ECONOMIC BOTANY OF ALASKA. 79 
there and a fire built upon them until they become hot; the . 
fire is then. removed, a layer of damp moss or kelp is laid 
on the stones and the cleaned rootstocks placed therein until 
the hole is full. A little water is thrown on the pile, which 
is then hastily covered with a layer of damp moss or kelp, a 
couple of cedar-bark mats are laid on and earth to the depth 
of about 10 inches is put over it. On this a fire is built and 
kept up all night (about 14 or 15 hours). The next day the 
contents are taken out and are then ready to be eaten, the 
outer rind being removed with the fingers or with a small 
knife. It hasa slightly sweetish taste, but is too smoky and 
tobacco-like in flavor for the average white man’s palate, 
except under stress of hunger, though I have no doubt it is 
quite nutritious. It will keep for a week or ten days after 
being cooked, and is called “Abh ” by the Tsimsians, who 
inform me that it is larger, sweeter, and of better flavor 
When grown under or in the vicinity of salmon berry 
bushes. The most notable difference in taste between white 
men and Indians is, that the former generally prefer a salt 
ve in food while the latter prefer the smoky flavor noted 
above. 
EMPETRUM NIGRUM (Crow Berry) is very plentiful on the 
sphagnous marshes, where it grows in great masses on the 
drier or better drained spots, and occasionally finds its way 
to the beach, where it forms small patches on sloping moss- 
covered rocks above high tide. The flowers appear in June 
and the fruit does not mature until the second season, when 
lt is sometimes eaten by the natives, though not a favorite 
fruit with them. 
LEPARGYREA CANADENSIS. (Soap Berry). Idid not find 
this shrub on any of my excursions, but secured specimens 
of the pressed berries. It grows along the jer ed 
back from the coast, shunning sea level, and noun T i 
large-seeded berry, which is gathered in large quantities by — 
