To bake a fish, clean it — if it is large enough to be emptied through a hole in the neck, do not slit the belly — season with salt and pepper, and, if liked, stuff with Indian meal. Have ready a good bed of glowing hardwood coals; cover it with a thin layer of ashes, that the fish may not be burnt. Lay the fish on this, and cover it with more ashes and coals. Half an hour, more or less, is required, according to size.

On removing the fish, pull off the skin, and the flesh will be found clean and palatable.

A bird, for example a duck, is baked in much the same way. Draw it, through a small slit at the vent, but do not remove the feathers. If you like stuffed duck, stuff with bread crumbs or broken biscuit, well seasoned with salt and pepper. Wet the feathers by dipping the bird in water; then bury it in the ashes and coals. A teal will require about half an hour; other birds in proportion.