509 



There are deer in the back woods, but 

 none near Baltimore, which they shoot as 

 game; and I have heard the venison praised. 

 I ate of it several times ; but it was very in- 

 different, compared with the venison in 

 England. It w T as exceedingly poor; and I 

 think no venison good, except it be fat : nor 

 do I believe any other animal in perfection, 

 except it be fat. These wild deer are of 

 various kinds ; the moose, elk, round- 

 horned, caribou, red, croft, roe, and fallow. 

 The moose is so scarce and difficult to take, 

 that Mr, Jefferson told me, when he was in 

 France, and desirous of having one, it cost 

 him seventy guineas to procure the skin, 

 stuffed. There are few or no deer in any 

 of the inhabited parts. 



Venison is brought to market in wag- 

 gons, and sold at the price of beef : it is 

 shocking stuff. It is commonly salted, 

 smoked, and served up raw at breakfast. 

 When dressed in the fresh state, it is usual 

 to cut it into a saddle, by chopping the 

 shanks off about the pope's eye, and just 

 warm it at the fire : every gentleman has a 



