Every encouragement was given to the curing of pork upon Norfolk Island;
but the casks in which the salt meat was sent from England were in
general so extremely feeble by the time they arrived, that scarcely one
in a hundred was fit for that purpose a second time. Could any timber,
fit for this use, have been found in the country, yet a supply of hoops
and salt pans would have been necessary; and, unless it was cured in the
winter season, and the method observed by Captain Cook was practised at
Norfolk island, it remained a doubt whether it could be accomplished to
any considerable extent.
The price of fresh pork having been raised in consequence of the failure
of the late harvest, as a temporary relief to those who had suffered by
that misfortune, the commissary was, at the close of this month, directed
to return to the price formerly established, viz nine-pence per pound.
The state of the public stores with respect to salt provision having been
carefully examined, it became necessary to make a small reduction of the
ration in time, in order to prevent a greater.
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