Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 63, No. 389, March 1848Various
History
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 63, No. 389, March 1848
Various
England -- Periodicals; Scotland -- Periodicals
bear's grease, which had been hidden away by Indians, who doubtless
entertained the laudable design of forwarding it, per next ship, to
the address of a London hairdresser. The boatmen preferred its
internal application to the external one usually made of the famous
capillary regenerator, and in less than two days devoured the whole of
the precious ointment, spread upon the flour-cakes which, with
_pemican_, form their usual provisions. Pemican is buffalo flesh,
dried in flakes and then pounded between two stones. "These are put
into a bag made of the animal's hide, with the hair on the outside,
and well mixed with melted grease; the top of the bag is then sewed
up, and the pemican allowed to cool. In this state it may be eaten
uncooked; but the voyageurs mix it with a little flour and water, and
then boil it; in which state it is known throughout the country by the
elegant name of _robbiboo_. Pemican is good wholesome food, will keep
fresh for a great length of time, and, were it not for its
unprepossessing appearance, and a good many buffalo hairs mixed with
it, through the carelessness of the hunters, would be very palatable."
The Indians, it has already been shown, are by no means particular in
their diet, and devour, with equal relish, a beaver and a kinsman.
Another unusual article of food in favour amongst them is a species of
white owl, which looks, we are told, when skinned, comically like very
young babies. They are large and beautiful birds, sometimes nearly as
big as swans. Mr Ballantyne shot one measuring five feet three inches
across the wings. "They are in the habit of alighting upon the tops of
blighted trees, and on poles of any kind, which happen to stand
conspicuously apart from the forest trees; for the purpose, probably,
of watching for birds and mice, on which they prey. Taking advantage
of this habit, the Indian plants his trap (a fox trap) on the top of a
bare tree, so that, when the owl alights, it is generally caught by
the legs." Owls of all sizes abound in Hudson's Bay, from, the
gigantic species just described, down to the small gray owl, not much
bigger than a man's hand.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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