Page images
PDF
EPUB

tinned, the verdigris, or rust of copper, very soon appears, and this is highly poisonous; particularly if any thing be suffered to stand in it till it becomes cold.

There are few cooks who are not extravagant in coals. A good fire is essential while cooking is going on, which may, perhaps, be the cause of the habit they acquire of keeping a large one at other times of the day. A cook should never suffer her fire to get very low; for she wastes both much coal and time by this negligence. A fire should be regularly supplied with coals, which would prevent it from ever being so smoky as to be unfit for use at a few minutes' notice; and it should be generally known that smoke is merely unconsumed coal: and if it get low, when any thing is required to be prepared quickly, the cook has no resource, but to apply the bellows furiously; so that, before the fire burns properly, much must be wasted. The ashes should be riddled from the cinders, and these reserved to throw on the back of the kitchen fire, after cooking is over; or they will serve to burn in stoves and ovens, when once the fire under them has been lighted.

Ac

Extravagance frequently proceeds from a careless indifference to the interests of her master and mistress. It is part of the cook's duty to take such charge of meat, beer, bread, butter, cheese, and all the articles of common consumption, as shall prevent any degree of waste. cumulations of small pieces of bread ought never to take place with a clever cook, who will always insist upon having these fragments eaten by the servants before fresh pieces are cut from the loaf. When there are any pieces left, she can pour boiling milk over them, and prepare a common bread pudding for the early dinner. There is a frequent waste in the consumption of beer, owing to too much of it being drawn at a time. When this happens to be the case, a thoughtful cook will remember that a crust of bread put into it, and the jug covered over, will for a short time, prevent it from becoming very flat.

A good cook will always be careful that the spits are wiped clean while they are hot, and left ready for the next day's use. The jack should be oiled and cleaned occasionally, or the dust will clog the wheels, prevent it going well, and will make it necessary to have it taken down

and more thoroughly cleaned. It is bad management in a cook ever to be without hot water; especially if she live in a family where there are young children, for whom it is in frequent, and, sometimes, immediate demand. The salt-box and candle-box should both be kept very clean. The former should be hung near the fire, as common salt attracts water from the air and dissolves; and the latter as far from the fire as can be, in a dry place.

Silver spoons should never be used in the kitchen, unless for preparing preserves: wooden and iron spoons are as cleanly, and may be used without fear of scratching or bending them.

When a beer barrel is emptied, it should be stopped close up, or the sediment will turn sour and spoil the barrel; if the sediment be removed and the barrel washed clean out, the bung should then be taken out, and the barrel exposed to the air as freely as possible.

The cook should not permit the dust-hole to remain long without having been emptied, and no cabbage leaves or green vegetable matter should be allowed to be thrown in. These soon ferment, and the gas which is extricated causes an intolerable smell.-Mrs. Parkes.

THE TULIP.

BEHOLD the gay tulip-here pause and admire
How stately it rears its proud head;
Decked out in the richest of Nature's attire,
The queen of the whole flower bed.

To the genial sunshine its bosom it spreads,
And wantonly sports in the gale;
Then folds itself up, when eventide sheds
Its gloom o'er the thickening vale.

Even so in the glittering sunshine of wealth
To revel vain mortals delight;

And suspend their career in the absence of health,
Or the gloom of adversity's night.

But soon, gaudy tulip, thy beauty must fade,
Short, short is thy season of pride;

It was thus with the crocuses down in the shade,-
They flourished, then sickened, and died!

And thus it must be with all living at last,
Nor beauty nor strength can avail;
When the season allotted to mortals is past,
We sink into death's silent vale.

But the tulip's gay flower, when withered away,
And its root, to appearance is dead,
Shall flourish again in its splendid array,
The queen of the whole flower bed.

And to short-sighted man shall less favour be given,
When the grave's gloomy winter is o'er?
Ah! no-for securely transplanted in Heaven,
In bliss he shall bloom evermore.-Anon.

THE CANADIAN INDIANS.

A FAMILY of Indians have pitched their huts very near us; on one of the islands of our lake we can distinguish the thin blue smoke of their wood fires, rising among the trees, from our front window, or curling over the bosom of the waters.

The squaws have been several times to see me; sometimes from curiosity, sometimes with the view of bartering their baskets, mats, ducks, or venison, for pork, flour, potatoes, or articles of wearing apparel. Sometimes their object is to borrow "kettle to cook," which they are very punctual in returning.

Once a squaw came to borrow a washing-tub, but not understanding her language, I could not for some time discover the object of her solicitude; at last she took up a corner of her blanket, and pointing to some soap, began rubbing it between her hands, imitated the action of washing, then laughed, and pointed to a tub; she then held up two fingers, to intimate it was for two days she wanted the loan.

These people appear of gentle and amiable dispositions; and, as far as our experience goes, they are very honest. Once, indeed, the old hunter, Peter, obtained from me some bread, for which he promised to give a pair of ducks, but when the time came for payment, and I demanded my ducks, he looked gloomy, and replied with characteristic brevity, "No duck-Chippewa (meaning Sthis being the name they have affectionately given him) gone up lake with canoe-no canoe- -duck by-and-by." By-and-by is a favourite expression of the Indians, signi

fying an indefinite point of time; may be it means tomorrow, or a week, or a month, or it may be a year, or even more. They rarely give you a direct promise.

As it is not wise to let any one cheat you if you can prevent it, I coldly declined any further overtures to bartering with the Indians until my ducks made their appearance.

Some time afterwards I received one duck by the hands of Maquin, a sort of Indian Flibbertigibbet; this lad is a hunchbacked dwarf, very shrewd, but a perfect imp; his delight seems to be tormenting the grown babies in the wigwam, or teasing the meek deer-hounds. He speaks English very fluently, and writes tolerably for an Indian boy; he usually accompanies the women in their visits, and acts as their interpreter, grinning with mischievous glee at his mother's bad English, and my perplexity at not being able to understand her signs. In spite of his extreme deformity, he seemed to possess no inconsiderable share of vanity, gazing with great satisfaction at his face in the looking-glass. When I asked his name, he replied, "Indian name Maquin, but English name Mister Walker, very good man ;" this was the person he was called after.

These Indians are scrupulous in their observance of the Sabbath, and show great reluctance to having any dealings in the way of trading or pursuing their usual avocations of hunting or fishing on that day.

The young Indians are very expert in the use of a long bow, with wooden arrows, rather heavy, and blunt at the end. Maquin said he could shoot ducks and small birds with his arrows; but I should think they were not calculated to reach objects at any great distance, as they appeared very heavy.

'Tis sweet to hear the Indians singing their hymns of a Sunday night; their rich soft voices rising in the still evening air. I have often listened to this little choir praising the Lord's name in the simplicity and fervour of their hearts, and have felt it was a reproach that these poor half-civilized wanderers should alone be found to gather together to give glory to God in the wilderness.

I was much pleased with the simple piety of our friend the hunter, Peter's squaw, a stout swarthy matron, of a most amiable expression. We were taking our tea when

X.

she softly opened the door and looked in: an encouraging smile induced her to enter, and depositing a brown papouse (Indian for baby or little child) on the ground, she gazed round with curiosity and delight in her eyes. We offered her some tea and bread, motioning to her to take a vacant seat beside the table. She seemed pleased by the invitation, and drawing her little one to her knee, poured some tea into the saucer, and gave it to the child to drink. She eat very moderately, and when she had finished, rose and wrapping her face in the folds of her blanket, bent down her head on her breast in the attitude of prayer. This little act of devotion was performed without the slightest appearance of pharisaical display, but in singleness and simplicity of heart. She then thanked us with a face beaming with smiles and good humour; and taking little Rachel by the hands, threw her over her shoulder with a peculiar sleight that I feared would dislocate the slender thing's arms; but the papouse seemed well satisfied with this mode of treatment.

In long journeys the children are placed in upright baskets of a peculiar form, which are fastened round the necks of the mothers by straps of deer skin; but the young infant is swathed to a sort of flat cradle, secured with flexible hoops, to prevent it from falling out. To these machines they are strapped, so as to be unable to move a limb. Much finery is often displayed in the outer covering and the bandages that confine the papouse.

There is a sling attached to this cradle, that passes over the squaw's neck, the back of the babe being placed to the back of the mother, and its face outward. The first thing a squaw does on entering a house, is to release herself from her burden and place it up against the wall, or chair, chest, or any thing that will support it, where the passive prisoner stands looking not unlike a mummy in its case.

The squaws are most affectionate to their little ones. Gentleness and good humour appear distinguishing traits in the tempers of the female Indians; whether this be natural to their characters, the savage state, or the softening effects of Christianity, I cannot determine.

The squaws are very ingenious in many of their handiworks. We find their birch-bark baskets very convenient

« EelmineJätka »