WILD ANIMALS I HAVE "ET' 209 



During the early days, as a mark of great 

 respect, the Indians always brought the tails 

 of the beavers they trapped to the Hudson Bay 

 factor. A smoked beaver tail was given to our 

 party and was boiled. It was rich and sweet 

 and, while really enjoyable, was so blubbery 

 more like marrow fat, in fact that a few mouth- 

 fuls were sickening. 



Moose nose is another Indian tidbit that I 

 have tasted in Alaska. It is crisp and insipid 

 and lacks a taste that tempts the palate. 



Once, while a boy, camping on the bank of the 

 Susquehanna, near my home, Owego, New York, 

 I shot a pigeon and a crow, and, being anxious 

 to know how the latter tasted, cleaned and 

 picked them both before arriving in camp. 

 After boiling them for three hours, I served 

 them up, being careful that my camp compan- 

 ion did not get the pigeon. He sawed away on 

 it for a few seconds and then tasted it. The 

 uncomplimentary remarks that he made have 

 always led me to suspect that he did not think 

 the bird he was eating was the same species as 

 mine, and, not wishing to deceive him, I ad- 

 mitted the truth but made the mistake of giv- 

 ing him the Latin name, Corvus americanus. I 



