Astonishment can scarcely be withheld when an attempt is made to
catalogue the available foods of the island, the variety and quantity.
No effort was made at cultivation. Blacks took no heed of the morrow,
but accepted the fruits of the earth without thought of inciting Nature
to produce better or more abundantly, and yet how plenteous were her
gifts!
Permitting imagination to soar away into regions of romance, one might
picture a dinner-party of the bygone days, the lap of Mother Earth
furnished with edibles and dainties, and the hungry and expectant
members of the camp squatted round in anticipation of the various
courses. Such a scene would be worthy of being classed among the most
improbable; but as it would not be absolutely impossible, may not an
attempt be made to treat it as a reality?
The repast might be initiated with a few oysters on the shells (with a
choice of three or four varieties); a selection of many fish would be
succeeded by real turtle ("padg-e-gal") soup (in the original shell),
and made as before described; the joint, a huge piece of dugong
("pal-an-gul") kummaoried, rich and excellent, with ENTREES of turtle
cutlets and baked grubs ("tam-boon"), ivory white with yellow heads, as
neat and pretty a dish as could be seen, and rather rare and novel too.
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