The toothsome, necessary bloater is not often to be met with on the hotel's bill-of-fare; but, if soft roed--use no other--it will repay perusal. Toast it in a Dutch oven in front of a clear fire, and just before done split it up the back, and put a piece of butter on it. The roe should be well plumped, and of the consistency of Devonshire cream. A grilled sole for breakfast is preferable to a fried one, principally because it is by no means impossible that the fried sole be second-hand, or as the French call it _réchauffé_. And why, unless directions to the contrary be given, is the modest whiting invariably placed, tail in mouth, on the frying pan? A grilled whiting--assassinate your cook if she (or he) scorches it--is one of the noblest works of the kitchen, and its exterior should be of a golden brown colour. Do not forget to order sausages for breakfast if you are staying at Newmarket; there is less bread in them than in the Metropolitan brand. And when in Lincoln attempt a _Halibut Steak_, of which you may not have previously heard. The halibut should, previous to grilling or frying _in salad oil_, be placed on a shallow dish and sprinkled with salt. Then the dish should be half filled with water, which must not cover the salt. Leave the fish to soak for an hour, then cut into slices, nearly an inch thick, without removing the skin. Sprinkle some lemon juice and cayenne over the steaks before serving. If you wish to preserve an even mind, and be at peace with the world, a visit to _The Hotel Parish_ is not to be recommended. The Irish stew at dinner is not bad in its way, though coarse, and too liberally endowed with fat. But the breakfasts! Boiled oatmeal and water, with salt in the mess, and a chunk of stale brown bread to eat therewith, do not constitute an altogether satisfactory meal, the first thing in the morning; and it is hardly calculated to inspire him with much pride in his work, when the guest is placed subsequently before his "task" of unbroken flints or tarred rope. CHAPTER III BREAKFAST (_continued_) "There's nought in the Highlands but syboes and leeks, And lang-leggit callants gaun wanting the breeks." Bonnie Scotland--Parritch an' cream--Fin'an haddies--A knife on the ocean wave--_À la Français_--In the gorgeous East--_Chota hazri_--English as she is spoke--Dâk bungalow fare--Some quaint dishes--Breakfast with "my tutor"--A Don's absence of mind. For a "warm welcome" commend me to Bonnie Scotland. Though hard of head and "sae fu' o' learning" that they are "owre deeficult to conveence, ye ken," these rugged Caledonians be tender of heart, and philanthropic to a degree. Hech, sirs! but 'tis the braw time ye'll hae, gin ye trapese the Highlands, an' the Lowlands as well for the matter o' that--in search o' guid refreshment for body an' soul.