Chapter 40
CHAPTER XIV. property of the stamford family having been won it is said in a raffle by sir blank stamford during the stock gambling mania of the south sea scheme the history of this gentleman may be found in an interesting series of questions unfortunately not yet answered contained in the notes and queries this island is entirely surrounded by the ocean which here contains a large amount of saline substance crystallizing in cubes remarkable for their symmetry and frequently displays on its surface during calm weather the rainbow tints of the celebrated south sea bubbles the summers are oppressively hot and the winters very probably cold but this fact cannot be ascertained precisely as for some peculiar reason the mercury in these latitudes never shrinks as in more northern regions and thus the thermometer is rendered useless in winter the principal vegetable productions of the island are the pepper tree and the bread-fruit tree pepper being very abundantly produced a benevolent society was organized in london during the last century for supplying the natives with vinegar and oysters as an addition to that delightful condiment
note received from dr d p it is said however that as the oysters were of the kind called natives in england the natives of sumatra in obedience to a natural instinct refused to touch them and confined themselves entirely to the crew of the vessel in which they were brought over this information was received from one of the oldest inhabitants a native himself and exceedingly fond of missionaries he is said also to be very skilful in the cuisine peculiar to the island during this season of gathering pepper the persons employed are subject to various incommodities the chief of which is the violent and long-continued sternutation or sneezing such is the vehemence of these attacks that the unfortunate subjects of them are often driven backwards for great distances at immense speed on the well-known principle of the aleopyle not being able to see where they are going these poor creatures dash themselves to pieces against the rock or are participated over the cliffs and thus many valuable lives are lost annually as during the whole pepper harvest they feed exclusively on this stimulant they become exceedingly irritable the smallest injury is resented with ungovernable rage a young man suffering from the pepper fever as it is called
cudgelled another most severely for appropriating a superannuated relative of trifling value and was only pacified by having in present made him of a pig of that peculiar species of swine called the peckovee by the catholic jews who it is well known abstained from swine's flesh in imitation of the mohammedan buddhists the bread-tree grows abundantly its branches are well known to europe and america under the familiar name of macaroni the smaller twigs are called vermicelli they have a decided animal flavor as may be observed in the soups containing them macaroni being tubular is the favourite habitat of a very dangerous insect which is rendered peculiarly ferocious by being boiled the government of the island therefore never allows a stick of it to be exported without being accompanied by a piston with which its cavity may at any time be thoroughly swept out these are commonly lost or stolen before the macaroni arise among us it therefore always contains many of these insects which however generally die of old age in the shops so that accidents from this course are comparatively rare the fruit of the bread-tree consists principally of hot rolls the buttered muffin variety is supposed to be a hybrid with the cocoanut palm the cream found on the milk of the cocoanut exuding from the hybrid in the shape of butter just as the ripe fruit is splitting so as to fit it for the tea-table where it is commonly served up with cold
there i don't want to read any more of it you see that many of these statements are highly improbable no i shall not mention the paper the autocrat of the breakfast table and of our symmetric correspondence recording by
