, in 1686, "It is an unhappy thing that in
later years a Kind of Drink called Rum has been common among us. They
that are poor, and wicked too, can for a penny or twopence make
themselves drunk." Burke said, at a later date, "The quantity of spirits
which they distil in Boston from the molasses they import is as
surprising as the cheapness at which they sell it, which is under two
shillings a gallon; but they are more famous for the quantity and
cheapness than for the excellency of their rum." In 1719, and fifty
years later, New England rum was worth but three shillings a gallon,
while West India rum was worth but twopence more. New England
distilleries quickly found a more lucrative way of disposing of their
"kill-devil" than by selling it at such cheap rates. Ships laden with
barrels of rum were sent to the African coast, and from thence they
returned with a most valuable lading--negro slaves. Along the coast of
Africa New England rum quite drove out French brandy.

The Irish and Scotch settlers knew how to make whiskey from rye and
wheat, and they soon learned to manufacture it from barley and potatoes,
and even from the despised Indian corn.

Not content with their own manufactured liquors, the thirsty colonists
imported strong waters, gin and aniseseed cordial from Holland, and wine
from Spain, Portugal, and the Canaries. Of these, fiery Madeiras were
the favorite of all fashionable folk and often each glass of wine was
strengthened by a liberal dash of brandy. Bennet wrote, in 1740, of
Boston society, "Madeira wine and rum punch are the liquors they drink
in common." Though "spiced punch in bowls the Indians quaffed" in 1665,
I do not know of the Oriental mixed drink in New England till 1682, when
John Winthrop writes of the sale of a punch-bowl. In 1686 John Dunton
had more than one "noble bowl of punch," during his visit to New
England. The word punch was from the East Indian word _pauch_, meaning
five. S. M. (who was probably Samuel Mather) sent these lines to Sir
Harry Frankland in 1757, with the gift of a box of lemons:

"You know from Eastern India came
The skill of making punch as did the name.
And as the name consists of letters five,
By five ingredients is it kept alive.
To purest water sugar must be joined,
With these the grateful acid is combined.
Some any sours they get contented use,
But men of taste do that from Tagus choose.
When now these three are mixed wit