Edible Animals.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 880, 11 January 1889, Page 4

Edible Animals.

As to what really constitute articles of food, it seems that everything possessed of life, in addition to so many inanimate things, must be included in the category; it is a matter of climate and associations as to what shall be chosen from the vast store. In South Amerioa the inhabitants eat everything, even Berpents and lizardß. Humboldt has there seen even children drag enormous centipedes out of their holo3 and crunch them up. Puppies are choice food on the Missouri and Mississippi, and at Emeraldi the tid-bit is a roasted monkey. The flesh of the larger animals is appreciated variously —in Arabia the horse, in India the elephant, and in Egypt the camel. The Chinese taste is for cats, dogs, rats, and serpents, while bears’-paws aud birds’-nests are dainties. But the Pariahs of Hindostan have all stronger stomachs, for they contend with the dogs, vultures, and kites for putrid carrion. The nearest approach to this remarkable taste is afforded by the inhabitants of Cochin China, who prefer rotten eggs to fresh ones. At Terracina a guest will be asked whether he prefers a land or a water eel. In the West Indies a large caterpillar found on a palm-tree is esteemed a luxury, while the edible nests of Java swallows are so rich a dainty that the ingredients of a dish will coat U 3 much as £ls.—Gentleman’s Magazine.