The New Orleans Democrat., 1876-05-21
NOTES On TEXAS.
Psaiee. Dsgs, Game-A Mexican Eatins
House.
From the Courier Journal.


Texas ID emphaticaIly the land o
both than / have eyer seen anywhere
else. The former are small, ragged o.
variegated color, and vicious. They are
inexpensive, selling. according to size
and quality, at from four to ten, and
even twenty five dollars. The doves
abound. They build their nests in the
prairies where trees are sGarce), on the
ground, and between the rails Of the
fences. I saw four nests in one fence
corner, and more than twenty in one
small post oak. Numerous partridges,
especially In the mesquite country.
This favorite little bird is said to be
found by the hundreds OF thousands In
the country between San Antonio and
the Rio QrAnde-a flock. a friend told
me, under every mesquite bush, and
the bushes close together / saw few
ehaparral cocks. splendid looking fell
lows, the color Of q prairie chicken,
somewhat larger, and with long tail
He is almost as feet Of foot sas an
setrich, flies reluctantly, and but for
short distances. His safety against his
enemies lies in the density of the cover
epen ground. His wings don't appear
to be of any special Hse to him, further
than to enable him to mount the brush.
which be leaves behind him with aston
shing 0elerity. The hooking bird is
abundant, ~ Ii also q bird called here
the bird Of paradise, q beautiful little
fellow with an extravagantly long tail,
which really seems TO impede his flight.
Add about six inches Of tail feathers to
. small mocking bird, and give him a
dull white breast, and you have this
chap.
Blackbirds by the thousands at times
aarkened the air, and crowded the heels
ef the plOughman, while the upland
plover was to be seen in all the newly
ploughcd land and throughout the
prairies. No one who has not eaten
this delicious bird ut this season in
Texas can have any idea OF what a deli
cacy il is. He is hunted in buggies or
open wagons, it being impossible to get
sufficiently near him either on foot or
on horseback
A word OF San Antonio. Itook supper
ate enchil@do, f did yo"S f' I hone Uu .enen vou
never will. You never ate tdmallis, did
your Well, don't. An enchiladd looks
not unlike, an ordinary flannel cake
rolled on itself and covered with mo-
lasses. The ingredients which 20 to
make It up are pepper, lye hominy, pep
per, onions chopped fine, pepper, grated |
cheese, and pepper. The hominy is |
arst beaten into paste or dough. and |
this is dattened to about the thickness
ef an ordinary batter cake, and then
turned several times upon itself, the
pepper. onions, pepper, cheese, and
pepper being placed between the folds,
Of pepper. ID point Of looks, the emchi.
I1da is, as have lntimated, not unin-
viting In pOine OF taste, 1t is a cross be-
tween bicarbonate Of soda and capsicum,
The tamalks, when placed on the
table, presented the appearance of q lot OF
huge shuck cigarettes which had been
soaked in water. They were composed
OF the same lye-hominy paste, shaped
into cylinders q little larger than and
about as long as your finger, containing
some kind OF forced meat. Each cylin-
der is wrapped and then boiled in corn
shuck and served in this envelope. A
clared he was not particularly fond of
The dish, though he often ate it, soon
had pile OF wet shusks by his plate six
inches high. think he ate dozen OF
he things. was satisfied with small
part OF one. The tdmdihs tasted to me
Very much as suppose boiled macca-
.oni, thickened with bread soda, would !
10. My opinion is that no man can eat
'nchilada and tdm0liS long and remain
aonest.
The three staples in Mexican cookery.
ls ! observed 1t, are pepper, corn and
pepper; the corn is sandwiched between y
he pepper. The corn is first husked by t
,eing soaked in lye or lime water, and
hen briskly rubbed and beaten on a
lat stone, q process which produces I
taste or dough, or meal, meaner than '
my lye hominy in Indianapolis.