Page:Some Account of New Zealand.pdf/80

Rh excited to eat more than their natural appetite prompts them to do; but perhaps this is a fortunate circumstance, as were any means employed to increase it, abundant as the supply of food is in this part, it would not prove equal to the demand.

The dog, as an article of food, is, I believe, always roasted, and is esteemed good eating; indeed, as it is an animal that is, in this country, not an unclean feeder, I see no reason why it should not be considered so, particularly as it is almost the only animal food to be obtained.

Thus it will appear that the operations of a New Zealand kitchen are few, and exceedingly simple, but they accomplish the principal object of all cookery, the action of fire upon the food; and though they would not please the palate of an European, the natives here are perfectly well satisfied with them, and rise from their meal with as much chearfulness as an alderman, and with much more activity.