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Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919). Through the Brazilian Wilderness. 1914.

Page 379

DAILY RATION FOR
FIVE MEN
SUN.MON.TUES.WED.THUR.FRI.SAT.
Rice16
16

16
Oatmeal
13

13
13
Bread100100100100100100100
Tea-biscuits18
18
18

Gingersnaps
21
21
2121
Dehydrated potatoes111111111111
Dehydrated onions555555
Erbswurst
8
8
8
Evaporated soups6
6


6
Baked beans



25
25
Condensed milk17171717171717
Bacon44444444444444
Roast beef
56½




Braised beef

56


56
Corned beef


70


Ox tongue



78

Curry and chicken




71¾
Boned chicken61





Fruits: evaporated berries
5
55
5
Figs20
20



Dates




16
Sugar32323232323232
Coffee10½10½10½10½10½10½10½
Tea
Salt4444444
Sweet chocolate


16


EACH BOX ALSO CONTAINED
Muslin, one yard.1111111
Matches, boxes2222222
Soap, one cake1111111
  Above weights of food are net in avoirdupois ounces. Each complete ration with its tin container weighed nearly twenty-seven pounds. The five pounds over net weight of daily ration was taken up in tin necessary for protection of food. The weight of component parts of daily ration had to be governed to some extent by the size of the commercial package in which the food could be purchased on short notice. Austin, Nichols & Co., of New York, who supplied the food stores for my polar expedition, worked day and night to complete the packing of the rations on time.
  The food cases described above were used on Colonel Roosevelt’s descent of the Rio da Dúvida and also by the party who journeyed down the Gy-Paran&á and Madeira Rivers. Leo Miller, the naturalist, who was a member of the last-named party, arrived in Manaos, Brazil, while I was there and, in answer to my question, told me that the food served admirably and was good, but that the native cooks had a habit of opening a number of cases at a time to satisfy their personal desire for special delicacies. Bacon was the article most sought for. Speaking critically, for a strenuous piece of work like the exploration of the Dúvida, the food was somewhat bulky.