MALDIVE FISH. 
thtings, but Mr. Green, long afterwards, in after life 
frequently told the story, and said he would remember, 
that breakfast as long as he lived, for it had done 
him more good than all the breakfasts he had ever 
previously eaten, and he never forgot the lesson re- 
ceived from the Bombay duck. * 
Now, although we have eaten thousands of Bombay 
ducks, we have never yet known why this fish is 
Called so. What is the origin of the term ? Why 
should a dried fish be called a dock ? and why should 
it be called a Bombay one ? Is the fish caught, dried, 
or cured, specially or only at, or off Bombay, just 
in the same way as Maidive fish derive their name 
(we suppose) from being caught and cured off, or in 
the proximity of the Maidive islands, t These Maidive 
fish are another necessary ingredient for curry. On 
looking at or handling them, wdio would ever sup- 
pose they were fish, as they look like a small piece 
of hard wood, about four or five inches long, but a 
capital zest they give to the curry and the method 
of using them is to scrape them down on a rough 
tin grater, reduced to a rough powder, and then 
mixed up with the other curry-stuffs. The Maidive 
fish, scraped down, is also the chief ingredient in 
some sorts of ‘‘sambals,” and in case some may ask 
what is a sambal, it is just another sort of relish, 
eaten with rice, or, for that part, with rice and curry, 
in fact it is just a species of curry. There are dry 
sambals and wet ones : the former are made of dry 
scraping of all sorts of condiments, dry chillies, pep- 
per, scrapings of Maidive fish, and what not, placed 
on the t i].)le on a plate ; it is a dry powder, so you 
just t.die up as much of it as is wanted in a tea- 
spoon and dust it over your rice or rice and curry. 
The wet sambals are different varieties, but all con- 
tain something of the same ingredients; all hot to 
taste ; as much as you want of it is placed on the 
side of the plate containing the rice and curry, and 
as much of it taken at every spoonful or occasional 
spoonful of rice to suit the taste of the eater. In 
fact sambals, Bombay ducks, chutney, and all the little 
odds and ends eaten to curry, can be explained, that 
they are just “the sauce,’' just answer something 
* There is a stock story of a new arrival sending 
a cart to bring from the bazar a dozen of Bombay 
ducks. — E d. 
t Any one who has visited Bombay will see the lit* 
tie fish after which dwellers in the western city are 
called duc^s ” being caught in the estuaries and 
dried in the sun. A considerable amounts of salt-fish 
is introduced into Ceylon from the Maldives. — E d. 
