Chap. VII. MODE OF MAKING POREIDGE. 1GD 



are also good, and, after long simmering, much resemble 

 the hump of a buffalo, and the tongue of an ox ; but all the 

 other meat is tough, and, from its peculiar flavour, only to be 

 eaten by a hungry man. The quantities of meat our men 

 devour is quite astounding. They boil as much as their 

 pots will hold, and eat till it becomes physically impossible 

 for them to stow away any more. An uproarious dance 

 follows, accompanied with stentorian song ; and as soon 

 as they have shaken their first course down, and washed off 

 the sweat and dust of the after performance, they go to work 

 to roast more : a short snatch of sleep succeeds, and they are 

 up and at it again ; all night long it is boil and eat, roast and 

 devour, with a few brief interludes of sleep. Like other car- 

 nivore these men can endure hunger for a much longer period 

 than the mere porridge-eating tribes, Our men can cook meat 

 as well as any reasonable traveller could desire ; and, boiled in 

 earthen pots, like Indian chatties, it tastes much better than 

 when cooked in iron ones. 



Their porridge is a failure, at least for a Scotch diges- 

 tion that has been impaired by fever. When on a journey, 

 unaccompanied by women, as soon as the water is hot, 

 they tumble in the meal by handfuls in rapid succession, 

 until it becomes too thick to stir about, when it is 

 whipped off the fire, and placed on the ground j an assist- 

 ant then holds the pot, whilst the cook, grasping the stick 

 with both hands, exerts his utmost strength in giving it a 

 number of circular turns, to mix and prevent the solid mass 

 from being burnt by the heat. It is then served up to us, 

 the cook retaining the usual perquisite of as much as can be 

 induced to adhere to the stick, when he takes it from the pot. 

 By this process, the meal is merely moistened and warmed, 

 but not boiled ; much of it being raw, it always causes 



