294 FOREST LIFE IN ACADIE. 



in the lid, and fed with lumps of fat ; the tin, becoming 

 warm, will keep the fat in the proper state of liquefaction 

 for feeding the wick. 



The death of a moose or cariboo is of course an event 

 of great importance in the hunter s camp, and is duly 

 celebrated. What gorging, however, on the part of the 

 Indians — they will broil tit bits through half the night. 

 Moose meat is very digestible ; cariboo (of a closer fibre) 

 somewhat less so ; bear most easily assimilated of all, 

 and "grand to travel on" says the Indian, who never 

 knows when to stop. Failing this, or venison, the por- 

 cupine is the great resource of the hunting camp through- 

 out the provinces, with the exception of Cape Breton and 

 Newfoundland, where it is not found. Scalded, scraped, 

 and singed, its bare body expanded on a cross to roast, 

 it looks anything but enticing to a novice. But the 

 appetite of the woods prevails, and overcomes all scru- 

 ples. It has, at the same time, a drawback in the fre- 

 quent occurrence of large quantities of entozoa (Taenia 

 pectinata) — no drawback to the Indian, however ; some- 

 times rather the contrary. An Indian told me, " my 

 grandfather, he like 'em ; taste hard though — 'most 

 like mustard." 



The hare, and the two sorts of tree grouse, locally 

 known as the birch and spruce partridges (T. umbellus 

 and T. canadensis) also contribute to the camp larder. 

 Two or three hanks of brass wire for snaring the former 

 animal should not be omitted in the outfit. Of the two 

 partridges, the birch (the ruffed grouse) is by far the 

 best. It is white-fleshed and delicate eating : the spruce 

 bird has very dark meat, and tastes like an old pine 

 board. 





