PEMMICAN. 81 



which adhered quite firmly, while the pain was very great. It 

 is quite common for men to lose fingers or toes, and in some 

 cases one half of the foot. As it was, I only lost some of the 

 nails and a small portion of one toe. This laid me up for 

 some days, during which nothing could exceed the kindness of 



Mr. L to both F and myself. There was no food but 



pemrnican ; but we were always hungry, and soon got to like it 

 when in the form of " rubbiboo " and used to eat an enormous 

 amount of it. 



I have said nothing about the manufacture of pemmican, so 

 I may as well do so here, as it is a lost art now that the buffalo 

 has disappeared. The buffalo-meat is first cut up into thin 

 slices and dried in the sun or over smoke until it is as 

 hard as leather ; then the skin is taken raw, cut square, and 

 sewn into a bag about three feet long by eighteen inches wide, 

 with the hair outside. The meat is then taken and beaten with 

 a flail until it is all fibres, and the fat is melted in large kettles 

 and about three inches of the bag is filled with boiling fat ; 

 an equal quantity of fibre is then put into it and is beaten down 

 with a heavy stick used as a rammer, then more fat is poured 

 in and more fibre ; and so on till the bag is full. It is then 

 sewn up with raw hide or sinew and beaten flat, and is ready for 

 use. Thus prepared it will keep for three years, only becoming 

 dry with age, unless it is kept in a damp place, when it becomes 

 mouldy. Sometimes it is made with buffalo-marrow instead of 

 fat, in -which case it is rather nice, as the marrow always remains 

 soft ; and again I have eaten it with sweet berries in it, which 

 is also an improvement. Its appearance is against it, as it very 

 much resembles what we call dog-greaves in England, and it is 

 cut up in the same way, with an axe. It is said that on no 



