The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1888-03-30

While you sleepily break your fast,
your bath is prepared. Tor here the
lassitude of the tropics is always
thrown off by cold plunge in the
early morning. In most houses there
is large stone bath. with step
leading up to it, whittier the mascu-
lines betake themselves, the ladies
being content with bath in their
bedrooms. After dressing, one gets
through ina general way with the
work Of the day, whilst it is still cool.
and il desiring horseback exercise,
for one rarely walks here, ride is
taken in the carly morning. The
children are sent out on the harbe-
cues to play and with their holland
..pInafores" and white ''puggarles"
Ia null veil around the hat) look for
eign, but fresh, rosy and clean.
The amount of the first meal is
reeu ated by the amount of exercise
one purposes taking before the reg
ular breakfast. Ifyeu are going for
walk or ride the toast is supple
mented by cold meats, and it is then
called .'meat coffee" Nor is cof-
tee the sole beverage. for if you pre-
Ter it, you are served with tea OF
chocolate. or even BASIS pale ale''
or glass OF beer, stout or porter for
the gentlemen. Coffee being one oil
the staple products OF the island
however, every one drinks it as a
matter of course.
This is the time selected by the
gentlemen to see to the affairs OF the
estate. and they, l am sorry to say,
are not SO inviting in their appear
ance as have described the 'picka.
nlnnies,' to use Jamaica word
They are, on the contrary, very care
less in their dress at this juncture.
for though, when the second break
fast bell summons all from their var
ious vocations at 1 a. m, they ap-
pear fresh from bath arrayed in
snowy duck suits. down to theil
spotless ...pipe cIayed' canvas shoes
ye; loose suit OF ...pajamas' made
of some striped material or OF the
cheek ed madras handkerchiefs used
out there, constitutes Their morning
garb.
They are supposed to be inv isible
in this array, but with their bare feet
in bath slippers, their heads sur
mounted by a light Panama hat or a
canvas sun helmet they wander al
iab,tum over the place, or stroll down
to the seashore for dip in the
''briny.'
At "sccond break fast no coffee OF
tea appears, the meal being more
Hike lunch in, our own country. A
curry" of some kind is an invarabie
d .sh at this meal. sometimes sec0rd-
ed by "a evil' or "pepperpot." for
all West Indians delig At in hot spices
and condiments to stimulate their
tagging appetites. My poor Amer
lean throat took long to become ac-
customed to this frey diet, and the
tears would come into my eyss as l
tried to swallow the almost molten
fluid of the pepper pot, or burned
my tongue with the ''skeveecned" fish
red with bits of fresh pepper. BY
degrees, however, my stomach be-
came acclimated to the food as my
body was beginning to do to the
heat, mosquitoes and insects. and l
calmly ate TODD that would at home
have made me gasp for water. The
old inhabitants were much amused at
nv horror.str.cken face when they
would spear raw pepper on their
forks "a sauceriul OF those graces
each table,. cut it open and rub the
surface Of their plates with it before
handing them to be helped to bitot
roast kid or turtle steak. Piles OF
fruit adOrn the breakfast table, and
in place Of bread, which one rarely
sees more than once a day comes
''bread KIND" 10y which name the
may substitutes for it are called.
Wheat:s not grown at all and flour
is dear and scarce. it all being i'm
ported and SUBJECT to rayages oil
mould and insects, both in the transit
and after its arrival. First and fore
most in the list of substitutes comes
the "breadfruit," fruit resembling
a large oval Usage orange. This is
roasted and eaten with butter and
resembles loaf Of clamy, sticky
bread. with a milk flavor of its own.
Then comes the yam, green plantins
roasted whole, something like roasted
chestnuts in taste; sweet cassava
roots and "baunnee favorite
PREPARATION resembling bread, pre-
pared from the grated cassava or
'manioc" root and baked on hot
metal plates. Next. cassava cakes,
a thin crisp cake, made of the same
root and much like the Scotch "oat
meal cakes Pickles, of young
bamboo joints. bits of calabash. cab
baee palm &c, form an adjunct to
the meal, and for vegetables dish
of fried bananas or stewed "achies'
water or beer form the drink