The Portable Provisions I would furnish our Foresters withal are Glue-Broth and rockahomini: one contains the Essence of Bread, the other of Meat.
The best way of making Glue-Broth is after the following method: Take a Leg of Beef, Veal, Venison, or any other Young Meat, because Old Meat will not so easily jelly. Pare off all the fat, in which there is no Nutriment, and of the Lean make a very strong Broth, after the usual Manner, by Boiling the meat to Rags till all the Goodness is out. After Skimming off what fat remains, pour the Broth into a wide Stew-Pan, well tinn’d, & let it simmer over a gentle, even Fire, till it come to a thick Jelly. Then take it off and set it over Boiling Water, which is an Evener Heat, and not so apt to burn the Broth to the Vessel. Over that let it evaporate, stirring it very often till it be reduc’d, when cold, into a Solid Substance like Glue. Then cut it into small Pieces, laying them Single in the cold, that they may dry the Sooner. When the pieces are perfectly dry, put them into a Cannister, and they will be good, if kept Dry, a whole East India Voyage.
This Glue is so strong, that two or three Drams dissolv'd in boiling Water with a little Salt will make a half a Pint of good Broth, & if you shou'd be faint with Fasting or Fatigue, let a small Piece of this Glue melt in your Mouth, and you will find yourself surprisingly refreshed.
One Pound of this Cookery wou'd keep a Man in good Heart above a Month, and is not only Nourishing, but likewise very wholesome. Particularly it is good against Fluxes, which Woodsmen are very liable to, by lying too near the moist Ground, and guzzling too much cold Water. But as it will be only us'd now and then, in times of Scarcity, when Game is wanting, two Pounds of it will be enough for a Journey of six Months.
But this Broth will be still more heartening if you thicken every Mess with half a Spoonful of Rockahominy, which is nothing but Indian Corn parched without burning, and reduced to Powder. The Fire drives out all the Watery Parts of the Corn, leaving the Strength of it behind, and this being very dry, becomes much lighter for carriage and less liable to be Spoilt by the moist Air.
Thus half a Dozen Pounds of this Sprightful Bread will sustain a Man for many Months, provided he husband it well, and always Spare it when he meets with Venison, which, as I have said before, may be Safely eaten without any Bread at all.
By what I have said, a Man needs not encumber himself with more than 8 or 10 Pounds of Provisions, tho’ he continue half a year in the Woods.
These and his Gun will support him very well during that time, without the least danger of keeping a Single Fast. And tho’ some of his days may be what the French call Jours maigres, yet there will happen no more of these than will be necessary for his health, and to carry off the Excesses of the Days of Plenty, when our Travelers will be apt to indulge their Lawless Appetites too much.
