LEAVES FROM A LOG. 33 



good eating on which topic he was so fluent, that one would suppose 

 him to be a mere glutton ; while, on the contrary, few men ate less 

 than he did. 



How long Doctor Whirlwhim might have continued on this in- 

 teresting subject I know not, for he had deeply studied it, possessed 

 great fluency and a good memory; it was a theme on which he 

 appeared both able and willing to descant, but his learned remarks 

 were cut short by receiving a note from Proser, informing him that 

 one of his negroes was sick. 



" Excuse me," said he, " I must step over to my neighbour to visit 

 his man, but will be back in a few minutes ; in the mean time amuse 

 yourself, as well as you can, with my library;" he placed in his 

 pocket a small case of instruments and left me. I went into his 

 study, the first book that caught my eye was Dr. Kitchener's Treatise 

 on the culinary art an excellent name, by the by, for the author of 

 such a production, Meg Dodd's Cookery ; but I will spare the 

 reader the catalogue ; let it suffice to remark that he had more than 

 two hundred volumes, in different languages on the art of cooking. 

 On his table lay two MSS. ; the first was a transcript of Horace's 

 second satire of his second book, with Latin notes by himself; the 

 second was an Essay on Chymistry, Botany, Comparative Anatomy, 

 Hygrology, Osteology, Myology, Angiology, Newrology, Ornitho- 

 logy, Ichthyology, Zoology, Conchology, and twenty more ologies, 

 whose names I cannot think of, shewing their connexion with the 

 Gastronomic Science, by Nicholas Whirlwhim, M.D. I looked 

 into this treatise ; it commenced thus : " It is a well known fact, that 

 cooking has been practised by all the civilized nations for nearly 

 six hundred years;" (pretty well known that) "yet, nothstanding, it 

 is easy to prove that we are as yet but in the elements of this useful 

 science." I could read no more, and began to conjecture what it was 

 that the Doctor intended to give me for dinner ; he was always trying 

 experiments ; he one day gave me alligator's eggs for breakfast, and 

 not knowing what they were, I ate, and thought them delicious. I 

 looked out of the window and saw the cook leave the kitchen (a 

 small out-house) and go into the garden ; I thought this a good 

 opportunity to satisfy my curiosity, and went into the kitchen, when 

 ah ! I saw on the dresser, skinned and ready to be cut out into a 

 fricassee, an Aloato Monkey ! there he lay, looking so disgustingly 

 like a dead child, that I recoiled with a shudder. 



" And this," said I, " is to compose the dish which, he truly says, ; 

 I never before partook of no ; nor ever will." Saying this, I re- 

 turned to the library, wrote the best excuse my awkward situation 

 would admit of; saddled Bolivar, who had well regaled himself; re- 

 mounted, and again faced the road. 



I had yet ten miles of my journey to perform, although I had 

 ridden a long way and was yet fasting. 



The first half mile of my way laid through a vestige of the original 

 forest, that but a few years since covered the country for miles round ; 

 the scene was gloomy as my reflections. " To think," said I to myself, 

 " of dining off a monkey !" 



M. M. No. 103. F 



