Thunberg's "Travels in Europe, Africa, and Asia" (1770-1779)

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TRAVELS IN EUROPE, AFRICA AND ASIA
MADE BETWEEN THE YEARS 1770 and 1779
by Charles Peter Thunberg
London: F. and C. Rivington
four volumes
1793 (also 1795 and 1796)

   "Miso soup," anyone?  It's here.  "Sake" wine and "Adzuki" beans, too.
   Four volumes came up.  The first three had no date, but the NYPL bound it as 1793.  Volume Four (Japan, Java, and Ceylon, which I haven't finished) is clearly dated 1796 ("THE THIRD EDITION").
   OED went through the book and dates it to 1795.  However, OED missed "aardvark."  So I checked the OUP's South African Dictionary, and it has the cite as 1795.  (That dictionary misses the cite for "springbok," its national animal, from 1773!  Maybe we need a team of readers on this thing.)
   In addition to the 1793/1795 dating, a more accurate 1770s date can be culled from the text.

VOLUME ONE
Pg. 137:  The _ant-eater_, or aardvarken (_myrmecophaga_) digs large holes in the earth, in which in the day time he lies secure from his enemies.

VOLUME TWO
Pg. 23:  The leaping goats (_Springboks_)...
   The wild goats (_Steenboks_)...
   ...the diving goats (_Duykers_)...
Pg. 44:  Ree-boks, Rietboks (_Capra_) and Bonteboks (_Capra Scripta_)...
Pg. 283:  The white arrack, whis is call'd _Kneip_, and is immediately bottled off, is stronger, and is used chiefly in India.  (See OED's 1854 "Kneipe"--ed.)
Pg. 268:  ...cayenne pepper (_capsicum_), with which almost every dish is seasoned.

VOLUME THREE
Pg. 73:  After dinner, warm sakki (Spelled "sacki" in volume four!  OED has 1687, then 1797.  This date is January 1775--ed.) was handed round, which was drank out of lacquered wooden cups.
Pg. 115 (1776):  A species of _Ulva_ (or sea weed) was gathered on the sea beach here, which was called _Awa Nori_, and which, when dried and roasted over the coals, and afterwards rubbed down to a very fine powder, was eaten with boiled rice, and sometimes put into Miso soup.
Pg. 116:  _Laxa_, is the denomination given to a kind of thread or string, about four yards long, which is sold rolled up almost all over the country.  It is made of wheat or buck-wheat-flour, and is sold by weight.  That which was made from Buck-wheat, was in a more peculiar manner called _Sabakiri_, by the Japanese.  This string is cut into small pieces, and mixed with soup, to which it gives a very agreeable, and somewhat glutinous taste, without dissolving in the liquor, and is very nourishing.  When put into soup, with leeks and force-meat balls made of fish, this dish is called _Niomen_; but, if it be mixed with Cayenne pepper or soy, it is called _Somen_.
Pg. 120:  The fruit that was only dried, such as plumbs and the like, was called _Mebos_...  (The revised OED entry has this cite and dates it to 1795.  The NYPL has 1793, and the book indicates 1776--ed.)
Pg. 123:  The people in office at this place, who wore two fabres, were called _Samrai_ (OED dates this "samurai" cite to 1795--ed); and such as were entitled to wear but one, were called _Tjonen_.
Pg. 127:  _Sigaki_ are a kind of oysters which are caught at _Miterai_, and are well tasted.

VOLUME FOUR
Pg. 38:  _Miso_ soup, boiled with fish and onions, is eaten by the common people frequently three times a day, or at each of their customary meals.  _Misos_ are not unlike lentils, and are small beans, gathered from the _Dolichos foja_.
Pg. 39 (DRINK):  TEA and sacki-beer constitute the sole liquors of the Japanese, which fall infinitely short in number of those which the thirst Europeans can exhibit.
Pg. 40:  _Sacki_ is the name of a kind of beer, which the Japanese prepare from rice; it is tolerably clear, and not a little resembles wine, but has a very singular taste, which cannot be reckoned extremely pleasant.
Pg. 88:  Of _Daidsu_ Beans (Dolichos _Soja_) the meal is used for dressing victuals, and the expressed juice for making Soy; as is likewise the whole Bean for the soup called _Miso_, which is a daily dish with the common people.  _Atsuki_ Beans likewise (_Phaseolus radiatus_) are ground to meal, of which small cakes are made with sugar.  The common Pea (_Pisum Sativum_) and the broad Bean (_vicia faba_) I saw sown and made use of in some places.  In like manner divers sorts of grass are cultivated, for the sake of using their feeds for food both for man and beast, as the _Awa_ (_Panicum verticillcatum_), _Kibi_ (_Holcus forghum_), or Millet; _Ko Kibi_ (_Panicum Corvi_), _Nan ban Kiwi_, (_Cynofurus Coracannus_) with several others.

(Kiwi?--ed.)