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OTHER SPIRITS
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Stationed by the tub, to see that each sailor drank
his allowance.
Still there was intoxication
amongst the troops, and it was discovered that
many of the sailors' pannikins had false bottoms,
and that in this way the rum was concealed.
After that the ship's ofHcer was enjoined to see
that each sailor partook of his tot; but even this
precaution failed ; for the rum would be ejected
from the men's mouths into a bucket in the
fo'c'sle, and then sold —a disgusting practice
which merited severe punishment, and frequently
obtained it.
We English donot make nearly as much useof
rum in cookery as do our lively neighbours. One
of the most approved of entremets is an omelette au
rhutn, a truly grateful dish, if the omelette be
properlymade, although rum be speltwith an "h."
But it is a mistake to use rum-sauce with plum-
pudding, as do the French ; for brandy is a far
better digestive of the cloying materials of which
the pudding is composed.
As mentioned in
Cakes and Ale^ rum-and-milk is said, by the
chief English authority on dietetics, to be the
most powerful restorative known to man. This
may, or may not, be true ; I am prepared to back
a judicious dose of "the Boy"—not limited to a
" split pint," either. But of all horrible mixtures,
defend me from rum-and-ale, which used to be
a potion much in favour with the dangerous
classes of our metropolis, in the days when I
went " slumming " in search of plain unvarnished
facts.
A steaming tumbler of rum and hot
water, with a piece of butter melted therein, was,
in my younger days, in vogue as an infallible