A little rice great measure, upon the cocoa-nut. and this nut together, without any other food, do generally allay the hunger of the common people.*. The Peruvians in the hot countrys, which were most fruitful, fow'd little or nothing, but contented themselves with herbs and roots, and wild fruits, and with that which the earth produce'd of itself; for they, requireing no more than natural fustenance, live'd with little, and createed no accidental necesfitys for the support of life.t The dumpleërs are a plain and peaceable religious fect of Germans in Pennsylvania. Their common food confifts wholely of vegetables, not because they think it is unlawful to eat any other, but because that kind of abstinence is look'd upon as more conformable to the spirit of Christianity, which has an averfion to blood. The father of mistress Wright, fo wel known by her ingenious talent of modeling likenesfes in wax, was (for that part of America where he live'd) esteem'd among his neighbours to be a very rich, and a very honeft man; i. e. * Voyage to Surat, p. 121. he had large tracts of land, houseës, horseës, oxen, sheep, poultry, and, in fhort, every kind of liveing thing, and earthly grain, which man can really want, for the support and comfort of life; but, being one of that fect called Quakers, he became fo fingularly confcientious, that he could not bring himself to believe, that god per-. mited men to fpil the blood of animals for their dayly food. He, therefor, neither ate flesh himfelf, nor permited it to be eaten by any one within his gates. His ten children were twice ten years old before they tafteëd flesh.* Vegetables and fish, according to Bougainville, are the principal food of the inhabitants of Otaheite. They feldom eat flefh, their children, and young girls, never any; and this, he fays, doubtless serves to keep them free from allmost all our diseases. To omit mentioning many other inftancës, it is wel known, that the people who are condemn'd to work in the galleys, as well as many New profe Batb-guide for 1778 (by Philip Thickneffe, efquire), p. 57. . It is remarkable that the writeër, or compileër, of the prefent book ceafe'd to taste it, from the fame age. + Voyage (by Forster), p. 248. That this is allfo the case in other of the South-fea ilands, fee Sparrmans Voyage to the cape of Good-bope, II, 228, &c. others, can make shift with a certain portion of bread and water oncly; and, likewife, that the inhabitants of the Apennine mountains live allmost entirely upon chesnuts.* The young favage of Aveyron, when wild in the foreft, fubfifted upon acorns, roots, raw chesnuts and potatos; which laft, but boil'd (and, frequently, by himself) have been fince his principal food. When thirsty he disdains to take wine, and onely wishes for water.† In Engleland, Wales, and Scotland, great numbers of the inhabitants, particularly the labouring part of the community, live chiefly, and ftil greater, folely, on vegetable food. The ufual diet of labourers, in the parish of South-Tawton, Devonshire, is milk and potatos; barley or wheaten bread; and, occafionally, a little bacon.‡ A labourer, in Leicestershire, fupports himfelf, and five children, chiefly on bread; useing little or no milk or potatos; feldom geting any butter, nor useing any oatmeal; but occafionally buying a little cheese, and haveing fome *Sparrmans Voyage, II, 236. + Mitards Account of a favage man, &c. p. 13, 30, 45, 85, 104. † Sir F. M. Edens State of the poor, p. 140. times, meat on a Sunday: bread being the chief fupport of the family, which, however, had far from a fufficiency of that article, and would have ufe'd much more if they could have procure'd it.* At Monmouth a labourer has about three pints of milk a day, which, with a little bread, ferves his children for breakfatt; his wife drinks tea: their dinner is bread, potatos, and falt ; with, fometimes, a little fat or driping, if it can be procure'd cheap: their fupper, generally, bread or potatos.† Bread and cheese, potatos and [milk-] porridge, and a thick flummery, made of coarfe oat-meal, are the ufual diet of the labouring people in Pembrokeshire.† The breakratt of the labouring part of the community in the neighbourhood of Lancaster, ufually confifts of milk-pottage or haftey-pudding, which is there call'd water-pottage: and dinner, of potatos, with a little butter, and falt; fish, bacon, or but hers-meat, being, however, aded, according to the feason, and circumstanceës of the family The yeomanry and labouring poor throughout * Ibi, p. 331. ↑ Ili, 449. + Ibi, 898. || Ibi, 309. the greater part of Weftmoreland and Cumberland live alltogether without animal food. Even fubftantial statesmen, as they are there call'd, who cultivate their own land, do not fee a piece of flesh-meat at their table for weeks or months together. Their chief diet is potatos, milk, and oat-cakes; wheaten-bread being allmost as great a rarity as beef or mutton. Of this the compileër was partly an eye witness, and partly obtain'd information on the spot. The provifions use'd in the township of KirkbyLonsdale by the labouring poor, are, chiefly, milk, oat-bread, haftey-pudding, onions, potatos, and, now and then, a little butchersmeat.* Sir F. M. Eden has giveën the income of a weaveër in Kendal,with a wife and feven children: their provision is chiefly oat-meal, potatos, milk, and butter: no animal food whatever.+ He has, likewise, stateëd the earnings and expenditure of a poor woman in Cumberland, who "seems perfectly hapy, content, and cheerful,” with the confiderable income of 41. 1f. 74d. Her yearly charge for butchers-meat is 1f. 6d. * State of the poor, p. 771. |