SOURCE OF ST. PETEr's RIVER. 433 



partook of the latter with a mixed feeling of curiosity and 

 reluctance. Could we have divested ourselves entirely of 

 the prejudices of education, we should doubtless have un- 

 hesitatingly acknowledged this to be among the best meat 

 that we had ever eaten. It was remarkably fat, was sweet and 

 palatable. It had none of that dry stringy character, which 

 we had expected to find in it, and it was entirely destitute 

 of the strong taste which we had apprehended that it pos- 

 sessed. It was not an unusual appetite, or the want of good 

 meat to compare with it, which led us to form this favour- 

 able opinion of the dog, for we had, on the same dish, the 

 best meat which our prairies afford ; but so strongly root- 

 ed are the prejudices of education, that, though we all un- 

 affectedly admitted the excellence of this food, yet few of 

 us could be induced to eat much of it. We were warned 

 by our trading friends that the bones of this animal are 

 treated with great respect by the Dacotas ; we therefore 

 took great care to replace them in the dishes ; and we are 

 informed that, after such a feast is concluded, the bones are 

 carefully collected, the flesh scraped off from them, and 

 that after being washed, they are buried in the ground, 

 partly, as it is said, to testify to the dog species, that in 

 feasting upon one of their number no disrespect was meant 

 to the species itself, and partly also from a belief that the 

 bones of the animal will rise and reproduce another one. 

 The meat of this animal, as we saw it, was thought to re- 

 semble that of the finest Welsh mutton, except that it was 

 of a much darker colour. Having so far overcome our re- 

 pugnance as to taste of it, we no longer wonder that the 

 dog should be considered a dainty dish by those in whom 

 education has not created a prejudice against this flesh. Ii> 

 China it is said that fattened pups are frequently sold in 

 the market place ; and it appears that the invitation to a 

 Vol. I. 55 



