The Sun.
London, England, 1862-04-11 00:00:00

AN EG 1 PTIAN DINNER.

On entering the room where we were to dine, we
were placed on chairs at the cotton-ccvered table,
and at the same time an immense tray was brought
in and laid on it. In the centre was a huge turkey,
dressed plain, though it looked too sodden to be
roasted, and around were arranged little dishes of
pickles, salt, sugar, and other condiments. We had

dates, and were, moreover, favoured with knives
and forks: respecting the necessity of which my
friend had overheard a murmured conversation
while we had been in the bride's room. All the
spoons were of tortoiseshell or ivory, with rather
flat bowls; and we had each a large napkin, worked
at the ends with gold, and a small one more like
an embroidered pocket-handkerchief. There was
also Turkish bread—a sort of flat, soft, tough Toll,
cut into morsels, but not separated. Having taken
our plates before us, a slave grasped the wing-bone
of the turkey, nicked the joint very neatly with a
knife, took a wing, and then with her fingers tear-
ing off long strips of the breast, put them on our
plates. As we held it wise to follow as far as might
be at Rome the customs of the Romans, we ate, and
instantly another dish took the turkey's place, and
then another, and then another, ad infinitum, with
the most extraordinary rapidity. What the dishes
were, or of what they consisted, it was impossible
to say ; and no order was observed as to the succes-
sion of meat and s weet dishes, the one replacing the
other apparently at hazard. A tempting-looking
white dish, we are told, was made of chicen, but
on tasting it, it proved to be sweet and very sickly.
It appeared to be considered a peculiar delicacy,
and was composed of the white meat of chicken cut
up very small, brayed in a mortar, and then mixed
up with a variety of other ingredients, sweetened
and perfumed. One or two dishes were rather
good, but as, from their number and rapid suc-
cession, we could barely taste them (of some, indeed,
we only took morsels on our plates, which we pre-
tended to take for courtesy's sake), we carried
away a highly confused idea of the component
parts of the feast. At last, to our great relief,
dessert, and a huge glass bowl, not unlike a globe
for gold fish but more open at the top, were
brought in, and we were invited to drink. As
neither glass, nor cup, nor any other convenience
for drinking was supplied, we felt puzzled how to
accede to the invitation, until large ivory and tor-
toiseshell spoons or ladles being produced, we were
Instructed to dip these into the bowl. This we did,
and found the drink, which was clear and almost
colourless, a sweet mawkish perfumed compound,
in which were floating small slices of banana, and
little stoneless raisins, cv dried cherries. A very
few sips were enough. We wound up with some
morsels of apple, which the slave who chiefly
served us had peeled and cut into little bits.— I
Dickens's "All the fear _Round!'

THE HEAVY RAIN FALLS.—Yesterday morning
owing to the heavy and continued fall of rain during seve-
ral hours, the various low-lying parts of the metropolis and
suburbs became flooded to such an extent as to cause alarm
and destroy property. In the Whitechapel-road, in many
parts the roadway was completely covered, and opposite the
London Hospital some fire-engines had to be brought into
mkenanhabelaedp
use in order to remove the immense sheet of water, which
was discharged into the sewers.
oils, ockwshfioerh theare
PETROLEMIL—The Mersey Dock Board have
ma a.i::eatthtehreinl3fliar
granted tfhpeeutroseieouf
storage o
now becoming a very large article of import into Liverpool,
The shed will hold 20,000 barrels, , and the rent to, be
charged is sd. per ton per week. About 50 000 b
petroleum have lately been forwarded ' 94.11318
of
Pe to different parts of
the country, through Liverpool, Glasgow,
hands, and without any ac importance. and London
accident of
an-
ticipated that about Iva a n.O . It is
llton's worth of petroleum is
on its way to this country.
A letter-carrier at Vendome has b
to four years' imp iii bees sentenced
r onment for stealing 420 newspapers
and letters,