o 



26 The Gardens of the Sun. [ch. xvi. 



flour render you independent of the baker, and with oat- 

 meal oat-cakes may be indulged in. Put a few currants 

 in your boiled rice now and then for a change. Most 

 Madras, and some Chinese " boys " are good hands at a 

 curry, and if you give them a share of it when made they 

 are encouraged to excel. A favourite jungle-dish of my 

 own was a fowl cut up and boiled with two onions, a 

 handful of rice, salt and pepper, and thin slices of gourds, 

 sweet potatoes or other vegetables, and three or four 

 small chilies ; when it was nearly done, a small tin of 

 soup julienne or ox-tail was added. Oatmeal forms a 

 nice change from boiled rice, and biscuits are a treat, as 

 also are sweet potatoes nicely boiled, or corn cobs, yams, 

 or kaladi roasted in the embers. Tinned soups are much 

 improved by having fresh vegetables boiled in them, such 

 as palm cabbages, sweet potatoes, or cucumbers. Eggs 

 may be eaten boiled, poached, or beaten up in a cup of 

 tea or coffee, in which case the yelk only should be used. 

 A nutritious drink is made by beating up the yelk of a 

 fresh egg with a squeeze of lime, a little sugar, whisky, 

 or gin and water. If a dash of Angostura bitters be 

 added, so much the better. Native cook-pots may always 

 be borrowed, or on occasion biscuit or soup-tins form 

 good substitutes. If pressed for supplies, corn cobs or 

 " mealies " form a good substitute for bread, and may be 

 varied now and then with bananas or sweet potatoes. 

 Bananas may be eaten with cheese. The nebong (Onco- 

 sperma) palm, generally common beside the Malay rivers, 

 affords a tender " cabbage," with a delicate asparagus- 

 like flavour. Pigeons are generally plentiful, and in 

 extreme cases even monkeys may be "potted." On 

 boating expeditions a baited hook should always be 

 towed astern. Most natives understand the style ot 

 fishing, and best bait to use. 



