c. 1690.—"Curcuma in Indiâ tam ad cibum quam ad medecinam adhibetur, Indi enim ... adeo ipsi adsueti sunt ut cum cunctis admiscent condimentis et piscibus, praesertim autem isti quod karri ipsis vocatur."—Rumphius, Pars Vta. p. 166.
c. 1759-60.—"The currees are infinitely various, being a sort of fricacees to eat with rice, made of any animals or vegetables."—Grose, i. 150.
1781.—"To-day have curry and rice for my dinner, and plenty of it as C——, my messmate, has got the gripes, and cannot eat his share."—Hon. J. Lindsay's Imprisonment, in Lives of Lindsays, iii. 296.
1794-97.—
"The Bengal squad he fed so wondrous nice,
Baring his currie took, and Scott his rice."
Pursuits of Literature, 5th ed., p. 287.
This shows that curry was not a domesticated dish in England at the date of publication. It also is a sample of what the wit was that ran through so many editions!
c. 1830.—"J'ai substitué le lait à l'eau pour boisson ... c'est une sorte de contre-poison pour l'essence de feu que forme la sauce enragée de mon sempiternel cari."—Jacquemont, Correspondance, i. 196.
1848.—"Now we have seen how Mrs. Sedley had prepared a fine curry for her son."—Vanity Fair, ch. iv.