COOKING AND EATING. 153

and hanging it up in the heat and smoke of the fire for several days; which
puts the whole mass into a state of fermentation, and gives it such an agree-
able acid taste, that were it not for prejudice, it might be eaten by those
who have the nicest palates. It is true some people with delicate stomachs
would not be easily persuaded to partage of this dish, especially if they saw
it dressed; for most of the fat which is boiled in it is first chewed by the
men and boys, in order to break the globules that contain the fat... In
winter, when the deer feed on fine white moss, the content of the stomach
is so esteemed by them, that I have often seen them sit round a deer where
it was killed, and eat it warm out of the paunch”?}.

The young calves, fawns, beaver, etc. taken from the womb of their
dams are also reckoned most delicate food.

Toothsome morsels are also the genital organs of any eatable animal,
either male or female. Those of the males are usually very tough; yet the
men and boys, who alone enjoy the privilege of eating them, must not
on any account use a cutting tool to facilitate the operation. That piece must
be torn with the teeth. Should any part prove too tough to be masticated,
it is thrown on the fire and burnt, for fear of its being appropriated by a
dog, with the natural consequence that the efficiency of the hunter would
be forever gone as regards the fellows of the animal thus slighted.

The eastern Dénés are also very fond of the womb of the elk, deer,
etc.. which they devour without washing, or any other preparation than
striking out its contents. This is the most disgusting of their dishes, about
which the less said the better.

They are more cleanly with the tripes of cariboo and other large game.
These are fairly well washed, and generally boiled and eaten while more
substantial parts of the animal are cooking, just as is customary among the
Tatars, with this single difference that the latter add thereto the blood of
their victim mixed with oatmeal. One of these ante-prandial bouts by the
nomads squatting round the kettle full of tripe such as described by Huc?2
seems an exact counterpart of the eager devouring by our Dénés of the intes-
tines of the game they have just dispatched.

According to Hearne, the flesh of the eagle, raven and hawks is
always eaten by the northlanders. To my knowledge this is not the case in
the west. Speaking of the Indians east of the Rocky Mountains, Harmon says
that they “frequently eat the flesh of the dog; and our Canadian voyageurs
are as fond of it as of any other meat’. He adds: “I have frequently eaten
of them myself; and have found them as palatable as a young pig and much
of the same flavour’®. That he is right when he speaks of the French

* Op. cit., pp. 317—18.
* Souvenirs d'un Voyage, vol. 1, pp. 344—45.
* “An account of the Indians living E. of the Rocky Mountain”, p. 281.