We were able to
enjoy this delightful variety of esculents for more than a month. Then
the little tubercles of the fern became hollow and horny, and the stems
themselves grew as hard as wood while the nettle, armed with a long white
beard, p 203 presented only a menacing and awful aspect." The roots of
many kinds of ferns, perhaps of all of them, are edible. Our poor in
England will eat neither fern nor nettle: they say the first is
innutritious, and the second acrid. I like them both.
Seaweed.--Several kinds of seaweed, such as Laver and Irish moss, are
eatable.
Cooking Utensils.--Cookery books.--A book on cooking is of no use at all
in the rougher kinds of travel, for all its recipes consist of phrases
such as "Take a pound of so-and-so, half a pound of something else, a
pinch of this, and a handful of that." Now in the bush a man has probably
none of these things--he certainly has not all of them--and, therefore,
the recipe is worthless.
Pots and Kettles.--Cooking apparatus of any degree of complexity, and of
very portable shapes, can be bought at all military outfitters'; but for
the bush, and travelling roughly, nothing is better than a light roomy
iron pot and a large strong tin kettle. It is disagreeable to make tea in
the same pot that meat is boiled in; besides, if you have only one
vessel, it takes a longer time to prepare meals.
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