The Press., 1890-02-27

ings, with the drift ny1ng over the deck and everything wet and clammy with the water surcharged air of the sea, your breakfast will be hours late through ina- bility to kindle fire, whereat the cook catches it from that potentate of the sea, ''the old man," and all the mates raise their voices and cry with empty stom- achs, "Let him be accursed."
 One great trial with me lay in the diff ficulty of distinguishing fresh water from salt-I mean by the eye. We sea cooks use salt water to boil beef and po- tatoes in; or rather to boil beef and pork and steam the potatoes. So usually had pail of salt water and one of fresh standing by the galley door. Sometimes these got mixed up. I always found this out after making salt water coffee, but then it was too late. They were particular, especially in the cabin, and did not like salt water coffee. On any strictly disciplined vessel the cook, for such an offense, would have been com pelled to drink a quart or so of his own coffee, but some merciful cherub aloft always interfered and got me out of bad scrapes. Another annoyance was the loss of spoons and forks thrown accidentally overheard as I flung away my soup and grease clouded dishwater. It was in- deed bitter when, as occupied in these daily washings, I allowed my mind to drift to other and brighter scenes, to see the glitter of a spoon or fork in the air or sinking in the deep blue sea, ,and then to reflect that already there were not enough spoons to go around, or forks either. Our storeroom was the cabin. Among other articles there was keg of molasses. One evening after draining quantity neglected to close the faucet tightly. Molasses, therefore, oozed over the cabin floor all night. The cabin was freshet of molasses. Very early in the morning the captain, getting out of his bunk, jumped both stockinged feet into the saccharine deluge. Some men will swear as vigorously in foot-bath of mo- lasses as they would in one of coal-tar. He did. It was very black day for me, and life generally seemed joyless and uD- inviting; but cooked on.
 The Henry was full of mice. These little creatures would obtrude themselves in my dough wet up for fresh bread over night, become bemired and die therein. Once mouse thus dead was uncon- sciously rolled up in biscuit, baked with it, and served smoking hot for the morn ing's meal aft. It was, as it were, an in- voluntary meat pie. Of course the cabin grumbled; but they would grumble at anything. They were as particular about their food as an habitue of Delmonico's. I wish now at times had saved that bis- cult to add to my collection of odds and endibles. Still even the biscuit proved but an episode in my career. I cooked on, and those served stood aghast, not knowing what would come next.
 After five months of self training l graduated on pies. I studied and wrought out the making of pies unas- sisted and untaught. Mine were sea mince pies; material, salt beef soaked to freshness and boiled tender, dried apples and molasses. The cabin pronounced them good. This was one of the few feathers in my culinary cap. Of course, their goodness was relative. On shore such pie would be scorned. But on a long sea voyage almost any combination of flour, dried fruit and sugar will pass Indeed, the appetite, rendered more viz orous and perhaps appreciative by long deprivation from luxuries, will take not kindly to dried apples alone. The changes in the weekly bill of fare at sea run something thus: Sundays and Thursdays are duff days;" Tuesday, bean day; Friday, codfsh and potato day; some vessels have one or two spe- cial days for pork; salt beef, hardtack, tea and coffee are fluids and solids to fall back on every day. dreaded the mak- ing of duffs, or four buildings, to the end of the voyage. Rarely did I attain success with them.
 A duff is a quantity of flour and yeast, or yeast powder, mixed, tied up in bag and boiled until it is light. Plum duff argues the insertion of a quantity of rais- ins. Plain duff is duff without raisins. But the proper cooking of duff is rather a delicate matter. If it boils too long the flour settles into hard, putty like mass, whereunto there is neither sponginess, ightness, nor that porous ness which delights the heart of a cook when he takes his duff from the seething caldron. If the duff does not boil long enough, the interior is still a paste. If duff stops boiling for ever so few min- utes, great damage results. And some times duff wont do properly, anyway. Mine were generally of the hardened species, and the plums evinced a ten dency to hold mass meetings at the bot tom. Twice the hands forward rebelled at my duffs, and their committee on culinary grievances bore them aft to the door of the cabin and deposited them there unbroken and uneaten for the 'Old Mans" inspection. Which public dem | onstration I witnessed from my galley door, and when the duff deputation had retired, I emerged, and swiftly and silent | ly bore that duff away before the Old | Man had finished his dinner below. It is hard ordeal thus to feel ones self the subject of such an outbreak of popular indignation. But my sympathies now are all with the sailors. A spoiled duff is great misfortune in the forecastle of whaler, where neither pie nor cake nor any other delicacy, save boiled flour and Inolasses sauce, come from months end to months end.
 | PRENTICE MULFORD. | T..