Closely allied to it is the Jack-fruit, which resembles the bread-fruit. This latter, Mr Sedgwick told us, attains the weight of nearly seventy-five pounds; so that even an Indian coolie can only carry one at a time. The part, he showed us, which is generally eaten, is a soft pulpy substance, enveloping each seed. The bread-fruit was baked entirely in the hot embers. It tasted, I thought, very much like mashed potatoes and milk. My uncle said he always compared it to Yorkshire pudding. It was a little fibrous, perhaps, towards the centre, though generally smooth, and somewhat of the consistence of yeast dumplings and batter pudding. Tanda fried part of it in slices, and also made a curry of another part. We had it also as a vegetable, with a gravy poured over it, to eat with meat. Another dish was prepared with sugar and milk, which we were surprised to see, and a treacly substance procured from some sugar-canes grown in a plantation near the house. It made a most delicious pudding.
“You see, I have become somewhat of an epicure,” observed my uncle; “but indeed it has been one of my sources of amusement to see what delicious dishes I could make out of the many bounties which Nature has spread round me.”
We had also, for meat, some pork—part of it fresh and part cured—a joint of venison, and a piece of beef from an animal with which I was afterwards to become acquainted.
I can scarcely describe the fish; but I know, among other things, there was one of the enormous crabs which we saw at Amboyna.
Our dinner was spread on a bamboo table, covered with mats, in what my uncle called his grand hall! It put me in mind somewhat of an ancient hall surrounded by trophies of the chase; partly also of a necromancer’s cavern, as from the ceiling hung curious stuffed animals, skulls, bones, dried plants, and other objects of natural history, in what, I had no doubt, seemed to the occupant perfect order, but which was somewhat incomprehensible to us. When dish after dish was put on the table, Frau Ursula lifted up her hands with astonishment.
“You do live like a prince, Mr Sedgwick,” she observed. “What kind fairy sends you all these good things?”
“I won them with my own arm, with the assistance of my faithful man Tanda here—or, as these young people seem inclined to call him, Friday; and I hope you will show your gratitude to the kind Providence which gives them, by doing justice to them.”
As dish after dish was brought up, the astonishment of all the party increased.
“Surely, uncle, you must have some fairy cook to prepare all these good things,” said Emily.
“I confess without the aid of Tanda they could not be produced,” he answered. “I am greatly helped by him, though occasionally I have given a hint or a little assistance. And now let us drink each other’s health in this palm-wine,” he said, producing a very nice-looking liquid from a huge shell.