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127 were salted, free of bone, and cut in small slices, with a mixture of some coarse sugar, this kept much better than in the usual way, and took up much less I made the following use of it: I caused it to be freshened with salt water let in upon it, in a tub never larger than the half of a hogshead, or gang cafk, and often much smaller, which was perforated by many holes at the bottom; this being done for six or eight hours, I gave it, after draining, a rince with a small quantity of fresh water, perhaps half a pint of water to a pint of meat; as I must now talk of meat not by the piece or weight, but by measure. Being thus rinced, the fresh water, now become salt, was let run off; then a certain quantity of India butter called gee, (good oil would do as well) was put into the copper or iron pot, and just let come to boil, which it presently does. Then the drained meat was thrown upon the boiling gee, which being stirred a few minutes, the roots and vegetables, whatever kind was on board, were thrown in with a very little fresh water, and the whole so stopt by a well fitting cover, that the contents were rather digested, as cooks say, than stewed, consequently sooner done; by this means saving fuel. The lascars would never touch any thing but what their own cook (banderey) drefsed, and they sometimes mixed fish and flesh, making a savoury dish, of which the Europeans had no objection to partake; the vegetables were yams or potatoes; either the European or the sweet, called the Spanish onions, raw or preserved in vinegar, made of toddy drawn from the cocoa nut tree; cabbage sprouts dried in the sun, and so preserved; pumkins, which keep long being hung in the air;

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mangoes, cut green from the stone and dried in the sun, (plumbs and apples would correspond ;) a little tamarind, and that great antiscorbutic, salted limes, lemons or oranges; of which (the lime particularly) the lascars carry always a stock to sea; a few ounces of cayan pepper, (capsicum would correspond ;) and last of all, an emulsion, made by pouring hot water over a ripe cocoa nut rasped down; this emulsion, though grateful to the taste, is bad for the stomach raw, but when boiled, a little is exceeding well flavoured, and antiscorbutic; the rasped cocoa nut, well squeezed, is generally thrown to the fowls. A stew made in the above manner, varying the ingredients, was served twice a-day, and was exceeding good, never too salt; for I apprehend, the roots and vegetables, in digesting, farther extracted the salt from the meat, and the whole expence for the Europeans, was much lefs than when I bought European provisions, and they were better pleased. The stew was served with a ladle, and ate with rice, calling it curry.

A sailor on board of a man of war has on meat days, a piece of salt beef or pork, boiled for dinner; pofsibly it is all ate up at one meal; if any remains for next day's breakfast, how uncomfortable is the cold scrap Breakfast in all countries, but especially in hot countries, ought to be a very comfortable meal. For the many years I have sailed in India, I never let any body go on duty, if there was the least chance of their being from the fhip after eight o'clock, but they breakfasted first; and the cooks were often up by day-light to drefs a hot breakfast for such as went early on fhore: If exposed to the

229 sun for any time without breakfast, they returned on board often sick at the stomach; but otherwise would bear being in the sun a whole day, without complaint; they sometimes carried pots in the boat with them, and cooked afhore.

I have supposed this mode of victualling for warm countries, but I see no reason why it may not be adopted at home in a great measure.

I have said the meat, cut from the bone in small pieces, was preserved with some sugar mixed with salt; but as in freshening it the sugar was carried off with the salt, I be-grudged losing what was very wholesome,-I soon changed my method.

Long before I went to India, which was in 1751, the Portugueze used to preserve fish, cut in small pieces, with salt and sugared tamarind; and I frequently carried to sea with me (cured by the Portugueze of Calcutta, who make a trade of it) a tolerable provision for my own table; they called it pesche molia. I ne→ ver found the fish thus preserved a bit too salt. It required only to be fried in the tamarind, &c. which covered it, adding a little butter.

But sugar and tamarinds are very cheap in Bengal, and latterly, I took the hint, and preserved meat with one part salt, the other sugared tamarind, throwing away the stones and strings of the tamarind, and adding a small proportion of cayan; and was obliged to freshen the slices of meat, when a good deal of vegetable was stewed with it. If this is tried at home, let not the difficulty of getting tamarind be an objection, sugar and salt will do ; and I apprehend more than half of the former, at

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least, it is worth trial. The more sugar is used the lefs is the need of freshening. Here I cannot help remarking, how easily, even without culture, tamarind, cocoa nuts, limes and oranges, cayan pepper, &c. would grow in the Bahama islands. The cocoa nut tree delights in a sandy soil near the sea. The nut must be gathered ripe, and by all means kept in the hufk; a great manufacture of oil might be made from them by boiling the bruised nut, to supply the West India islands; and vinegar may be made of its toddy. As the nut, when ripe, will keep many months, I see no reason why they might not be used at home, if what I am going to say is put in practice.

Let the beef killed for the navy be cut in small slices from the bone, and preserved with one half salt, and one half sugar. Let the hogs be skinned, and preserved in the same manner, cutting out, in both beef and pork, the inside parts of the sirloins, which ought to be preserved or cured by itself. The fkin of the hogs will make stout leather, the bones may certainly be put to some use, the juices of which, when barrelled up, not coming into contact with the salt, incline the whole to putrifaction; and their room saved in stowage is about one fourth part.

I fhall suppose there is an iron pot for one hundred men, in which I propose to drefs them two meals aday, the first to be ready at eight or nine o'clock in the morning, the second as fhall be found convenient, and both to be drefsed in the following manner:

For one meal for 100 men, let fifty ounces of butter or oil, be put into the heated iron pot, this will immediately boil; to this add 200 ounces of pork, and 300 ounces of beef, the pork first, (this makes teu

ounces per day of meat for each man, and one ounce of butter, divided into two meals) which pork must be stirred about for a few seconds before the beef is thrown in. Whatever may be spared of the pickle is to be thrown in also. Let this stew for a fhort time: Then having stirred it well, put in the sour crout, roots and vegetables, and close it well up to digest. It will be soon ready; and if, just before it is ready, there be added a quarter or one-eighth of a cocoa nut for each man, or twenty cocoa nuts for one hundred men, rasped down, and an emulsion made from it, and to the whole add a handful of dried capsicums, a sort of cayan, very common in England, the mess to be served out with a laddle, will be both savoury and wholesome. I need not say if flour be added, so much the better, or raisins, prunes, or figs, but especially salted limes, lemons or oranges, and some of the vinegar thrown in, that has preserved onions or whatever else.

I do not apprehend, when there is a good stock of sour crout, roots, &c. that the curry will be too salt, If it is, in curing diminish the salt, and increase the sugar, perhaps add vinegar; I am persuaded pork, having much fat, wants but little salt. My having always, i. e. within these eight years, used half salt, half sugared tamarind, which answered very well, makes me uncertain of the effect of half salt and half sugar precisely.

The Malays often put into the wet ground, tied up in a cloth, a kind of bean, until it vegetates. This they put into their curries. Why they on shore should do so I cannot tell; but taking the idea from them

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