DRIED MEAT — WENTWORTH 567 



teachings, the percentage of fat desired was as high in summer as in 

 winter. A convenient method of figuring the proportion of fat is by 

 the calories furnished from it in proportion to the calories coming 

 from the lean. Most Americans tasting pemmican for the first time 

 prefer 50-50, or at most 60-40. But for the hard-working coureurs- 

 de-bois 70-30 was too small, and 80-20 was preferred. When Earl 

 Parker Hansen, the tropical explorer, went to Liberia a few years 

 ago, Armour and Company manufactured both 70-30 and 80-20 varie- 

 ties for him, but in a few days he came to the conclusion that only the 

 latter suited his needs. Similarly, for cold climates, R. E. Priestley, 

 favored an even higher proportion, 60 percent of fat by weight, which 

 probably provided more than 90 percent of the calories. 20 



The problem of bulk was another question leading the way from 

 jerky to pemmican. The original strips of dried meat were never flat 

 enough to pack well and the "beat meat" was too fluffy. "When ready 

 for manufacture into pemmican, the bag, bladder, or other membrane 

 receptacle, was filled loosely (like feathers in a pillow), and melted 

 tallow, about the temperature of lard for frying doughnuts (365° F.), 

 was poured into the container. 21 



An excellent illustration of the importance of this reduced bulk oc- 

 curred during the Gold Rush in California. The hordes of prospec- 

 tors soon exhausted the game supply, the surplus from the Mexican- 

 and Spanish-owned ranches, and the animals that could be driven 

 from nearby territories like New Mexico and the Midwest. So im- 

 portant amounts of Oregon jerky and pemmican (especially the 

 former) were shipped by vessel to San Francisco or transported by 

 pack animals to the northern California mining regions. 



The food value of pemmican is surprising. Considered from the 

 standpoint of calories the maximum of energy that can be crammed 

 into a pound of digestible food is around 4,000 to 4,200 calories — the 

 amount in a pound of pure lard. 22 Pemmican often yielded 3,200 to 

 3,500 calories, depending on the ratio of fat. Three-quarters of a 

 pound of pemmican was needed for the day's ration, although the 

 hard-working coureurs-de-bois of the fur brigade often consumed a 

 pound and a half to two pounds, when making long portages. 



These French Canadians (especially those working for the Hud- 

 son's Bay Company) carried their pemmican by the "piece." Since 

 a piece of pemmican varied from 80 to 90 pounds in weight, the Hud- 

 son's Bay porters carried one, two, or three "pieces" — 80 to 90, 160 



20 Raymond E. Priestley, Antarctic adventure, p. 344, New York, 1915. 



81 V. Stefansson, "Pemmican," Activities Report — Research and Development 

 Associates. Food and Container Institute, Inc., vol. 3, pp. 243-244n, 1951. His 

 principal work on pemmican is in Not by bread alone, pp. 185-187. 



" Shinn to author, February 18, 1955. 



412575—57 37 



