PREPARATION OF ACORNS FOR FOOD. 337 
other material. One consisted of a low framework supporting a lot 
of dry pine needles which were arranged in the form of a basin and 
covered with a piece of ordinary gunny sacking. This had the advan- 
tage of keeping the mea] entirely free from sand. Very little of that 
material is mixed with the meal in the ordinary process, however, for 
precautions are taken to guard against it. The sand is patted down 
well and sometimes a bed of leaves serves for a foundation. In pour- 
ing fresh supplies of water on the meal some thick material, like the 
leafy branch of the incense cedar (Libocedrus decurrens) or w small tule 
mat, is first spread over the top so that the water will flow gently all 
over the meal. The cedar is preferred on account of the balsamic 
flavor which it imparts to the meal, and it is used in subsequent 
operations also for the same qualities. 
The acorn meal after this process has the consistency of ordinary 
dough. It is sometimes converted into bread while still in the sand 
by building a fire around it; but this method is objectionable on 
account of the sand which adheres to the bread and the loss of the oil, 
which, when hot, passes into the sand. A considerable quantity is 
scooped out from the center of the depression, and this, which is 
entirely free from sand, is reserved and afterwards made into bread. 
The remainder of the dough, with, perhaps, a little of the adhering 
sand, is rubbed up with varying proportions of water in a large ** feast 
basket” like one of those shown in figure 71, and in this it is converted 
into soup. The sand rapidly settles to the bottom and does not, there- 
fore, contaminate the soup in any way. Water-tight baskets were the 
only cooking vessels which the natives originally possessed, and they 
are still very largely used in the process of soup making, the source 
of heat being hot rocks, which are placed in with the meal and water. 
Two pieces of green wood, used like a pair of tongs, serve to carry the 
rocks from the fire to the basket and again to the fire. Before being 
placed in the basket, however, each is sometimes washed free from 
ashes by plunging it once or twice into a basin of water. When 
cooked, the mush has very much the same appearance as corn-meal 
porridge, but is usually brownish red. It has a slightly sweetish 
taste, but it is, on the whole, rather insipid and unsavory. Neverthe- 
less, it is very much esteemed by nearly all of these Indians even at 
the present time, and many Americans who are more or less accus- 
tomed to it prefer it to other kinds of mush. According to its con- 
sistency, or to the whims of the eaters, it is eaten by dipping one, two, 
or three fingers into the basket, which serves as a common receptacle, 
and thus conveying the thick, gruel-like soup to the mouth, or it may 
be dipped out by a big mussel shell. This shell is known to the Yukis 
as nok, a name which they apply to spoons also. Spoons and separate 
dishes have been recently introduced. No salt is used in the mush, 
although it is generally used with all kinds of pinole, 
6703—No, 3—01——4 
