I have frequently visited my aunt’s dairy; and the operations there are so new to one just fresh from a country where cows and dairy are but little attended to, that I take constant interest in them. “And the milkmaid singeth blithe” is now a familiar image to me; formerly it was only from your description I understood it. How is it that such a precious gift as milk can be overlooked in any part of the world, particularly in one that abounds with cattle as Brazil does; while, in some of the rocky parts of South America, the palo de vaca, or cow tree, is considered such a treasure? But it is curious that I never heard of that tree till I came here. Humboldt says that it has dry, stiff leaves, and its large woody roots seem as if they could scarcely penetrate into the crevices of the barren rocks on which it grows. For several months in the year, the foliage is not softened by a single shower, and its branches appear dead or dried; though, when the trunk is pierced, a sweet and nourishing milk flows from it. This milk is most abundant at the time of sunrise, and the natives are then seen hastening from all quarters, with large bowls, to receive it. He says it is rather thick, but sweet and well tasted.
I am making myself acquainted with all the dairy operations here, so that I shall be able, if ever I return to you, to teach them to our neighbours—from the milking of the cows to the making of the butter. To shew that I know some of them already, I must tell you that each cow is milked twice over, both in the morning and evening. What she first yields is called the fore-milk, and is not nearly equal to the second in richness, which is always strained separately, and set in separate pans. From this comes all the nice cream we have at breakfast and tea.
Both are skimmed a second time; and the produce is all collected in pans. When there is a sufficient quantity (that is, about every second day), this cream, which has been thus collecting, has become sufficiently acid, and is churned. My aunt tells me that the oily particles are, by the motion of the churn dash, separated from the whey, which, together, formed the cream, and thus become butter.
This is the method here; but she says that in some parts of England it is managed differently; for the second milk is there put along with the cream collected for churning; and by this means, instead of a poor sort of whey, which is given to the pigs, there remains a great deal of nice butter milk, that is very nourishing and agreeable, and forms a great part of the food of the poor. My aunt says she has even seen good cheese made of buttermilk; and the Scotch, after tying it up in bags and suffering it to drain, make a favourite dish, which they eat with sugar and lemon.
20th.—Extracts from another letter of cousin Hertford’s—it is dated August 22, though it only arrived yesterday—being delayed in the islands by contrary winds.
* * * * “There is a greater number and variety of ancient remains to be found in Islay, than in any of the neighbouring islands. I saw several monumental stones, which are as usual attributed to the Danes; but you know these rude monuments were common to all the descendants of the great Celtic nation. There are also some of those little round hills of earth called barrows, some of which have been excavated and found to contain urns and ashes; the burning of the dead having been at times practised among the Celts.
“Some of those ancient weapons called celts, made of stone as well as of brass, have been found in this island: and also the elf-shot or flint arrow heads, the universal weapon of ancient times; what amazing patience it must have required to shape this weapon into the accurate form which it usually possesses!
“Among other antique remains discovered in Islay, are eighteen large gold rings, which were buried in one spot. They are bent into a circular form but not closed; and having been at first used by the person who found them as handles for his drawers, they are still employed in the same way, though their value has long been known. It is supposed that they were the collars of Roman officers, and probably the spoils of war.
“I observed a curious circumstance in this island which I may as well mention here. At its western extremity the cattle visit the beach every day at low water, and quit their pastures to feed on sea-weed. The accuracy with which they attend to the diurnal changes of the ebb tide is very remarkable; as they are seldom mistaken even when they have some miles to walk to the beach. They are very fond of fish also, preferring it to the best grass. In Shetland, I am told, that both dogs and horses eat fish from choice, and that this is a practice very common also in Canada.”
When this part of Hertford’s letter was read, my uncle said that a friend of his who had been for some time at Stockton upon Tees, observed that the cattle, who always came to drink at the river when the tide was out, and the salt-water retired, calculated the proper time with unfailing precision.