80 SPORTSMAN'S HAND BOOK. 



soft. To be done right it will require several hours, and 

 when done the water should be about all boiled out. The 

 best way to finish the cooking, after the pork and beans 

 have been put together, is to take a piece of muslin, a little 

 larger than the top of the kettle, remove the lid and place the 

 muslin over the top of the kettle, then force the lid back to its 

 place; the rim of the lid that fits inside the kettle will carry 

 the muslin in with it, making a tight joint. With a 

 sharp knife trim the surplus muslin close to the kettle. 

 Now, if the fireplace has been prepared as directed, you 

 will have the excavation full of live coals and ashes. With 

 the poker scrape out the coals and ashes until you have the 

 hole deep enough to bury the kettle, set the kettle in quite 

 level and cover it entirely with the hot ashes and coals, the 

 muslin under the lid will prevent any dirt from getting in; 

 let the kettle remain covered up six or eight hours; over 

 night is better, the beans will not burn. If the directions 

 have been carefully followed, in the morning you will have 

 a dish fit for a king. The best way to warm cold beans to 

 avoid burning them, is in a frying-pan over a slow fire. 

 Venison, or any kind of game, is good prepared in the 

 same way as the beans. Fill a kettle quite full of venison, 

 grouse, rabbits, squirrels, or any kind of meat or game, .be 

 certain that the kettle is quite full, and don't forget to put 

 in two or three good sized pieces of fat pork or bacon, then 

 fill the kettle with water and put on the fire to boil, add 

 pepper and salt to taste, then boil until quite tender, skim 

 occasionally, if necessary. After the meat is done and the 

 water nearly all boiled away, put on a piece of muslin, as 

 with the beans, and bury the pot in hot ashes and coals and 

 leave it in over night, then you will have a pot of the best 

 baked meat for breakfast that you ever ate. There is abso- 

 lutely no other way of cooking meat equal to this. Now, 

 with what is left after breakfast, (unless you have quite a 



