The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 10, No. 289, December 22, 1827Various
General
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 10, No. 289, December 22, 1827
Various
Popular literature -- Great Britain -- Periodicals
Pulque, which is the favourite drink of the Mexicans, is extracted from
the Manguey, or Great American Aloe; at the time of throwing its flower
stem, it is hollowed in the centre and the juice which should have
supplied the flowers, is taken from it daily, for about two months;
which juice when fermented is immediately fit for drinking. A very
strong brandy is obtained by distillation. So great is the consumption
that the duty collected at the city gates, amounts annually to 600,000
dollars--_From a Correspondent_.
HATCHING CHICKENS.
The following singular, though effectual mode of hatching chickens,
prevails in the interior of Sumatra; and is vouched for by Major Clayton
of the Bencoolen council:--
The hens, whether from being frightened off their nests by the rats,
which are very numerous and destructive, or from some other cause
hitherto prevalent in Sumatra, do not hatch their chickens in the
ordinary way, as is seen in almost all other climates. The natives have
for this purpose, in each village, several square rooms, the walls of
which are made of a kind of brick, dried in the sun. In the middle of
these rooms they make a large fire, round which they place their eggs at
regular distances. In this manner they let them lie for fourteen days,
now and then turning them, that the warmth may be equal in all parts;
and on the fifteenth day, the chicken makes its appearance, and proves
in every respect as strong as those hatched according to the course of
nature.--_From a Correspondent._
AFRICAN COOKERY.
The legs and feet of the rhinoceros are cooked in the following curious
method by the wild tribes of Southern Africa:--The ants nests are
composed of hard clay, shaped like a baker's oven, and are from two to
four feet in height. Some of these are excavated by the people, and
their innumerable population destroyed. The space thus obtained is
filled with lighted fuel, till the bottom and sides become red hot
within. The embers of the wood are then removed, the leg or foot of the
rhinoceros introduced, and the door closed up with heated clay and
embers. Fire is also made on the outside over the nests, and the flesh
is allowed to remain in it several hours. Food cooked in this way is
highly relished by all the tribes.
EASTERN DIVORCES.
If a man pronounce three divorces against a free woman, or two against a
slave, he can lawfully wed neither of them again, unless they have been
espoused by another, and this second husband dies, or shall divorce
them. When it happens that a husband wishes to recover his wife, whom he
had divorced in a passion, a convenient husband is sought; but the law
forbids a mockery being made of such marriages. They may be short in
duration, but the parties must live, during the period they are united,
as man and wife.
ARAB CHARACTER.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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