i sent a small foray against their rear , upon the ground , which was repulsed swiftly by the repositioning of their guns , but one of my dragons was able to seize a packet from their supply-waggons- '' she indicated this , a large square bundle which had been hastily rewrapped ; when one of her crewmen opened it up again , temeraire bending down to sniff found it full of long hard strips of some dark brown stuff that smelt strongly of spice ; pieces were handed around , and when temeraire chewed it , he found that it was meat : quite tough and dry and salty , but perfectly good to eat .