Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1871-05-26

The Malabar coolies arc very fond Of the
"coilco rats" which they fry in oil or con-
vert into curry. The pig rat is in similar
favor. 1t attains weight of two or three
pounds, and grows 10 nearly the length Of
two feet. Rat pies are eaten in various
parts of England; rat suppers used TO be
given periodically at an inn near Noting
ham. The porcupine is esteemed a delica-
cy in Ceylon, and In flavor much resem-
blcs young pig. In Siam the flesh of the
crocodile is exposed for sale in their mar
kets. Alligators are sometimes eaten by |
the natives of South America, Africa and |
South Australia. The taste of musk Is,
however, so strong that few strangers can
eat them without being sick afterwards.
Partially for raw food seems seems to
prevail in many countries. Raw fish,
thinly sliced, formed one of the delicacies
placed before Lord Elgin at a Chinese ban
quot. Baldwin tells us that the Kaflirs eat
alternately lump of roasted bulls flcsh
and an equal quantity of the inside raw. A
species of salmon unknown in Europe,
called in Siberia the nelma, is esteemed by
the Russians more delicious in its raw
provoke an appetite. Ernan, in his "Trav-
els in Siberia" says that during intense
frost, raw flesh loses its rcpulsivc qualities.
Wrangell adds his testimony to the SUI
pcror flavor Of raw frozen fish, seasoned
with salt and pepper. Captain Hall says;
| My opinion is that the EsquimauX prac-
| ticc of eating their food raw is a good ono
at least for the better preservation of their
| health. Eating meats raw or cooked is
! quite a matter of education.
The natives of the Sandwich Islands cat
turtles, dolphins, flying fishes, ETC., raw,
considering that the flavor is lost in cook
ing, and the richest possible treat they can
enjoy is to haul fish from the water and
literally eat it to death.
Sir Francis Drake says of the Patagon-
ians, that they feed on seals and other flesh,
| which they eat nearly raw. Davis, ir his
second voyage TO Greenland, in 1889, de-
scrbos the natives as eating all their meat
raw, drinking salt water, and eating grass
and ice with great delight Captain Hall
| in his recent Life among the Esquimaux,"
found the natives max ing meal of smok-
/ ing hot seal blood, and on tasting ii found
| it excellent, much TO his surprise.
Locusts have been eaten from remote an
tiquity; the Arabs mix them with dough,
and make excellent cakes of them. The
1Iottentots get fat upon them, and prepare
from their eggs a brown or coffee colored
soup. In the Mahratta country they are
sailed, and in Barbary they are preferred
by the Moors to pigeons. The latter usual
! 1x. 1,pn lao, IN, ba1 10,
throwing away the head, and wings, and
legs; sprinkling them with salt and pep
per, and frying them adding little vine
gar. At Natal the locusts are collected in
the evening in sacks by millions, and af-
forwards steamed in close vessels over a
fire, then dried in the sunshine, and after
being freed from their wings and legs by a
kind of winnowing, are stored in bask cts
in the granaries like corn. The dried To-
Gust is ground to powder between stones,
converted into kind of porridge with wa
ter. 1t appears that the Kafiirs grow quite
fat in the locust season. DIR. Livingstone
tells us, in his South African travels, that
for want of other food, he was compelled to
eat locusts and, strange to say, when roast
ed, he preferred them to shrimps
Some entOmologst tells us that caterpil-
lars have taste ofalmonds, and spiders OF
nuts. However this may be as regards the
former, we are told by Spedman that large
quantities of spiders, nearly an inch long
were eaten by the Kaffirs, and in the
French colony of new Caledonia. In Eu-
rope there are instances of spiders exciting
r n kind of gourmand taste. Reaumur gives
an instance Of a young lady who never
saw spider without catching it and eating
it, a clever woman-Auna Maria Schur-
man-used to cat spiders like nuts, rs re-
, CARDS the cracking process, and excused
her propensity by saying that she was borr
under the sign Scorpio. Lalande, the ia
nous astronomer, was particularly fond o
spider food and German is mentioned
( by Rozcl, who used to spread spiders upoi
bread and butter, observing, in hi imper
: feet knowledge of English, ''that he fount
them very useful"
: Humboldt tells us that he has seen In
h dian children drag out of the earth cent?
= pedes eighteen inches long, and half NJ
inch broad, which they ate with eagernesS
=. Insects eggs are eaten by the Arabs an
!, MeXicans grubs of insects in the YVES
Indies by both white and black men, VIII
wash and roast them. The Mexica
Indians prepare liquor from the bectl,
which has stimulating properties.
The Greeks ate grasshoppers, and like
If them amazingly; the aborigines of Ne'
y South Wales used to eat them raw, firs
e taking Off their wings. The Chinese thrift
y lily eat the chrysalis of the silk worm afto
/ making use Of the silk the Larvae of
d hawk moth are also much relished. I'll
l., blacks in Jamaica eat the Bagong butte
n flies after removing the wings, and stoi
l. them up by pounding and smoking then
l. The lIottontots eat the termites, or whit
s. ants, boiled and raw, and thrive well upo
II thcm-t the female ant in particular is SUI
1t posed by the lIindoos to be particular
4. nutritious and Broughton in his Letter
s. written in a Mahratta Camp in 1907" tel
,e us that they We're carefully sought afte
re and preserved for the use of the debilita
p ed Lurice Rao, Prime Minister of Scandi
m chief of the Mahrattas. The natives mi
N them with flour, and make variety
As pastry; the method is to parch them
ne pots over a gentle fire, stirring them abol
is as is done in roasting coffee. They G
ie them by handfuls, as we do comfits Il
ID taste is said to resemble sugared cream
Il sweet almond paste. 81 have discourse
es with several gentlemen" observes Smeat
to man, "upon the taste of the white ant
IN and on comparing notes we have alwa,
G. agreed that they are the most delicious al
ne delicate eating" DIR. Livingstone say
n "thc white ants, when roasted, are said
he be good, and somewhat resemble grains
lis boiled rice"
or Humboldt mentions ants as beii
no eaten by the Marvitunos and Marguers
ares, with resin as Il sauce. Bees are eat