46 ON THE FRONTIER. 



The object of the fire is . only to make a smoke or 

 smudge that will keep flies and other insects away during 

 the day, and lessen the cold and damp of night, and it must 

 never be allowed to burn sufficiently fiercely to heat the 

 meat, as it is the dryness of the prairie air, and the heat of 

 the sun, that really cures it. I have often jerked small 

 quantities of meat, well enough for all practical purposes, 

 by simply cutting it off the animal, hanging it on a bough 

 in the hot sun, turning it a few times, and in a couple of 

 days called it done. But when a quantity is to be jerked, 

 it is well worth while, if practicable, to do it in the best 

 way possible, which, as far as I know, is as above. If ants 

 make their appearance some grease round the uprights is 

 sufficient to fend them off; the smell of the meat, however 

 draws larger pillagers around the camp ; coyote's, wolves, 

 wild cats, and perhaps a panther or two, will make night 

 cheerful for the lonely sentinel. 



