AT SEA: ON PASSAGE 131 



vided for these three groups. Thus for breakfast the officers 

 had salt beef or salt pork (commonly referred to as "salt 

 horse" or "salt junk"), hard or soft bread, coffee, sugar, but- 

 ter, and sometimes potato hash^ the boatsteerers had the same, 

 but without butter and with molasses substituted for sugar- 

 and the foremast hands were given salt beef or salt pork, 

 hard bread, coffee, and molasses. Molasses was always used 

 by the crew for all sweetening purposes, even in tea and coffee, 

 because it was cheaper than sugar. Dinner, the lightest of the 

 three meals, brought hard bread and salt pork or salt beef to 

 all hands except the officers, who usually added some form of 

 heavy dessert. For supper in the forecastle there was the 

 same "salt horse" or "salt junk," hard tack, and tea or coffee; 

 while in the cabin the salt meat was re-enforced by warm soft 

 bread, butter, sugar, tea, and sometimes pie or hash. The 

 boatsteerers shared the fare of the cabin, but without sugar 

 and butter. 



On many vessels certain standardized menus followed each 

 other in such regular sequence that the various days of the 

 week were synonymous with certain articles of food. On one 

 voyage Monday brought beans j Tuesday, ricej Wednesday, 

 potatoes j Thursday, "duff"j Friday, ricej Saturday, codfish j 

 and Sunday, "duff" again. Another weekly schedule was as 

 follows: Monday and Thursday, pork, beans, and cornj 

 Tuesday and Saturday, codfish and potatoes j Wednesday, 

 mush and beef j Friday, rice and beef j Sunday, beef and 

 "duff." 



"Duff" was a dish widely known at sea. It was made by 

 boiling a quantity of flour, lard, and yeast in equal parts of 

 fresh and salt water until the mixture was quite hard. Some- 

 times salt pork fat, chopped fine, was added. A crew which 

 did not receive "duff" and molasses at least once each week 

 was deeply aggrieved. Among the few other delicacies in a 

 whaleman's fare were "lobscouse" (made of hard bread and 

 salt meat, well sprinkled with pepper, chopped into pieces and 

 boiled in water) and "sea-pies" or "dough-boys" (a kind of 

 flour dumpling containing the flesh and bones of porpoises). 



At first glance such a drab series of menus does not seem 

 to agree with the long and rather imposing lists of foodstuffs 



