216 THE REV. J. G. WOOD. 



government very much into their own hands. You don't find them 

 in country towns or villages. They congregate in big cities, like 

 Boston and New York ; and as three Irishmen make more noise 

 than a hundred Yankees, the result may be imagined. 



Then there is something about the American 

 cookery : 



I have had supper at the Club, and had Tarrapin for supper. 

 " Brudder Tarrapin " is very good, but is so rich that a little of 

 him goes a long way. When you eat a bit of him your lips are 

 glued firmly together. The meat is black and the bones are white, 

 and there are too many of them. 



Also I have had " pie." Never again ! The crust is much like 

 the sole of an india-rubber shoe, and what the interior is like I can- 

 not tell. A huge plate full of great slices of pie is put on the table. 

 You look round and there it isn't ! Four days ago I took a very 

 little piece, with barely a mouthful of crust, and am paying for it 

 still. I don't wonder at the number of doctors. This morning I 

 counted twenty-two doctors' plates on one side of one small block, 

 most of which was taken up by the great Hotel Berkeley, and four 

 or five lodging-houses. 



I have been living considerably on bear lately. Saddle of bear 

 is very like saddle of mutton, and there is rather more fat. It " sets " 

 quickly on cooling, like venison fat, and so must be eaten very hot. 

 Bear steaks are also very good, and so are bear chops. 



" Corn-cakes " are very good, except that they are too dry to be 

 eaten without butter, and all American butter is very salt the cake 

 being very sweet. Fresh butter is absolutely unknown. Is there 

 not some way of squeezing butter, or putting it through the mincing 

 machine, or rubbing it with the bread grater under watei-, or some 

 such process, by which the salt is extracted 1 



