brown colour, soft to the touch, and leaves a red stain on
the hands; another is of a grey colour and speckled; a third is large
and a dark yellow, with a rough skin and tubercles on its side. The
second kind is often eaten raw by the natives, as I have seen a red
herring eaten raw. The price varies from £7 to £14 the picul, of 133
lbs., and as there are about 1,000 of the slugs in a picul, they are
worth from 2_d._ to 4_d._ each, according to quality, wholesale.
The process of curing and preparation for market is very simple. The
slug, on being taken from the boat, is simmered over a fire in an iron
caldron for about half-an-hour, after which it is thrown out upon the
ground, and the operation of opening commences, this being effected by
a longitudinal cut along the back with a sharp knife. It is then again
placed in the caldron and boiled in salt water, with which a quantity
of the bark of the mangrove has been mixed, for about three hours, when
the outer skin will begin to peel off. It is now sufficiently boiled,
and after the water has been drained off, the slugs are arranged in
the drying-houses (small huts covered with mats) upon frames of split
bamboo spread out immediately under the roof. Each slug is carefully
placed with the part that has been cut open facing downwards, and a
fire is made underneath, the smoke of which soon dries the tripang
sufficiently to permit its being packed in bags or baskets for
exportation.
Mr. Wingrove Cooke, in his cleverly described account of a Chinese
banquet, thus narrates his impression of the dish prepared from them:
‘The next course was expected with a very nervous excitement. It was a
stew of sea-slugs. As I have seen them at Macao they are white, but as
served at Ningpo they are green. I credit the Imperial academician’s as
the orthodox dish. They are slippery, and very difficult to be handled
by inexperienced chopsticks; but they are most succulent and pleasant
food, not at all unlike in flavour to the green fat of a turtle. If a
man cannot eat anything of a kind whereof he has not seen his father
and grandfather eat before, we must leave him to his oysters, and his
periwinkles, and his cray-fish, and not expect him to swallow the
much more comely sea-slug. But surely a Briton, who has eaten himself
into a poisonous plethora upon mussels, has no right to hold up his
hands and eyes at a Chinaman enjoying his honest well-cooked stew of
_bêche-de-mer_.’
The peculiarities of this animal have been thus graphically described:
‘It can stand erect and graze on the sea grasses, or crawl on its
belly, and digest the contents of sea-shells sufficient to fill a
cabinet; harder and bigger than a brick, it can yet go through a lady’s
ring: its natural shape is that of a cucumber, yet it will take the
mould of any vessel in which it is placed: apparently without sight,
night is the time it collects its food: furnished with teeth, they
are only used to hold on by, while at the opposite end the fish gapes
to receive its tiny prey, which it draws in by feelers thrust forward
for the purpose. Opened by the conchologist, he will be rewarded with
a store of minute shells most perfectly cleaned: boiled and dried it
reduces to one-twelfth its weight and one-fifth its size: resoaked, it
expands to nearly its former dimensions; but damped, it becomes glue,
nasty and disagreeable: sliced up and boiled it becomes isinglass, of
use to none but the Chinese gourmand. The reefs of the Archipelago
have been ransacked for it, and many a risk has been run in procuring
it from the Cannibal Isles of the Pacific. The main supplies for the
China market, are furnished by the Celebes proas. The industrious
merchants of this island bring it in their fleets from Torres Straits,
and the far-off reefs of New Guinea, and collect it from every islet
and village in the Archipelago. Other supplies with this find their way
to the Dutch and Spanish trading ports on the larger islands, and are
from them shipped to Batavia, Singapore, and Manila. From this last
port a few Spanish vessels have procured it in the Sooloo Sea; but this
fishery, as well as all the others well known, has yielded its best
supplies, and the enhanced price in China adds inducement to seek out
reefs less frequented for more abundant yield. At the above-named ports
it commands, for mixed cargoes, a higher price than in China itself.
American vessels are constantly engaged in this trade in the South
Pacific, and I noticed recently that two vessels from San Francisco
had procured cargoes from the Southern Isles, and were on their way to
Manila or China. It is a business in which, to be successful, no little
tact is required to deal with the treacherous natives, as well as a
knowledge of curing and preparing for the market; but it is one that
will long give a great return for small investments to the daring and
successful adventurers.’
When M. De Blainville states he has never heard that any of the
_Holothuriæ_ were of much utility to mankind, but that M. Delle Chiaje
does indeed inform us that the poor inhabitants of the Neapolitan
coasts eat them, he appears to have forgotten the great oriental
traffic carried on with some of the species, as an article of food.
Some years ago, in my _Colonial Magazine_, I called attention to the
fact, that the fishing for, and shipment of, this sea-slug to China
might prove a very profitable trade, but it seems to be an employment
for which European seamen are by no means well adapted.
It can be fished for in the Indian Ocean, from the Mauritius and Ceylon
to New Guinea, in the Pacific; and is to be procured from any of the
South Sea Islands. It abounds in the seas along the shores of the
Bermuda Islands, and some is said to be shipped from Boston and other
ports of the United States to Canton.
The late Sir W. Reid, when Governor of the Bermudas, endeavoured to
direct the attention of the inhabitants to the collection of it round
their shores, where it is common, with a view to curing it for the
purpose of exportation. He even went so far as to make soup from it,
and I understand, partook of it at his own table. His advice, however,
does not seem to have been followed, as up to the present time none has
been collected. It could be made a profitable article of export, if the
Bermudians chose to try the experiment, as the curing process is very
simple.
A company for carrying out this fishery was projected at Perth, in
Western Australia, in 1836, but it was never prosecuted with any
spirit, and soon dropped. Tripang is now carried into China from
almost every island of the Eastern Archipelago, and also from Northern
Australia.
The quantity sent from Macassar alone is about 9,000 cwt., and half as
much from Java. Probably between 4,000 and 5,000 tons go annually to
China, where the demand is perfectly unlimited.
The best and most detailed account I have met with respecting the
taking and preparing of this eastern luxury, is in the _Narrative of
the United States Exploring Expedition in the Feejee Islands_, by
Commander Charles Wilkes, of the American Navy: ‘Of the bêche-de-mer,’
he says, ‘there are several kinds, some of which are much superior
in quality to the others; they are distinguishable both by shape and
colour, but more particularly by the latter. One of the inferior kinds
is slender, and of a dark brown colour, soft to the touch, and leaves a
red stain on the hands; another is of grey colour and speckled; a third
is large, and dark yellow, with a rough skin, and tubercles on its
sides. The second kind is often eaten raw by the natives.
‘The valuable sorts are six in number: one of a dark red colour; a
second is black, from two inches to nine inches in length, and its
surface, when cured, resembles crape; a third kind is large, and of a
dark grey colour, which, when cured, becomes a dirty white; the fourth
resembles the third, except in colour, which is a dark brown; the fifth
variety is of a dirty white colour, with tubercles on its sides, and
retains its colour when cured; the sixth is red, prickly, and of a
different shape and larger size than the others; when cured, it becomes
dark.
‘The most esteemed kinds are found on the reefs, in water from one to
two fathoms in depth, where they are caught by diving. The inferior
sorts are found on reefs which are dry, or nearly so, at low water,
where they are picked up by the natives. The natives also fish the
bêche-de-mer on rocky coral bottoms, by the light of the moon or of
torches, for the animals keep themselves drawn up in holes in the sand
or rocks by day, and come forth by night to feed, when they may be
taken in great quantities. The motions of the animal resemble those of
a caterpillar; and it feeds by suction, drawing in with its food much
fine coral and some small shells.
‘Captain Eagleston stated that the bêche-de-mer is found in greatest
abundance on reefs composed of a mixture of sand and coral. The animal
is rare on the southern side of any of the islands, and the most
lucrative fisheries are on the northern side, particularly on that
of Vanua levu, between Anganga and Druan. In this place, the most
frequent kind is that which resembles crape. In some places the animal
multiplies very fast; but there are others where, although ten years
have elapsed since they were last fished, none are yet to be found.
‘The bêche-de-mer requires a large building to dry it in. That erected
by Captain Eagleston on the Island of Tavan, is 85 feet long, about 15
or 20 feet wide, and nearly as much in height. The roof has a double
pitch, falling on each side of the ridge to eaves, which are about
five feet from the ground. The roof is well thatched, and ought to be
perfectly water-tight. There are usually three doors, one at each end,
and one in the middle of one of the sides. Throughout the whole length
of the building is a row of double staging, called batters, on which
reeds are laid.
‘On the construction of this staging much of the success of the
business depends. It ought to be supported on firm posts, to which
the string-pieces should be well secured by lashing. The lower batter
is about four feet from the ground, and the upper from two to three
feet above it. Their breadth is from twelve to fourteen feet. Upon
the large reeds with which the batters are covered is laid the ‘fish
fence,’ which is made by weaving or tying small cords together. This is
composed of many pieces, the height of each of which is equal to the
breadth of the batter.
‘A trench is dug under the whole length of the batters, in which a slow
fire is kept up by the natives under the direction of one of the mates
of the vessel. The earth from the trench is thrown against the sides
of the house, which are at least two or three feet from the nearest
batter, in order to prevent accident from fire. This is liable to
occur, not only from carelessness, but from design on the part of the
natives. As a further precaution, barrels filled with water are placed,
about eight feet apart, along both sides of the batters.
‘After the house has been in use for about a week, it becomes very
liable to take fire, in consequence of the drying and breaking of the
material used in the lashings. In this case it is hardly possible to
save any part of the building or its contents. To prevent the falling
of the stages by the breaking of the lashings, fresh pieces of cordage
are always kept at hand to replace those which are charred and show
signs of becoming weak. A constant watch must be kept up night and day,
and it requires about 15 hands to do the ordinary work of a house.
‘The fires are usually extinguished once in twenty-four hours, and the
time chosen for this purpose is at daylight. The fish are now removed
from the lower to the upper batter, and a fresh supply introduced in
their place. This operation, in consequence of the heat of the batter,
is hard and laborious, and 50 or 60 natives are usually employed in it.
‘Fire-wood is of course an important article in this process, each
picul of bêche-de-mer requiring about half a cord to cure it. This fuel
is purchased from the chiefs, who agree to furnish a certain quantity
for a stipulated compensation. As much as 20 cords are sometimes bought
for a single musket. In carrying on the drying, it is important that
the doors be kept shut while the fires are burning. Much also depends
upon the location of the house, whose length should be at right angles
to the course of the prevailing winds. The batters also should be
nearest to the lee side of the house.
‘Before beginning the fishery, the services of some chief are secured,
who undertakes to cause the house to be built, and sets his dependents
at work to fish the bêche-de-mer. The price is usually a whale’s tooth
for a hogshead of the animals, just as they are taken on the reef. It
is also bought with muskets, powder, balls, vermilion, paint, axes,
hatchets, beads, knives, scissors, chisels, plane-irons, gouges,
fish-hooks, small glasses, flints, cotton cloths, chests, trunks, &c.
Of beads, in assorted colours, the blue are preferred, and cotton cloth
of the same colour is most in demand. For one musket, a cask containing
from 130 to 160 gallons has been filled ten times. When the animals are
brought on shore, they are measured into bins, where they remain until
the next day.
‘These bins are formed by digging a trench in the ground, about two
feet in depth, and working up the sides with cocoa-nut logs, until they
are large enough to contain forty or fifty hogsheads. If the fishery is
successful, two of these may be needed.
‘Near the bins are placed the trade-house and trade-stand. In the
first, the articles with which the fish is purchased are kept; and, in
the second, the officer in charge of them sits, attended by a trusty
and watchful seaman. The stand is elevated, so that the persons in it
may have an opportunity of seeing all that is taking place around them.
All the fish are thrown into the bin before they are paid for.
‘In these bins the fish undergo the operation of draining and purging,
or ejecting their entrails. These, in some of the species, resemble
pills, in others look like worms, and are as long as the animals
themselves.
‘The larger kinds are then cut along the belly for a length of three
or four inches, which makes them cure more rapidly; but care must be
taken to avoid cutting too deep, as this would cause the fish to spread
open, and diminish its value in the market.
‘When taken out of the bins and cut, the fish are thrown into the
boilers, which are large pots, of which each establishment has five or
six. These pots have the form of sugar-boilers, with broad rims, and
contain from one hundred to one hundred and fifty gallons.
‘They are built in a row, in rude walls of stone and mud, about two
feet apart, and have sufficient space beneath them for a large fire.
The workmen stand on the walls to fill and empty the pots, and have
within reach a platform, on which the fish is put after it has been
boiled.
‘It requires two men to attend each pot, who relieve each other, so
that the work may go on night and day. They are provided with skimmers
and ladles, as well as fire-hooks, hoes, and shovels.
‘No water is put into the pots, for the fish yield moisture enough to
prevent burning.
‘The boiling occupies from 25 to 50 minutes, and the fish remains about
an hour on the platform to drain, after which it is taken to the house,
and laid to a depth of four inches upon the lower batter. Thence at
the end of twenty-four hours it is removed, as has been stated, to the
upper batter, where it is thoroughly dried in the course of three or
four days. Before it is taken on board ship, it is carefully picked,
when the damp pieces are separated, to be returned to the batter. It is
stowed in bulk, and when fit for that purpose should be as hard and dry
as chips. Great care must be taken to preserve it from moisture.
‘In the process of drying, it loses two-thirds both of its weight and
bulk, and when cured, resembles smoked sausage. In this state it is
sold by the picul, which brings from 15 to 25 dollars.
‘Captain Eagleston had collected in the course of seven months, and at
a trifling expense, a cargo of 1,200 piculs, worth about 25,000 dollars.
‘The outfit for such a voyage is small, but the risk to be incurred
is of some moment, as no insurance can be effected on vessels bound
to the Feejee Group, and it requires no small activity and enterprise
to conduct this trade. A thorough knowledge of the native character
is essential to success; and it requires all possible vigilance on
the part of the captain of the vessel to prevent surprise, and the
greatest caution to avoid difficulties. Even with the exercise of these
qualities, he may often find himself and his crew in perilous positions.
‘In order to lessen the dangers as much as possible, no large canoes
are ever allowed to remain alongside the vessel, and a chief of high
rank is generally kept on board as a hostage. When those precautions
have not been taken, accidents have frequently happened.
‘The bêche-de-mer is sometimes carried to Canton, but more usually to
Manila, whence it is shipped to China.
‘In order to show the profits which arise from the trade in
bêche-de-mer, I give the cost and returns of five cargoes, obtained by
Captain Eagleston in the Feejee Group. These he obligingly favoured me
with.
Piculs. Cost of outfit. Sales.
Dolls. Dolls.
1st voyage 617 1,101 8,021
2nd ” 700 1,200 17,500
3rd ” 1,080 3,396 15,120
4th ” 840 1,200 12,600
5th ” 1,200 3,500 27,000
‘A further profit also arises from the investment of the proceeds in
Canton. Capt. Eagleston also obtained 4,488 pounds of tortoise shell,
at a cost of 5,700 dollars, which sold in the United States for 29,050
dollars net.
In Mr. Crawfurd’s _Indian Archipelago_, vol. iii., there are also the
following details:--
‘The tripang is an unseemly-looking substance, of a dirty brown
colour, hard, rigid, scarcely possessing any power of locomotion, nor
appearance of animation. Some of the fish are occasionally as much as
two feet in length, and from seven to eight inches in circumference:
the length of a span, and the girth of from two to three inches,
however, is the ordinary size. The quality or value of the fish,
however, does by no means depend upon its size, but upon properties in
them neither obvious to, nor discernible by, those who have not had
a long and intimate experience of the trade. The Chinese merchants
are almost the only persons who possess this skill, even the native
fishermen themselves being often ignorant on the subject, and always
leaving the cargo to be assorted by the Chinese on their return to
port. The commercial classification made by the Chinese is curious and
particular. In the market of Macassar, the greatest staple of this
fishery, not less than thirty varieties are distinguished, varying in
price from five Spanish dollars per picul to fourteen times that price,
each being particularized by well-known names. To satisfy curiosity, I
shall give a few of them, with their ordinary price:--
Tacheritaug (grey sort) 68 Spanish dollars.
Batu-basar (great stone) 54 ”
Batu-taugah (middling stone) 22 ”
Batu-kachil (small stone) 14 Spanish dollars.
Itaur-basar (great black) 30 ”
Itaur-taugah (middling black) 15 ”
Itaur-kachil (small black) 8 ”
Tundaug 24 ”
Kunyit 9 ”
Douga 7 ”
Japou 12 ”
Mosi 9 ”
Kauasa 5 ”
Pachaug-goreug 5 ”
Gama 12½ ”
Taikougkoug 13½ ”
Mareje (New Holland) 19 ”
Kayu-jawa 26 ”
Baukuli 20 ”
‘It is evident from this account that the tripang trade is one in
which no stranger can embark with any safety, and it is consequently
almost entirely in the hands of the Chinese. The actual fishery is
managed, however, exclusively by the natives. The fish are caught by
them on ledges of coral rock, usually at the depth of from three to
five fathoms. The larger kinds, when in shallow water, are occasionally
speared; but the most common mode of taking them is by diving for them
in the manner practised for pearl oysters, and taking them up with the
hands.’
* * * * *
I have now gone through the list of ordinary and extraordinary foreign
delicacies, and no doubt many of these have been read with surprise.
But there are many unexplained things in the food we Englishmen
consume even at the present time; for instance, although in the
knackers’ yards we can account for every other portion of the carcase
of the dead horse, no one knows what becomes of the heart and the
tongue. Dr. Playfair, when lecturing at the South Kensington Museum
recently, ‘on the application of Waste Substances,’ was staggered
on this point, and therefore he had to inscribe it on his board ‘a
mystery.’ It is questionable to my mind whether many of the smoked
ostensible ox-tongues, imported from Russia, are not veritable
horse-tongues.
The numerous herds of wild horses in Russia would easily furnish the
500 cwt. of tongues we import.
I am afraid that many little know too what they eat in the
sausage-meat, the alamode beef, the polonies, and the mutton and veal
pies of the pie-shops and street venders.
Whether the man who is said to have gone into the pie-shop, and
throwing down a skinned cat on the counter in the presence of numerous
customers exclaiming ‘that makes a dozen,’ did it out of malice or in
the way of business, it would be difficult to determine. But it is
always pleasant to see the vender partaking of his own pork or eel
pies; it inspires confidence, as the witness proved to the Judge in
Court.
‘You say you have confidence in the plaintiff, Mr. Smith.’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘State to the Court, if you please, what causes this feeling of
confidence.’
‘Why, you see, sir, there’s allers reports ’bout eatin’-house-men, and
I used to kinder think--’
‘Never mind what you thought--tell us what you know.’
‘Well, sir, one day I goes down to Cooken’s shop, an’ sez to the
waiter, ‘Waiter,’ sez I, ‘gives’s a weal pie.’
‘Well sir, proceed.’
‘Well, just then Mr. Cooken comes up, and sez he, how du Smith, what be
going to hav?
‘Weal pie, sez I.’
‘Good,’ sez he, ‘I’ll take one tu;’ so he sets down and eats one of his
own weal pies right afore me.’
‘Did that cause your confidence in him?’
‘Yes, it did, sir; when an eatin’-house-keeper sets down afore his
customers an’ deliberately eats one of his own weal pies, no man can
refuse to feel confidence--it shows him to be an honest man.’
On the jamb of the door of an eating-house on the North Wall, Dublin,
the curious might recently read the following announcement printed,
conveying alarming intelligence to the gallant tars who frequent that
port--‘Sailors’ vitals cooked here.’
Probably none of the foreign epicures, whose numerous dainties I have
been placing before you, would eat hare and currant jelly, goose and
apple-sauce, fish pies or parsley pasty like the Cornishman, or the
squab pie of the Devonshire fisherman.
Now, while we are prone to ridicule others for their choice of food
delicacies, we should look at home. Our epicures are extremely fond of
woodcocks cooked un-gutted, and the standard dishes of Scotland, the
haggis, sheep’s-head, tripe, and black puddings, are not palatable to
every one.
We have seen, however, from our deliberate survey that whatever
enriches the earth and proclaims the bounty of the Creator, illustrates
His indulgent regard for Man as chief of the Animal orders. Rich
provision has been made for his wants and for his tastes, making glad
the fields, the meadows, the vineyards, the orchards, the waters, and
the air, peopled as they are with things made to be quartered, and
cooked, and eaten. Every creature of God is good, and nothing to be
refused if it be received with thanksgiving--‘Let no man judge you in
meat or in drink.’ The Creator granted to the use of Man animal food as
well as every green herb. Whatsoever is sold in the shambles and is set
before you eat, therefore, asking no questions for conscience sake.
In the course of our investigation, we have seen how difficult it is
to determine what is _food_ and what really are _food delicacies_;
for thereupon the proverb rises before us--‘What’s one man’s meat, is
another man’s poison.’
Some people eat arsenic in considerable quantities, and if not exactly
food, they find it conducive to an enjoying state of existence. Certain
tribes of Africans and South American Indians eat an unctuous kind of
earth, which, if introduced into our workhouses as food, would raise an
outcry far and wide. In some countries sea-weed is food, in others it
is manure for land. While we ruthlessly destroy snails and frogs, our
continental brethren fatten and feed upon them.
Thus do the food delicacies differ in different parts of the globe, the
nature of the alimentary substances varying exceedingly, and the ‘daily
bread’ assuming most diversified forms.
I have confined myself here to the Animal Food, because to have gone
into the Vegetable Substances would have carried me too much into
detail. As it is, I have only been able to skim over the surface, to
make a brief enumeration of some of the more prominent delicacies.
A talented friend has well remarked--‘It is a probable thing, that
many new varieties of food will ultimately be produced artificially,
but it would be difficult to persuade people to eat them knowingly.
Handy Andy, in Lover’s tale, thought stewed leather breeches very fine
tripe till he lighted on a button, which suddenly convinced him it was
unwholesome food; and Sir Joseph Banks--so says Peter Pindar--did not
think fleas equal to lobsters, though of the same genus.
‘The Berlin philosophers have been for many years trying to persuade
the community that horse-flesh is good beef, unsatisfactorily; and,
amongst civilized communities, it appears to be chiefly in France that
people voluntarily eat cats, both as a relish and a vengeance, if we
may trust the reports of the Tribunal of Correctional Police, though
scandal has long accused inn-keepers, both in France and Spain, of thus
feeding their guests, as a substitute for rabbits.
‘The French are chemists as well as cooks, and if fetid potato oil can
be converted into a delicious scent akin to attar of roses, we may very
well imagine that the partridge or venison bouquet may be obtained from
other kinds of flesh.
‘Glue and scraps of gloves, boiled with garlic, are eaten in Spain,
and there is, as I have already stated, an hiatus in the parchment
specifications at the Patent Office, caused by an unlucky boy, who
changed them away for tarts, in order that they might be stewed down,
and converted into calves’-foot jelly. The mechanical problems written
and graven on them were doubtless not precipitated on the delicate
palates of the ladies or gentlemen consuming them at Almack’s, or
elsewhere. It was but carbon gathered by the sheep in the shape of
grass from the earth’s surface--kid gloves in another form. Possibly
Chemistry will ultimately enable us to make kid gloves and parchment
without troubling goats or sheep for them, and artificial gelatine will
become a substitute for calves’-feet. It is probable, that even now
we occasionally eat old wool and hair in our gravy soups, as well as
make it into what is facetiously called ‘felt cloth’--the fibres being
glued instead of felted together; and in process of time we may prepare
gelatinous tubes, analogous to wool and hair, from carbon, converted
into gelatine. It certainly seems odd that a man’s coat should be
convertible into his dinner; but ‘Imperial Cæsar,’ according to Hamlet,
underwent as strange changes.[38]’
During the time of the Great Exhibition, in 1851, buffalo hides, and
sheep and calf skins, advanced cent. per cent. in price. This was
caused by the great demand for jellies in the refreshment rooms.
Visitors then consumed jellies who never tasted jellies before; and as
the usual material was not available, buffalo hides were purchased in
tons in Liverpool, for the purpose of making these delicacies. Size
and glue were used at first, but the hides were found to be cheapest.
No one knows now what he eats in English confectionery. The natives of
Java use the fresh hides of cattle as food,--nay even esteem them a
dainty beyond any other part of the animal. The first pair of buckskin
breeches seen in the South Sea Islands were so little understood, that
the natives stuffed them with sea-weed, and had them boiled for dinner.
After the enumeration I have given you of Food Delicacies, who shall
venture to determine what is good eating? Some Europeans chew tobacco,
the Hindoo takes to betel-nut and lime, while the Patagonian finds
contentment in a bit of guano, and the Styrians grow fat and ruddy on
arsenic. English children delight in sweetmeats and sugar-candy, while
those of Africa prefer rock salt. A Frenchman likes frogs and snails,
and we eat eels, oysters, and whelks. To the Esquimaux, train oil is
your only delicacy. The Russian luxuriates upon his hide or tallow;
the Chinese upon rats, puppy dogs, and sharks’ fins; the Kafir upon
elephant’s foot and trunk, or lion steaks; while the Pacific Islander
places cold missionary above every other edible. Why then should we
be surprised at men’s feeding upon rattle-snakes and monkeys, and
pronouncing them capital eating?
I do not know if any of the delicacies I have described may occasion
what Charles Lamb calls ‘premonitory moistening of the nether lip,’
but I trust I may not have spoiled the reader’s appetite for dinner or
supper. There is a saying of great truth, ‘that one half the world does
not know how the other half lives.’ These pages will, I think, serve to
verify the adage.
THE END.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY G. PHIPPS, RANELAGH STREET, EATON SQUARE.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: Stevenson’s _Twenty Years’ Residence in South America_.]
[Footnote 2: Hooper’s _Medical Dictionary_.]
[Footnote 3: Kohl’s _Russia_, and McGregor’s _Continental Tariffs_.]
[Footnote 4: Johnston’s _Travels in Southern Abyssinia_, vol. 2, p.
226.]
[Footnote 5: McMicking’s _Manila and the Philippines_.]
[Footnote 6: Ruschenberger’s _Voyage Round the World_, vol. 2. p. 337.]
[Footnote 7: A Paper on Swine, read before the Worcester
(Massachusetts) Agricultural Society.]
[Footnote 8: Putnam’s _Monthly Magazine_.]
[Footnote 9: _Lettres sur les Substances Alimentaires, et
particulièrement sur la Viande de Cheval._ Par M. Isidore Geoffroy St.
Hilaire. Paris, 1856.]
[Footnote 10: _Germantown Emporium._]
[Footnote 11: _Journal of the Society of Arts_, vol. 2., p. 105.]
[Footnote 12: Berncastle’s _Voyage to China_.]
[Footnote 13: Bonnycastle’s _South America_.]
[Footnote 14: Strong vinegar, veignia, or possibly catsup.]
[Footnote 15: Query.--The dusky petrel.]
[Footnote 16: _Nautical Magazine_, vol. 15, p. 5.]
[Footnote 17: Part II. _Buff. Hist._ ch. 1. sec. 5.]
[Footnote 18: Dr. Truman _On Food and its Influence, &c._]
[Footnote 19: MacMicking’s _Manila, &c._]
[Footnote 20: _History of the Fishmongers’ Company._]
[Footnote 21: Dr. Truman _On Food and its Influence_.]
[Footnote 22: Symonds’s _Observations on the Fisheries of the West
Coast of Ireland_.]
[Footnote 23: _The Fish Fancier’s Own Book._]
[Footnote 24: McCulloch’s _Statistics of the British Empire_.]
[Footnote 25: Kane, in _Canadian Journal_, March 14th, 1858.]
[Footnote 26: _Natural History of Fishes_, by Dr. Bushnan.]
[Footnote 27: Schomburgk’s _History of Barbados_.]
[Footnote 28: Miss Bunbury’s _Summer in Northern Europe_.]
[Footnote 29: Wallace’s _Travels on the Amazon_.]
[Footnote 30: _Natural History of Insects._]
[Footnote 31: Wallace’s _Travels on the Rio Negro_.]
[Footnote 32: _Journal de Pharmacie._]
[Footnote 33: _Annals of Natural History._]
[Footnote 34: Kirby and Spence.]
[Footnote 35: Symond’s _Observations on the Fisheries of the West Coast
of Ireland_.]
[Footnote 36: Molina’s _Natural History of Chile_.]
[Footnote 37: Adam’s _Natural History_.]
[Footnote 38: W. B. Adams, in _Society of Arts’ Journal_.]
Transcriber's Notes:
Italics are shown thus: _sloping_.
Variations in spelling and hyphenation are retained.
Perceived typographical errors have been changed.
In the contents, Live Crablets eaten by the Chinese,
corrected from 129 to 329.
*** End of this Doctrine Publishing Corporation Digital Book "The curiosities of food : The dainties and delicacies of different nations obtained from the animal kingdom" ***