226 SPORT IN NORTH AMERICA. 



structed, within a few yards of their dwelh'ngs, re- 

 servoirs for fish, built upon large beams, so as to be 

 beyond the reach of the wolves, foxes, bears, and 

 other omnivorous or ichthyophagous creatures. The 

 Esquimaux live principally upon fish, — fresh, salt, 

 smoked, raw, or cooked. During my stay with the 

 inhabitants of Kamanatignia, I experimented upon 

 raw fish, and I deliberately declare that, with the 

 help of a little salt, it is very passable food, and 

 with a spoonful of vinegar becomes positively 

 relishing. 



All round the Esquimaux village we found sheep, 

 dogs, and small cows of the English breed, browsing 

 and feeding upon the stunted herbage within the 

 narrow limits of their enclosures. In winter, when 

 there is a lack of food, and when hunting is quite 

 impossible, and fishing is nearly so, these poor beasts 

 are slaughtered, and the meat is salted and smoked 

 for the sustenance of the Esquimaux, confined to 

 their cabins by the snow-drifts. 



The cookery of the Esquimaux can boast of no 

 great variety of sauces, and has none of the artifices 

 of Careme and Brillat-Savarin. These would be of 

 little service to it, for there is no need to excite the 

 appetites of those who are always hungry. If they 

 kill a buck, they cook him in his own fat, after chop- 

 ping up the meat into small pieces. The tongue of 

 a deer is one of their daintiest dishes. The fat and 

 (above all) the marrow from the bones are looked 



