PTARMIGAKS. 193 



veiy high altitude in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade 

 Kanges the year round, owing to the vastness of the 

 forests, the ease with whicli plenty of pabulum, in the 

 form of spruce and fir buds, can be procured, and the 

 many opportunies afforded for securing shelter and avoid- 

 ing foes. The first birds we had shot were made into a 

 savory stew by the half-breed, by boiling them with salt 

 pork, flour, potatoes, onions, and biscuits. This was so 

 appetizing that we did it full justice, for, owing to our 

 tramping and the bracing air of the mountains, we ate 

 to an extent that would have been repletion under other 

 circumstances. 



Feeling satisfied with our inner consciousness after this 

 repast, we threw ourselves on the ground near the fire and 

 devoted an hour to the postprandial pipe and to watching 

 the Sons of the Forest as they gulped down their food, 

 much as a hungry dog would swallow a piece of fresh 

 beef. They worked long and earnestly at the filling pro- 

 cess, and ceased only when there was no more to be de- 

 voured. Indians are, perhaps, the greatest gormandizers 

 on earth, and can eat an amount of food that would kill 

 white men. One cause of their capacity is due, no 

 doubt, to the fact that they live largely on wild roots and 

 vegetables, and as great quantities of these must be eaten 

 in order to give the body nutrition enough to support it 

 for any length of time, the abdomen becomes distended 

 to an unusual extent, and will carry a cargo which that 

 of a pale-face cannot even approach. Notwithstand- 

 ing his capacious maw and readiness to eat at all 

 hours, an Indian can go without food a long time, and 

 bear hunger, thirst, cold, heat, and other privations 

 which would kill a pale-face. He can march rapidly 

 and fight well on a little pemmican, fish, or bread made 

 of cowse or camas roots; and a hearty dinner seems to 

 last him two or three days. After we had enjoyed our 

 hour of repose, Jabe gave the signal for another start, so 



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