ALL ROUND THE WORLD.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 127, 16 September 1876, Page 3

ALL ROUND THE WORLD.

. The says that various guesse* . have been made as to the amount of the deceased Mr. Batrd's wealth and the in--1 wins likely to accrue: yearly to his iirm. It is impossible in the meantime to give any kiefs of Mr. Baird's private fortune, ; but it is believed that in prosperous years tlit? profits), derived from the concern of : whicEt he was so long the: head exceeded a . million sterling. As a landed proprietor, ' Mr. JBftifil occupied a position. In 155.-J he paid L £22,000S- the estate of : Cambuadoort, in Ayrsliro; and, f»tir years afterwards, ,£tIO,ODO for Knoydart, : in Inverness-shir.?. Six years later he 1 purchased the estate of Muirkirk at a cost : of £tn>,ooo, and he inherited f**om his | brother the estate of Auchmedden, in | Aberdeenshire, which coat about £OO,OOO. Mr. Baird was also the possessor of smaller properties in Ayrshire, while other nyeni- , bers of the faintly own estates in different parts of the country valued at no less than two-and-a-half millions sterling. We take the following from the »Swi»- • Ctjie AV«.« In -reply to a question in the Mnn(h for January, in this Journal, regarding the edibility of rats, we i have been favoured by a clergyman, in the Wtssfc of England, witli the following:— "In the year 1831-5 I was on board ship at Port Louis, in the Mauritius, when it was found necessary to smoke the hold out, to get rid of the rats that infested the ship. Three hundred and ninety rata were fon rid sntFocated round the fires. A French third mate who wa3 on board proposed to cook, and actually did cook, some of the finest of th;m. These I tasted, and indeed ate of them. Chiefly the hind legs were eaten. They were exceedingly white, delicate, and tender, and as far as I remember put me in mind of chicken, with a alight flavor of game about it. They had been well nourished, and were plump and in good condition. I would not object to eat them perfectly prepared, and should regard such food as a great boon after salt junk and pickled pork of sis years* storing. If lam not mistaken, the Frenchman fried them, after carefully cleaning. I think it possible that the sulphur which had been used for smoking the ship may have helped to give a slightly modified flavour to them ; but it was not sufficient to be at all disagreeable."