194 THE AMERICAN BISONS. 
supply the brigades of boats in their expeditions to York Factory, on Hud- 
son’s Bay, and throughout the interior.* 
Pemmican, though made sometimes from the meat of other animals, as 
deer, elk, moose, mountain sheep, and reindeer, is prepared principally from 
the buffalo. It is put up in bags of from ninety to one hundred and ten 
pounds’ weight (according to different authorities), and consists of nearly 
equal parts, by weight, of pounded dried meat and tallow. The method of 
its preparation has been repeatedly described by different Northern trav- 
ellers, f whose accounts differ somewhat in respect to the details, as they do 
in respect to its flavor and desirability as an article of food. The Earl of 
Southesk ¢ speaks of it as scarcely endurable, and Captain Butler says that 
when prepared in the best form it “can be eaten, provided the appetite be 
sharp and there is nothing else to be had, — this last consideration is, how- 
ever, of importance.”’§ It proves, however, to be exceedingly nutritious, 
and is the favorite food of the Indians and the half&breed voyagewrs, and was 
formerly so extensively used in the Red River Settlement that the supply 
was never adequate to the demand. || According to Mr. Sibley’s account, as 
furnished him by the Rev. Mr. Belcourt,] a Catholic priest residing among 
the Red River half-breeds, the dried meat and the pemmican are prepared 
by these people as follows : — 
“The meat, when taken to the camp, is cut by the women into long strips, 
about a quarter of an inch thick, which are hung upon the lattice-work pre- 
pared for that purpose, to dry. This lattice-work is formed by small pieces 
of wood placed horizontally, transversely, and equi-distant from each other, 
not unlike an immense gridiron, and is supported by wooden uprights 
(trépieds). In a few days the meat is thoroughly desiccated, when it is bent 
into proper lengths, and tied in bundles of sixty or seventy pounds’ weight. 
This is called dried meat (viande séche). Other portions, which are destined 
* Narrative of the Canadian Exploring Expedition, Vol. I, p. 311. 
+ See Ross, The Red River Settlement, pp. 262-264; Sibley, in Schooleraft’s History, Condition, and 
Prospects of the Indian Tribes, Part IV, p. 107; Hind, Canadian Exploring Expedition, Vol. I, p. 312; 
Butler, The Great Lone Land, p. 153, ete. 
¢ Saskatchewan and the Rocky Mountains, p. 302. 
§ The Great Lone Land, p. 134. 
|| Ross, Red River Settlement, p. 165. 
‘| Mr. Beleourt’s account appears to have been previously communicated to Major S. Woods, by whom 
it was published in the original French as early as 1849, in his report of his Expedition to the Pembina 
Settlements. See Congress. Rep., 81st Congress, Ist Session, House Ex. Doc. Vol. VII, No. 54, 
pp. 44-52. 
