PRIMITIVE COOKERY. 



399 



We had made provision, as we supposed, for three days ; 

 but, as usual, it alv^^ays happened that, however abun- 

 dant, it did not last more than one. At this time all was 

 eaten up by ourselves or by vermin ; and, but for the 

 wild turkey, we should have been obliged to dine upon 

 chocolate. It was a matter of deeply-interesting con- 

 sideration how the turkey should be cooked. Boiling it 

 was the best way ; but we had nothing to boil it in except 

 a small cofFee-pot. We attempted to make a gridiron 

 of our stirrups, and broil it ; but those of Nicolas were 

 wooden, and mine alone were not large enough. Roast- 

 ing was a long and tedious process ; but our guide had 

 often been in such straits ; and fixing in the ground two 

 sticks with crotches, he laid another across, split open 

 the turkey, and securing it by sticks crosswise, hung it 

 like a spread eagle before a blazing fire. When one 

 side was burned, he turned the other. In an hour it 

 was cooked, and in less than ten minutes eaten up. A 

 cup of chocolate, heavy enough to keep it from rising if 

 it had been eaten with its wings on, followed, and I had 

 dined. 



Rested and refreshed, I walked down to the shore. 

 Our encampment was about in the centre of the harbour, 

 * which was the finest I saw on the Pacific. It is not 

 large, but beautifully protected, being almost in the form 

 of the letter U. The arms are high and parallel, run- 

 ning nearly north and south, and terminating in high 

 perpendicular bluffs. As I afterward learned from Mr. 

 Bailey, the water is deep, and under either bluff, ac- 

 cording to the wind, vessels of the largest class can ride 

 with perfect safety. Supposing this to be correct, there 

 is but one objection to this harbour, which I derive from 

 Captain D'Yriarte, with whom I made the voyage from 

 Zonzonate to Caldera. He has been nine years navi- 



