The Portland daily press., 1900-09-21
NEGRO DIET.
Studies in the Dismal swamp Region.

The dietary studies were carried on in
the region bordering in the Great Dismal
Swamp. The land in the Vicinity was
low and swampy, and malaria was ex-
ceedingly prevalent. The houses were
small and constructed In very rude and
primitive manner They were, as rule,
board cabins. Few families had lamps
or candles. The cabins were not lighted
in the evenings except by the open fire
places The negroes in this Vicinity
obtain their living almost entirely from
the soil. AS a rule each family rents a
small tract Of land, quite generally Of
the size called a One-mule farm, paying a
part, sometimes SIS much as one-halr of
their product as rent. On the remainer OF
thu produce, together with the income
from what odd jobs can be obtained,
the family must be supported, The
farms are frequently so-caIled ''dad-t trees
farms that is, they are cleared by kill
ing the trees by girdling and removing
the underbrush. rhe trees are not felled,
and the soil is titled among the dead trees.
All adults, both men.and women, work
on the farm Payment for labor Is usual
~ made in "ratlons" OF food materials.
The staple CROPS are sweet corn, cotton
and peanuts The crops obtained are
usually small, Formerly tobacco was
raised in this section, but the land has
become so impOvished that tobacco Is not
successfully grown.
Nearly all the families had very little
means. Notwithstanding the fact chat
food was In many cases scarce, most Of
the families keep q mum ber of cats and
dogs, AS among the negroes OF Alabama
hog and hominy form the larger part of
the diet Side bacon is the principal meat
ana with some fish and a lutte milk,
forms the major portion of the animal
food. Large quantities of fish are OBJ
tained from the waters of the neighboring
Chesapeake Bay, and forms an important
source OF food. Frogs, turtles and even
snakes were not unfrequently eaten by
some of the families at certain seasons Of
the year UnbOlted corn meal, costing
about q cent a pound and containing a
very large amount of bran, furnishes a
/ large proportion of the nutriment of the
diet. The coarse bran IS removed by
Sitting, but the meal actually used con-
tains very large proportion. The bread
is made simply of meal wet up, without
salt or lsavening material, and baked
as rule, in the ashes, Ebeing commonly
| called lash cake.
/ DIR. Frissell then proceeds to give tabu-
lated returns of the food used at certain
negro homes during The period or his In
vestigatiOn. Each home was studied fOI
a period ranging from eight days tC
thirty days. 1t was in the first home
/ studied that most remarkable diet was
/ discovered, consisting, OF frogs and snakes
This was the drst time snakes were found
as food, but in other homes in the same
region, similar diets were found. The
family used little or no beef mutton OF
other lean meats, as they believed thai
these MADE them i'll, They liked Ia
meats, like pork, oppossum, raccoonl
and other game, snsh, frogs, turtle anC
even snakes in certain seasons. furnished
part Of the diet. The large, harmless
black snakes, found in the swamps, Wer'
the principal snakes used. These were
killed or caught alive, skinned and eth
| er made into a kind Of soup or broth
or else cleaned and frie1. No evil results
| of eating snakes were observed, anc
the negroes seemed surprised that an
should be anticipated. They had beer
eating black snakes for years and appar
emily considered them very fine.