Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1875-05-06
What Some Peopls Eat.

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gave grand dinner at which choice cut
tings from favorite horse were served
up as the leading delicacy of his table.
The horse was eighteen years old, and
had been ridden on many a splendid
hunt; but those facts, of course, only
tended TO enhance the luxury. In GER
tain parts of Africa, in Trinidad, Ceylon.
Bornto and South America, boiled and
roasted monkey is considered delicacy
the red spider, fox and bowling
monkeys each possessing peculiar
flavor. Indeed, a gorilla steak to the
South African is morsel not to be ex-
celled; but, as this custom is too nearly
allied to cannibalism, Anglo-Saxon
travellers have seldom been tempted to
participate.
In the islands of Mauritius and Mala-
bar several varieties of the bat, some of
them with wings four feet in extent, are
eaten by the natives with avidity, but
the story that the Dutch, when in pos
session of the former island, were fond
of the monkey, is SAID to be incorrect
The Arabs do not object to the flesh
of the hyena, although SO rank that the
dogs will not touch it; and it is well
known that the pole-cat is eaten by the
aborigines of North America; while the
opossum is appreciated even by the better
class of the Southern States.
In Italy the fox is considered fit for the
table of Cardinal, and, while ravenous
Esquimsux dogs will not touch this ami
NAL after killing it, the Indians them
selves consider it excellent food The
natives of the Malay Peninsula eat the
flesh OF the tiger, which is thought to in
spire courage, and the Hottentots and
other African races are wont to feed up
on the lion; while the American Indians
have no scruples in regard to the Wolf,
the panther, the cougar or the lynx.
Many varieties of people esteem the flesh
of the dog; the ancient Greeks and
Romans thought it light and wholesome,
and the common people of modern Rome
depend upon it to considerable extent;
in China they are fattened for the table;
in Zanzibar stew of puppies is luxury
even with the King, and in the Sandwich
Islands pet puppy is often placed be-
fore a hungry guest, and roasted dog is
common among the natives of Africa and
the Indians of North America
In Australia, where alone the kanga-
roo is found, it is considered delicacy,
and its liver, when dried and then pound
ed, is used as substitute for bread, and
it is remarkable fact that the aborigines
OF that country always eat their food
roasted, being without the utensils for
heating water or cooking liquid food.
These people also enjoy frogs, snails,
moths and grubs, but abhor oysters.
Among the Esquimaux roasted mice
are considered delectable, while the wal
rus, the porpoise and the whale are
among the necessaries of life.
In some parts of the West India Isl
ands, and in Brazil, fried rats are con-
sidered superior 20 frogs, and among the
Chinese rat soup is only equaled by q
soup of caterpillars boiled in a thin
gravy with onions.
In various parts OF South America the
ant-eater and armadillo, the latter roast
ed in its shell, are constantly eaten, and
are said to resemble roasted pig.
In Africa and in India the flesh of
the elephant is generally eaten, and
the paws considered an African luxury.
In Abyssinia the descendants of Ras-
selas doat on hippopotamus or rhinoc-
eros steak
The nomad tribes of Nc rthern Asia
and the aborigines of America are ia
nous for their horse-fesh feasts; horse
steaks have long been authorized and
sold in Copenhagen, and one of the latest
gastronomic innovations in France and
Germany is the use of horse-fiesh
The Persians and Tartars hold the
flesh of the common wild ass in high
esteem, and wherever the camel and
giraffe are found they are frequently
eaten, the tongue of the former and the
marrow of the latter being considered
delicacies.
The pathological tastes of the human
race are more appropriately and gen.
orally diffused than is the case with the
mammals; and with the exception OF
few such birds as the crow and the buzz
card, both of which are sometimes
eaten, all the feathered tribes seem to
have been employed as feed when
necessity or luxury demanded their
death. The only really curious fact con-
nected with bird food is that which ex-
lists among the Chinese, where the nests
of species of swallow, formed of mu-
cilaginous substance, is considered
luxury, the constituent qualities OF
which have never been ascertained by
analysis.
But in regard to the reptile race, the
barbarous epicures of the world practice
some singular habits. The true lizard,
called the iguana, is considered in most
tropical countries as but little inferior to
the common fowl in flavor; the alligator
and crocodile, in all the countries
where they are found, are considered
fit for food, and are said to resemble
veal, both in appearance and taste;
some of the tribes of Southern Guinea
eat the boa constructor; in Ceylon the
flesh OF the anaconda is esteemed as food
by the natives, and in various parts OF
America the rattlesnake is pronounced
capital food, and in France, as is well
known, frogs are deemed luxury.
What has been said in regard to birds
is quite as applicable TO the fishes OF the
rivers and the sea, and there is nothing
very curious or alarming in employing
any of them for food, not even excepting
the varieties of shell-fish. That some
few of them are poisonous cannot be
doubted, but these are such awiuily
queer-looking creatures, are known by
such outlandish names, and so rare, that
they may be permitted to pass on their
way rejoicing. In the Shetland Islands
Holsters and crabs abound, which the
people catch for the London market, Dut
refuse to eat even when half-starved.
Ill.