ny former attempt of the same
kind, it may not be improper to give an account of the detail of the
operation.

It has generally been thought impracticable to cure the flesh of
animals by salting in tropical climates, the progress of putrefaction
being so rapid, as not to allow time for the salt to take (as they
express it) before the meat gets a taint, which prevents the effect of
the pickle. We do not find that experiments, relative to this subject,
have been made by the navigators of any nation before Captain Cook. In
his first trials, which were made in 1774, during his second voyage to
the Pacific Ocean, the success he met with, though very imperfect, was
yet sufficient to convince him of the error of the received opinion.
As the voyage, in which he was now engaged, was likely to be
protracted a year beyond the time for which the ships had been
victualled, he was under the necessity of providing, by some such
means, for the subsistence of the crews, or of relinquishing
the further prosecution of his discoveries. He therefore lost no
opportunity of renewing his attempts, and the event answered his most
sanguine expectations.

The hogs which we made use of for this purpose, were of various sizes,
weighing from four to twelve stone.[5] The time of slaughtering was
always in the afternoon; and as soon as the hair was scalded off, and
the entrails removed, the hog was divided into pieces of four or eight
pounds each, and the bones of the legs and chine taken out, and, in
the larger sort, the ribs also. Every piece then being carefully wiped
and examined, and the veins cleared of the coagulated blood, they were
handed to the salters, whilst the flesh remained still warm. After
they had been well rubbed with salt, they were placed in a heap on a
stage raised in the open air, covered with planks, and pressed with
the heaviest weights we could lay on them. In this situation they
remained till the next evening, when they were again well wiped and
examined, and the suspicious parts taken away. They were then put into
a tub of strong pickle, where they were always looked over once
or twice a day, and if any piece had not taken the salt, which was
readily discovered by the smell of the pickle, they were immediately
taken out, re-examined, and the sound pieces put to fresh pickle.
This, however, after the precautions before used, seldom happened.
After six days, they were taken out, examined for the last time, and
being again