perhaps agreeable, to the natives; who assign, as the reason for smoking
their vessels, that it prevents the milk from turning. It, however,
becomes a question, whether or not the operation of scalding, always
performed when practicable, while the milk is warm, be not the true
preventive against acidulation. Certain it is, that sour milk is very
rarely found in India, although, for full half the year, the thermometer
is generally up between 75°, and 95°, in the shade; and, in a Bengallee
hut, frequently rising to 110°, or more!
The milk obtained from buffaloes is certainly much richer than that from
cows; yet, the butter produced from the former is very inferior,
generally white, and brittle: it, however, possesses qualities suiting
it admirably to the climate, and occasioning the natives to give it the
preference. After being warmed to a certain degree, so as to become
rather liquified, it is kept nearly stationary in that state for a long
time; whereby it loses its aqueous particles, and is rendered fit for
keeping. When thus treated, it is called _ghee_. Others deviate from
this tedious process, and, by exposing it to a greater heat, keeping it
simmering for some time, effect the purpose more speedily, but not
without danger of burning, or, at least, of giving it a certain
empyreumatic flavor. Few of the natives will touch cow-butter, to which
they attribute many bad effects, though they will drink _ghee_ by the
quart, and pride themselves not a little in being able to afford so
luscious an enjoyment. The uncontrolled expenditure of this article,
among those whose purses will bear them out in the indulgence, though it
may tend to that obesity of which they are inordinately vain, cannot but
contribute greatly to the generation of those bilious diseases which so
often attack the more opulent natives. _Ghee_ and idleness may be said
to give birth to half their ailings. As an article of commerce, _ghee_
possesses some claim to importance; many thousands of maunds being sent
every season from some of the grazing districts, such as _Purneah_, and
_Sircar-sarun_, to the more cultivated parts, and especially to the
western provinces. The _ghee_ is generally conveyed in _dubbahs_, or
bottles made of green hide, which, being freed from the hair, and worked
up while in a pliant state, into the form of a _caraboy_, such as we use
for spirits of turpentine, &c., will keep sweet for a long time,
provided the mouth of the vessel be well closed. In this manner it is
conveyed by water in _dubbahs_, often measuring nearly a hogshead; but a
smaller kind, containing, perhaps, from fifteen to twenty gallons each,
are made for the purpose of being slung across the backs of bullocks, by
which it is carried to places situated at a distance from navigable
streams. The price of _ghee_ varies according to the demand, and to its
quality: generally, from six to eight seers of 2lb. each may be had for
a rupee in favorable situations; otherwise, it will be from thirty to
fifty per cent. dearer. It may be supposed that buffaloes’ milk must
possess a very considerable portion of cream, when it is stated, that
milk is considered very cheap at 30 seers (or quarts) for a rupee, and
that five seers of _ghee_, equal to one-sixth of the mass of milk, may
be had for the same sum, in almost any part of the country. According to
this proportion, we find that one-sixth part of the milk turns to
butter; whereas, in this country, a cow, yielding twenty gallons of milk
within the week, will rarely produce ten pounds of butter; which is
equal to only one-eighth part of the mass of milk: it must, indeed, be a
good cow that will produce that quantity.
The _d’hoob_ grass, which grows wild in almost every part of the
country, is peculiarly nutritious; but the food of cattle, of all
descriptions, throughout India, is more dry and solid than is offered to
cows in England. Hence, though the quantity of milk yielded by a
buffalo, may not be equal to that of an English cow of equal weight, the
produce in butter, from an equal quantity of milk, will be in favor of
the former.
I have already stated the difficulty of getting milk devoid of the taste
of smoke; this arises from the cause already described, and is encreased
by the very small proportion of milk yielded by the cows in India, which
are, with few exceptions, white, and rarely grow larger than the
generality of yearlings, or steers, bred in England. In some grazing
districts they thrive well, attaining to full thirteen hands in height,
and weighing, when fit for the butcher, from four to five hundred
weight: but such are merely local, and not very numerous. Butter
produced from cows’ milk is very indifferent, unless carefully made from
such as are well fed. The number of gentlemen keeping dairies is
extremely confined, perhaps less than ten for all India: they certainly
obtain excellent butter, but that sold by the _muckun-wallahs_, (_i.e._
the butter-men,) would appear, to a stranger, not to be made from the
same species of animals. Considering the price of a cow, which may be
averaged at from four rupees to eight, (_i.e._ from ten to twenty
shillings,) it is remarkably dear, as is usually the case with articles
of inferior quality: thus, we consider three pounds for a rupee to be a
fair rate, though sometimes four may be had; but such can only happen
where cattle are very abundant; for, as I have already said, buffaloes,
and not cows, are almost invariably kept by the natives for their milk,
on account of their greater produce, and because the _ghee_ made from
their butter is more appreciated. We may, therefore, estimate the pound
of cow-butter at nine-pence; whereas, _ghee_ rarely sells for more than
three-pence: a strange disproportion; to be attributed, in some measure,
to the demand for the former being confined to the Europeans.
In speaking of the _berriarah_, or shepherd, I have already noticed,
that, for the supply of their tea-tables, gentlemen usually keep a few
goats, which afford milk of a remarkably fine quality, and are herded in
company with those store sheep intended to supply vacancies among the
fatting stock. The kids produced, generally twice in the year, by each
milch-goat, (mostly twins, and not unfrequently trins, or even four, at
a birth,) serve to keep up the number of the flock, besides yielding
occasionally a most delicate viand for the table. I know not of any meat
more sweet, or wholesome, than that of a kid allowed to suck the mother
at pleasure: it is as white, and, in proportion, as fat as any veal.
Being in general request, and admirably suited to making rich _curries_,
as also roasting remarkably well, kid-meat may be had of any butcher;
the usual price being a rupee for a whole kid, and in proportion for
halves and quarters. When of a good size, and duly fatted, an entire one
may weigh about six pounds; which brings the meat to five-pence per
pound.
By the word butcher, we are not to understand the individual to be a
shop-keeper, exposing the several joints of various animals for sale, in
that pleasing mode of exhibition so common in our markets. On the
contrary, a fat _kussee_ (_i.e._ cut-goat,) or two, and two or three
kids, daily, with, now and then, a half-fatted ox during the cold
months, may be said to comprize the whole business of one of this
profession in full trade; indeed, a first-rate knight of the cleaver!
The greater part of the profit arising to this class, is derived from
slaughtering oxen, calves, pigs, sheep, and kids, for families; for
which labor they ordinarily receive a few annas, (or two-pences,)
according to the size of the animal: in most instances they take the
skin, pluck, and, of some, the head, as a perquisite.
It is impossible to produce finer mutton than is served upon table in
India; nor can there be finer beef than is to be seen in most
cantonments, and among fixed residents. At some of the principal
military and civil stations, those gentlemen who keep a regular table,
usually fatten several bullocks for winter slaughtering. Some of these
are fed full two years, with that intent, on _gram_; and, exclusive of
being burthened with fat on the kidneys, &c., have their flesh
absolutely marbled by the admixture of fat among the fleshy parts.
Sometimes, the officers of a regiment club to fatten four or five head,
the joints of which are either divided according to mutual concurrence,
or drawn for by lot: this supplies fresh beef during the winter season;
very few bullocks being killed at any other time, on account of the
extreme difficulty of curing the meat. To persons inexperienced as to
the hasty strides of putrefaction in hot climates, this forbearance from
beef, for so large a portion of the year, might appear unnecessary; but
the fact is, that, during the close weather, prevalent throughout the
rains, and for a certain part of the hot season, meat, though killed
only about midnight, will often become absolutely putrid long before the
time at which it ought to be on the spit; and that, too, in spite of
every precaution!
The markets at Calcutta are open at daybreak; when very fine meat, of
every kind, together with various sorts of choice fish, fruits,
vegetables, &c., may be had on very reasonable terms. There, indeed,
beef may sometimes be seen in the hottest weather; because, being cut up
into small joints, a bullock may be readily sold off among so many
customers; but, in general, the prime pieces, together with all the best
fish, &c., will have been bought up by sunrise: the refuse joints are
generally taken by the Portugueze, (who are the only customers for
_bazar_-pork,) and by Europeans of the lower classes, or by persons who
supply the shipping. The whole of the non-commissioned and privates, in
the several regiments of Europeans, are served with meat, rice, spirits,
and fire-wood, by contract; receiving their several quotas early in the
morning, under the inspection of their commissioned officers, who make
their reports regarding any deficiencies, either in quantity, or of
quality.
Those gentlemen who produce pork at their tables, are extremely
particular as to the manner in which their pigs are fed. Many are so
extremely fastidious, as not to allow any to be served up unless
_educated_, as it is called, in their own sties; the very circumstance
of being _born_ elsewhere, absolutely disqualifying, and rendering of no
avail, all that change of bulk, and all that purification, derived from
perhaps a whole year of confinement to a clean stye; in which nothing
but the best corn (_gram_) is given to the grunting inhabitant. This,
certainly, is carrying daintiness to an extreme; but it must be
confessed, that swine are so offensively greedy in the indulgence of
their appetites in that part of the world, as to give occasion for many
very reasonable scruples regarding the use of _bazar_-pork; which is
indiscriminately killed from the fattest of those wanderers that
sometimes absolutely interrupt the operations of the multitude, who
resort, generally at dusk, and at day-break, to lay their offerings at
the shrine of a certain deity!
This calls to mind a very laughable circumstance which happened at
Berhampore, in 1803. An officer, who had been many years at Gibraltar,
where a joint of meat, of any kind, was probably snapped up without any
questions being asked as to its _education_, produced at his table a
very fine corned leg of pork, of which all his guests ate with great
avidity. One of them, when the repast was over, begged leave to enquire
how the gentleman kept his pigs; what had been then on table, being of
so superior a flavor, that he presumed it was _educated_ in some very
particular manner. ‘Oh no,’ answered the host, ‘I never trouble my head
about sties; my man bought a whole side of it this morning of Neeloo the
butcher, for eight annas’ (15_d._) This untimely disclosure operated not
only like magic, but like emetic tartar; the whole company were taken
with violent sickness, and retired to give vent, both to the pork, and
to their feelings, on so dreadful an occasion. However, none died in
consequence of having been thus poisoned; but the whole station received
the tale with horror, and resolved, to a man, never to accept another
invitation from the unfortunate hero of the rock!
Whether it be owing to the foregoing cause, or, that the time necessary
for the completion of a pig’s ‘_education_,’ be too protracted to allow
of persons, subject to removal, engaging in that branch of domestic
economy, may be difficult to determine, but certain it is, that very few
officers have piggeries; they commonly content themselves with hams and
cheeks imported to them from England. The grossness of the viand is,
however, so very inappropriate to the climate, that, even after the most
delicate course of management, pork is by no means considered a choice
dish: sucking pigs are more generally approved.
Veal is so very seldom to be obtained in the market, of a quality fit to
be brought to table, that it is customary for four or five friends to
subscribe for the purpose of rearing calves for their own expenditure;
each taking a share of every calf that is slaughtered. The best, and
most economical plan, is to agree with some butcher, through whose means
alone it can in general be effected, to receive of him a cow and calf,
the latter being newly born, and to return him the mother, after the
calf may have been killed, together with four rupees (10_s._) By this
mode, the calf will thrive admirably, provided the cow be well fed; but
it is usual, and I have practised it with great success, to give the
little one as much scalded milk as it can drink, three times daily;
drenching it with either a horn, or a quart-bottle: from three to four
quarts, in each of which the yolk of a fresh egg is beat up, will
commonly produce the desired effect, rendering the meat very fine by the
end of a month; the usual age at which they are slaughtered. What with
the keep of the mother, the milk and eggs given to the calf, and the
necessary attendance, a gold-mohur, (£2.,) will generally be expended
upon each calf, unless several be kept together as a successive supply
for the table; in which case, about twelve rupees will be found the
average expence. In this, I reckon the out-lay upon a calf that will now
and then, perhaps one in five, prove a bad subject; and, notwithstanding
every precaution, either scour or pine.
It is a great misfortune that, on account of the extreme antipathy the
horned cattle of India always exhibit towards Europeans, no possibility
exists for remedying many bad practices, and neglects, to which these
animals are subject, when under the care of the native servants. An
Indian ox, or cow, when at liberty, is always shunned very carefully,
lest it should indulge its savage disposition. On first entering that
country, the cattle would be supposed to be wild, instead of
domesticated; for not one in a thousand will admit the approach of an
European; nor are they always less gentle towards strangers of any
description. As to what are called _tame_ buffaloes, they are commonly
more fierce than any British bull, and, when they have calves at their
sides, make no scruple of attacking man and horse, with unbounded
ferocity. Hence, it is extremely proper to be very cautious of
approaching herds, or single cattle of either kind, even when tolerably
mounted. Sometimes, in riding through the country, and especially where
_jeels_ (lakes) are to be forded, or pools to be passed, the unwary
traveller may find himself, on a sudden, within a few yards of a whole
herd of buffaloes, which, to avoid the heat of mid-day, wallow in the
muddy water, so deep as to have, in general, only their noses and eyes
above the surface. Being, perhaps, among rushes, &c. even those parts
are not discernible, or, if in an open expanse, may be easily mistaken
for clods of mud; for the horns lie back towards the false ribs. On a
sudden, the whole herd sometimes rise, and at the least frighten the
horse, whatever the rider’s heart may be made of: such a surprize, and
from animals that, according to the old saying, ‘give but a word and a
blow, and the blow comes first,’ is far from pleasant. In such
situations, all depends on the conduct of the leading bull; if he
snorts, shakes his horns, and advances, the danger is imminent. But it
frequently happens, that, whether owing to lassitude, or the absence of
any object particularly irritating to buffaloes, of which a red coat may
be considered the extreme, the herd content themselves with rising from
their reclined postures, and, after those who rouzed them may have
passed on, again sink into the friendly pool.
The British settlers in India are extremely indebted to the Dutch for
many essential improvements. The small town of Chinsurah, situate about
twenty-eight miles north of Calcutta, on the banks of the Hoogly river,
has, in this instance, proved serviceable to India at large. The Dutch,
to whom that place appertained before the war, were the first to
introduce the culture of that invaluable esculent, the potatoe; which
was received from their settlement at the Cape of Good Hope: they
likewise were the first to exhibit any disposition towards horticulture.
From them the British received, annually, the seeds of every kind of
vegetable useful at the table, as well as several plants of which there
appeared much need, especially various kinds of pot-herbs. They likewise
supplied us with vines, from which innumerable cuttings have been
dispensed to every part of Bengal and its upper dependencies. The whole
of the lower provinces, at least, those parts skirting the ranges of
hills that bound them, produce immense quantities of wild vines, which,
during the rains, may be seen partially to bear grapes of a red color,
and about the size of a pistol-ball. These vines tower over the high
_saul_ trees, or creep along the rocky masses, throughout the Ramghur
district especially, in all the majesty of wild luxuriance.
Here is a field for speculation! Let us suppose, that the wines which
should be raised might not prove of the best quality, still we might
derive the most important advantages from the brandy and vinegar to
which they might be converted. As to wood for the staves, and iron for
the hoops, they are both to be had on the spot; and, in regard to
distillation, abundance of men, sufficiently skilled, may be found among
the natives. Fuel is every where abundant, indeed, a perfect nuisance.
The only impediment I could ever discover, is, that the neighbouring
streams are not generally navigable, or, perhaps, only for a few months
in the year: they might, however, be easily rendered adequate to every
purpose, there being lime-stone in various adjacent hills, while, among
the convicts, who are in a state of idleness for the most part, many
persons might be selected fully capable of constructing whatever
masonry, or timber-work, should be found necessary.
Some years ago, I had the honor of submitting this suggestion to the
Court of Directors. The India minister of that day was forcibly struck
with the facility obviously afforded of founding an immense national
concern: and, had he remained in office, would probably have taken means
to ascertain every point contained in my memoir, with the utmost
exactitude: the result must have been perfectly satisfactory.
When we consider, that the Company pay two lacs of rupees (£25,000.)
yearly for spirits, of a very inferior quality, for the use of the
European soldiery; and, that good vinegar cannot be had under two rupees
per gallon, (5_s._) it should seem an object, even in that limitted
view, to cultivate the vine for their own use; but, if we extend the
prospect, and shew that any quantity of brandy, if not of wine, might be
imported from Bengal, the benefits will be found so great, as to claim
every encouragement on the part of the legislature. It appears highly
probable, that full a million sterling would be annually saved to the
nation, by its adoption of this speculation; which might be began at
little or no expence, and be progressively extended, by giving
employment to the whole body of convicts, who now are a heavy burthen on
the revenue, without doing a thousandth part of the service of which
they are physically capable. If my information be correct, there are now
sold at Calcutta near four thousand pipes of Madeira, Teneriffe, &c.,
annually, and about as many chests of Claret, including French and
English; the quantity of Brandy imported at that settlement is full
10,000 gallons, besides Hollands, Rum, and other liquors, of which I
shall make no account. The licences granted for the retail of spirits
are amply abundant; and the number of shops where _Toddy_, _Mowah_,
_Pariah Arrack_, &c., are served out, absolutely incalculable.
From the best computation I have been enabled to make, full 10,000,000
gallons of spirits are made and sold in Bengal and its dependant
provinces, the average of which may be taken at one rupee per gallon, as
it comes from the still; the retail prices will, no doubt, double that
sum; making no less than 20,000,000 of rupees, equal to £2,500,000
expended annually by debauchees, and by the regular consumption among
the soldiery, &c. If the foregoing items be put together, they must make
a tremendous total; while we shall see, that a most ruinous intercourse
prevails, throwing money into the pockets of our rivals, and enabling
them to carry home investments in exchange for their own produce. We
shall further see, that, supposing a duty of only 25 per cent. were
imposed on all spirits sold, exclusive of the amount of licences, which
are very trivial, no less than £625,000. would annually flow into the
treasury. This may appear a very large sum, but, when it is recollected
that the manufacture of salt, monopolized by the Company, yields, on the
average of several years, the sum of £1,500,000., (after deducting about
£525,000. for the expences of boiling, &c.,) we may fairly consider the
above computation to be far within the bounds of probability.
Rum is made in Bengal from refuse sugar, the same as in the West Indies;
its quality is by no means inferior, though it sells, when new, at the
very cheap rate of about a rupee the gallon. It is to be had, of a good
age, of the several great distillers and merchants, at a proportionate
advance. I have known it, after being six years in the _godown_,
(warehouse,) to be compared with Jamaica Rum, warranted ten years old;
when the preference was given decidedly in favor of the former. With
respect to arrack, which is in a manner peculiar to the East; the native
distillers produce excellent alcohol, which, after being properly
rectified, and kept for some years, proves an admirable spirit, supposed
to be far more wholesome than rum.
Though, on the whole, the fish brought to the Calcutta markets, cannot
be compared with such as we see at Billingsgate, &c., there are,
nevertheless, some kinds, which might please the most dainty epicure.
The _hilsah_, (or sable fish,) which seems to be mid-way between a
mackarel and a salmon, whether for form, general appearance, or flavor,
is, perhaps, the richest fish with which any cook is acquainted. It
abounds so with fat, that most persons, after being served with a
portion, immerse it in boiling water, brought in a soup-plate; thereby
causing a large quantity of grease to float. When baked in vinegar, or
preserved in tamarinds, the _hilsah_ is remarkably fine.
Like the salmon, these run up to the very spring-heads, seeming to
abound more and more in proportion as they approximate thereto; though
certainly they grow to the largest size, immediately within the tide’s
reach: getting beyond that, they dart up as far as possible during the
season, returning, after spawning, to the sea. They are in perfection
towards the latter end of the rains.