Cooking.

Repro ID: PW3731

Description: The ship's cook is preparing dinner. Although he is plucking a fresh chicken, most meat used was preserved in barrels of salt. Hard biscuit was more common than fresh bread. Fruit and vegetables went bad quickly and soon ran out on long journeys. The smoking chimney shows the galley (kitchen) stove is lit. No other fires were allowed on wooden ships no matter how cold it was because of the risk of fire.

Creator: W. Heath

Date: 1831

Credit line: National Maritime Museum, London