put before a good fire. If he arrives too late at night for this, let him rather than lie between sheets which are not properly aired, sleep between the blankets only. He then, supposing he would not be at the trouble of carrying meat, sends for his beef or mutton. Having secured this for the next day's dinner, he takes out of his basket something ready dressed, or some eggs, or a string of sausages, or a few kidneys; or a fowl to broil, a cake or two of portable soup, or a little mock turtle, ready to warm; or, in short, any other things that the town may have afforded; and with this, he makes up his dinner on the day of his arrival. If the beer is sour, and he does not choose to be troubled with carrying bottles of other beverage, he is provided with a Little carbonate of soda, which will correct its acidity; a little nutmeg or powdered ginger, to take off the unpleasant taste; and with a spoonful of brown sugar and a toast, he will make tolerably palatable that which, before, was scarcely good enough to quench the thirst. He will know better than to call for brandy or gin, but will order rum, knowing that that is a spirit which would soon be spoiled by any tricks or adulteration. He will have in his basket some lemons, or a bottle of lemon acid, and make a bowl of punch, recollecting the proportions of One sour, Two sweet; Four strong, And eight weak. This is quite the focus for good punch, which any shallowheaded boy may remember, by learning it as a bad rhyme. It may be necessary to observe, that by first pounding the sugar fine, you can of course measure it to a nicety, by means of a wine-glass, as well as the lemon juice, and the other liquids. Also, that half the acid. of Seville orange juice is better than all of lemon juice; and further, in making punch, the spirit should be used as the finishing ingredient; though put in another jug; and the SHERBET POURED UPON it. But as to the improvements of pink champagne, hot jellies, arrack, limes, &c., it would be out of place to talk of such luxuries here, though of course, after professing to give the focus for good punch, it becomes a necessary caution against error, to except that which is composed of all the luxuries of an alderman; who, by the way, is welcome to my share of them; as well as to that of the gout after them. Here we have spoken of hot punch. Now for cold; which, being merely intended as a cool beverage, requires to be much weaker. For this, I cannot do better than copy a recipe thatwas given to me many years ago, when quartered at Glasgow, where cold punch was universally drunk; and where its excellence was only to be equalled by the hospitality of the inhabitants. It is "A wine glass nearly full of best refined lump sugar pounded. Twelve ditto of cold spring water. A lime, and half a lemon [or, if no lime, a whole lemon, which might yield about half a wine glass full of juice.] Two wine glasses brimfull of old Jamaica rum. Let the sugar be well melted, and the lemons thoroughly amalgamated with it and the water, before you add the spirit." Or, to be much more brief, I will say for cold punch, One sour, Two sweet; Four strong, Twenty weak. As here we have only to repeat the old rhyme, and change the eight into a twenty. If I could make it shorter, and more simple, I would. For those worthies, who think it a good joke to metamorphose a man into what he would not like to be called, by making him drunk; this beverage, if introduced by way of a sequel to wine, is one of the most certain to answer their purpose: because it is so cooling, and grateful to the thirst, that the more he drinks the more he requires of it, instead of beginning to find it unpleasant, like wine, hot punch, or other more potent liquors. I name this, not as a lesson to the wag, but as a caution to the unwary. With materials for making other cool portable beverages (merely to quench the thirst) almost every chemist can supply you. Our sportsman will then, having taken care to provide himself with a little good tobacco, or a few cigars, have recourse to smoking; which next to the sovereign remedy of taking a little purl, before you inhale a vaporous atmosphere, is the best preventive from catching the ague when fen-shooting; and, perhaps, one of the greatest preservatives from cold and illness, of anything in existence. Under particular circumstances, therefore, smoking becomes not only justifiable, but sometimes necessary. It is, however, the last thing that I mean to recommend making a constant practice of, when not required; as most people, it is presumed, would consider it an idle habit to become every day absorbed in what might be thought an agreeable stupefaction only by a few jolly fellows, who, if I speak in their own style, glory in being able to drink like a fish sit like a hen-and smoke like a chimney. - may The old sportsman then retires to his well-aired bed, where he is provided with the best of counterpanes, a good boxor gunning-coat, or a cloak; and after passing a good night, he rises to breakfast. If he has brought no tea with him, he makes that of the place palatable, by beating up the yolk of an egg (first with a little cold water to prevent its curdling) as a good substitute for milk or cream, a little powdered ginger, and a tea-spoonful of rum. He then, previously to taking the field, desires a man to prepare some greaves, which he might carry for his dogs, or get, for them, some meat; and deputes a person to the cooking of that intended for himself; which, if bad in quality, as will most likely be the case, there is but one good and easy way of dressing. This I shall now translate from my French recipe: viz. Let your servant take Three pounds of meat, a large carrot, two onions, and two turnips. [The Frenchman adds also a cabbage: here John Bull may please himself.] Put them into two quarts of water, to simmer away till reduced to three pints. Let him season the soup to the taste, with pepper, salt, herbs, &c. &c. He must then cut off square about a pound of the fattest part of the meat, and put it aside, letting the rest boil completely to pieces. After he has well skimmed off the fat, and strained the soup, let him put it by till wanted. On your return, while seeing your dogs fed, which every sportsman ought to do, Let the soup be put on the fire for twenty minutes, with some fresh vegetables (if you like to have them), and for the last ten minutes, boil again the square piece of meat which was reserved. Another necessary part of the recipe also should be prescribed, lest the dish should fall into disrepute. To prevent the deputy cook from helping himself, and filling it up with water, let him have a partnership in the concern ; and when he has occasion to quit the room, he should either lock the door, or leave one of your relay dogs for a sentry. You will then have a good wholesome gravy soup to begin with; and afterwards, some tender meat, which, if Eaten with mustard, a little raw parsley chopped fine, and a few anchovies, you will, it is presumed, find an excellent dish. A pot of anchovies might easily be carried in a portmanteau, being, of all the luxuries from an oil shop, one of the most portable and the most useful. But nothing is worse than a mock anchovy, which is merely a salted bleak, or other inferior small fish, flavoured with a little anchovy liquor. Within these few years, however, the supply has been so good, that you will generally be served with the real Gorgona fish at any respectable oil shop. Mr. Burgess has now, I believe, the largest and choicest importation. Be careful to keep anchovies in a small stone jar; as an earthen one might break with them, and spoil your clothes. Let me now add the simple receipt for as wholesome a mess as any one who can "rough it" would wish for-the dinner, of all others, for an invalid-and an alternative against starvation, where there is not even a piece of meat to be got. Have a fowl skinned and quartered; Put it over the fire in a quart of cold water; Boil it full two hours; Then add two ounces (or a handful) of pearl barley, or rice; Salt to your taste; Then let all boil together for one more hour: |