6 8 VIDOE.
4
to two soup-plates full of this, which we ate
without knowing if any thing more was to
come. No sooner, however, was the soup
removed, than two large salmon, boiled and
cut in slices, were brought on, and, with
them, melted butter, looking like oil, mixed
with vinegar and pepper: this, likewise, was
very good, and we with some difficulty
cleared our plates, earnestly hoping we had
finished our dinners. Not so; for there was
then introduced a turenne full of the eggs
of the Cree, or great tern, boiled hard, of
which a dozen were put upon each of our
plates; and, for sauce, we had a large basin
of cream, mixed with sugar, in which were
four spoons, so that we all ate out of the same
bowl, placed in the middle of the table.
We petitioned hard to be excused from eating
the whole of the eggs upon our plates, but
we petitioned in vain. “ You are my guests,”
said he, “ and this is the first time you have
done me the honor of a visit, therefore, you
must do as / would have you ; in future,
when you come to see me, you may do as
you like,” In his own excuse, he * pleaded
* In Kamtschatka, acccording to Kracheninnikow,
when a feast is given to a person for the purpose of
his age for not following our example, to
which we could make nq reply. We devoured
with difficulty our eggs and cream;
but had no sooner dismissed our plates, than
half a sheep, well roasted, came on, with a
mess of sorrel (Rumex acetosa), called by the
Danes scurvy-grass, boiled, meshed, and
sweetened with sugar. It was to no purpose
we assured our host that we had already
eaten more than would do us good : he filled
our plates with the mutton and sauce, and
made us get through it as well as we could ;
although any one of the dishes, of which
we had before partaken, was sufficient for
the dinner of a moderate man. However,
even this was not all ; for a large dish of
Wajfels, as they are here called, that is to
say, a sort of pancake, made of wheat-flour,
flat, and roasted in a mould, which forms a
number of squares on the top, succeeded the
mutton. They were not more than half an
inch thick, and about the size of an octavo
book. The Stiftsamptman said he would
gaining his friendship, the master of the house eats nothing
during the repast ; “ Il a la liberté de sortir de la
Jourte quand il le veut; mais le Convié ne le peut
qu’ après qu’il s’est avoué vaincu. ”