146 ON THE FBONTIER. 



for the big buck he was nearly as big as a Mexican 

 burro-deer was very fat indeed. It is only the man 

 who has eaten really fat wild venison who knows what 

 good venison really is. The kidneys were completely 

 covered with tallow, and my companion assured us that 

 the buck cut nearly an inch of fat on the brisket. The 

 quarters had been hung out to freeze all night, and were 

 thawed in melted snow-water before being cooked, and 

 so were quite tender. 



The plum-pudding was over a foot in diameter ; we 

 could hardly pull it out of the pot. It was as good as 

 possible, and followed by a bowl of punch, our punch- 

 bowl being for the nonce a tin bucket ; not to mince 

 matters, it was our horses' watering-bucket, which, though 

 not elegant, was capacious, and the only utensil we had 

 capable of holding the amount of punch the occasion 

 called for. 



No holly grew in the country, but the bright red 

 berries of the Indian arrow-wood and of the bearberry- 

 bush made beautiful substitutes, and there were more 

 evergreens in sight than entire Christendom could have 

 made use of, so our camp was profusely and gaily 

 decorated. Altogether the day was well and duly 

 celebrated, and it is marked with a white stone in the 

 calendar of my memory. 



