“The potatoes were nearly all gone, as before mentioned, but that was to be only a temporary deprivation. We had stores sufficient to last for six months of rice, sago, tapioca, tea, coffee, sugar, raisins, and all those kind of things; but the ship's provisions, which had been mostly left behind to lighten the vessel (the Captain having only taken what was just necessary) were greatly damaged by the rain; they had not been in good tin cases like ours, and eventually were of little use. The packets of seeds became now our most valuable possessions. We had a great quantity of ropes, spars, sails, and other things belonging to the vessel, carpenters' tools, nails, screws, &c., all of which became invaluable to us, though we afterwards discovered a good substitute for nails in the thick sharp thorns of a species of Cactus. We had a great deal of furniture, sofas, bedding, hammocks, tables, chairs, bookcases, a great deal of pantry furniture, of which we were now most careful, knowing we could never replace the china or glass; also, we had a plate chest, in which we had silver to the value of L200. Of kitchen utensils we were greatly in want, almost everything having been lost in the caboose when it was washed away. We had two kettles and a small boiler. The men had constructed a sort of fire-place and oven for Jenny before they left, but it was so far from the dining place that we had everything generally cold. We had about six dozen bottles of various sorts of wine, a large cask of rum and another of brandy, which belonged to the ship's company, plenty of beer, ale, and porter, which, however, being in casks, spoilt long before we could drink it, from the heat of the climate. But such details must be tedious, as it can be easily imagined what our possessions would be out of a vessel victualled, furnished, and prepared for a twelve months' voyage. The result of the investigation, however, proved that of civilized food we had but little, and that we must soon set about preparing to live upon what the island would afford us. And when I looked round on the fertility and richness surrounding us, and the vast variety of food we could indulge in, I could not help thanking the Giver of all good for so much mercy showered upon us in the midst of such extraordinary events.”
A cook of roughly the same moment, setting down the same dish.
If treated at once such stains seldom give much trouble. Place the stained part over a large bowl and pour boiling water upon it until the stain disappears. If, however, the stains be of long standing, and have been washed with soap, it will be difficult to get rid of them. Javelle water (which can be made at home or bought of a druggist) will do it. Put about half a pint of Javelle water and a quart of clear water into an earthen bowl; let the stained article soak in this for several hours; then rinse thoroughly in three waters. It is only white goods that can be treated in this manner, as the Javelle water bleaches out the color. Another way to do is to put a little of the Javelle water in a saucer or small bowl, and soak the spot in this until it disappears. Rinse thoroughly.
Sources: The passage is from Julia de Winton, Yr Ynys Unyg, free to read in full at Project Gutenberg. The recipe is from Parloa, Miss Parloa's Young Housekeeper of 1893, also free in full. Both are in the public domain in the United States. The binding above is ours — forest cloth, grapes stamp.