SEARCH
0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Prev | Current Page 490 | Next

Banfield, E. J. (Edmund James), 1852-1923

"Confessions of a Beachcomber"

for a flash
handkerchief. He got it for his smartness.
MYALL'S BAKING
When blacks are introduced to the ways of white men, singular, often
grotesque episodes occur. A big, shy, clumsy fellow endeavouring to put
on a shirt as a pair of "combinations" does cut an absurd figure, and
the first efforts of many meddling and unskilled cooks to make a
"damper" are often pathetic failures. Not long since a beche-de-mer
fisherman engaged a crew from the tablelands at the back of Princess
Charlotte Bay. Never having been on board a schooner before, and being
absolutely innocent of the ways of the whites, they found "damper"
unpalatable, and flour was given them that they might prepare it after
their own methods. Some nuts ("koie-ie," CRYPTOCARIA PALMERSTONI, for
example) blacks toast until the shell (impregnated with resin) starts
into a blaze and the kernel falls out. The kernels are then chewed and
ejected until sufficient dough is available for a cake, which is
flattened out between green leaves and toasted. The dough "rises" as
though leavened with yeast, but this lightness is considered a fault,
for the dough is taken out, squeezed between hands moistened with
spittle until it becomes sodden.


Pages:
478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502