The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1662: Chapter 47: When You Spot One Hastings, His Friends Have Already Filled Kensington_2

”Though Mr. Zhongma is indeed a gourmet, in terms of the pursuit of ingredients, Mr. Darwin is more similar to you.”

The Duchess was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, pausing briefly with the silver spoon in her hand, and a puzzled smile appeared on her face: ”Mr. Darwin? I thought he was a scholar studying plants and animals, but he also values ingredients?”

Arthur nodded slightly, a smile in his eyes: ”It may not be entirely for the pleasure of the palate, but rather out of an almost frenzied desire for knowledge. According to Charles himself, he said, ’If I don’t taste them, how can I truly understand their existence?’ He researched and tasted crocodiles, rats, flying squirrels, and pangolins, some even after personally dissecting them.”

”This... is truly unheard of.”

The Duchess chuckled and shook her head, but didn’t seem particularly surprised.

Perhaps it is because of the alchemist legends inherited from the Middle Ages, or because novelists like Mrs. Shelley have created novels like ”Frankenstein”. Therefore, in this era, the public always has a peculiar tolerance for the eccentric hobbies of researchers in natural philosophy.

Whether it’s a bad temper, an eccentric personality, or some quirky habits, everyone finds it normal.

Scientists should be weird people. In other words, if he is not a weird person, how can he be a scientist?

Compared to Darwin eating his way through the biological world, the Duchess of Kent was more concerned with what Darwin found the tastiest.

”I am a little woman from Germany, and before I came to Britain, I had never even been abroad, so my experience cannot be considered broad.” The Duchess of Kent curiously inquired: ”However, what do you think, if Mr. Darwin were to help enrich Kensington Palace’s menu, which ingredients might he choose?”

”Hmm...” Arthur was momentarily taken aback by the question: ”That’s really hard to say... because ever since Charles began his globetrotting journey, almost every time he writes back, he shares with me some delicious animals I’ve never heard of or seen.”

”For instance?”

Arthur rubbed his temples: ”For example, on the Falkland Islands, they once hunted a cow, and cut several large pieces of meat with skin and took them away. Charles told me their dinner that day was meat cooked with the skin, and said it tasted far better than ordinary beef, with the texture close to venison, and slightly better than mutton.”

Victoria, who was focused on her exam papers, couldn’t help but turn her head upon hearing this, only for her little movement to be immediately noticed by Lady Leisen beside her.

This tutor, who normally only favored potatoes, gently shook her head at Victoria and whispered something unknown, which made Victoria refocus.

The Duchess of Kent also noticed her daughter’s little move but, due to the presence of guests, could not reprimand her and said helplessly: ”You’d best not mention mutton. That’s Delina’s favorite food; it’s very easy to distract her.”

Arthur chuckled softly: ”If that’s the case, perhaps I could write to Charles to see if he can bring a wild American bison back to Britain. If the Princess passes her exam successfully, this bison will be my gift to her.”

The Duchess of Kent couldn’t help but laugh: ”That’ll take a few years, I suppose?”

”It might not take that long, as it now takes only 22 days to travel from London to the United States. If the Beagle doesn’t need to perform a global voyage and returns according to the original route, they should have returned to Plymouth last year.”

At this, Arthur suddenly slapped his forehead: ”I might have gone off track. Let’s talk about animal ingredients again. By the way, do you know Eld Carter?”

”Mr. Carter? Of course.” The Duchess of Kent replied half-jokingly: ”He is a very talented young man. Two years ago, when Sir Walter Scott was still alive, I asked him for book recommendations, and he said to me, ’Your Highness, consider reading Carter’s books.’ But why mention Mr. Carter now? Is he an edible animal?”

”Mr. Carter certainly isn’t edible, but he does have a connection with animals.” Arthur replied calm and steady: ”The Pampas Grassland in South America has many wild animals, some of which are native, while others are invasive species, as you should know.”

The Duchess of Kent stifled a laugh: ”Are you implying Mr. Carter is an invasive species?”

”I have no such intention, but if you insist, biologically speaking, Mr. Carter is indeed an animal.”

Arthur cleared his throat: ”I forgot to mention that Mr. Carter is also part of the globe-trotting scientific exploration team. Once, he and Mr. Darwin rode horses around a group of ostriches. When they were close enough, Mr. Carter jumped off his horse, pulled out a gun butt, and hammered an ostrich’s head. According to his own words, ostriches are one of the dumbest animals he’s ever seen. You can hit as many as you want. However, ostrich meat isn’t particularly tasty, so after he and Darwin tried it once, they lost interest.”

The Duchess of Kent was greatly disappointed: ”I thought with such a buildup, ostrich meat would be delicious.”

”Don’t worry, Your Highness.” Arthur said: ”While ostrich meat might not be tasty, ostrich eggs are quite the opposite. And there are lots of ostrich eggs, with each nest having more than 20. Each ostrich egg weighs as much as eleven chicken eggs, so you see, just eating ostrich eggs alone in South America won’t leave you hungry.”