The Life and Adventures of Bruce, the African TravellerHead, Francis Bond, Sir
History
The Life and Adventures of Bruce, the African Traveller
Head, Francis Bond, Sir
Bruce, James, 1730-1794; Ethiopia -- Description and travel
With respect to raw beef being nauseous, it may, in the first place, be
observed, that "de gustibus non est disputandum,"[26] and, consequently,
we can only say it would be nauseous _to us_. In fact, even Salt, who
was by no means an unprejudiced man, after having eaten raw beef in
Abyssinia, says, "I am satisfied it is merely prejudice which deters us
from this food." But, admitting it to be nauseous, that forms no proof
that it is not likely to be the food of man, for it is well known that
there are few animals that feed more grossly than he sometimes does.
Captain Parry, for instance, thus describes the appetites of the human
beings it became his fortune to visit:
"It is impossible to describe the horribly disgusting manner in which
they sat down, as soon as they felt hungry, to eat their raw blubber,
and to suck the oil remaining on the skins we had just emptied. I found
that Pootooalook had been successful in bringing in a seal, over which
two elderly women were standing, armed with large knives, their hands
and faces besmeared with blood, and delight and exultation depicted on
their countenances. All the loose scraps were put into the pot for
immediate use, except such as the two butchers now and then crammed into
their mouths, or distributed to the numerous and eager by-standers for
still more immediate consumption. Of these morsels the children came in
for no small share, every little urchin that could find its way to the
slaughter-house running eagerly in, and between the legs of the men and
women presenting its mouth for a large lump of raw flesh, just as an
English child of the same age might do for a piece of sugar-candy."...
"As soon as this dirty operation was at an end, during which the
numerous by-standers amused themselves in chewing the intestines of the
seal," ... "they dropped their canoes astern to the whale's tail, from
which they cut off enormous lumps of flesh, and ravenously devoured
it."[27]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account