MAKING READY FOR THE BARREN GROUNDS 161 



thermore, it is the only post that secures any quantity of 

 the country luxury grease; though the Indians never 

 bring in marrow, which is a very palatable tidbit. The 

 grease they do bring in is the fat from along the back and 

 around the joints of the caribou, which is called hard 

 grease, in contradistinction to the marrow ; that is soft. 

 Both of these are used in making pemmican, that is made 

 of dried meat pounded into shreds and mixed with grease, 

 and rolled into balls or made into square or round slabs. 



Pemmican, however, is a rare article nowadays, and not 

 to be found anywhere south of Resolution, and only there 

 on occasion. This is chiefly because caribou are not so 

 plentiful as they were formerly and the Indians keep 

 most of the grease for their own consumption. Nor do 

 they make pemmican to any great extent, their substitute 

 for it being the pounded meat, which is carried in little 

 caribou-skin bags when travelling, and eaten with the 

 grease a pinch of pounded meat and a bite of grease. I 

 must confess that a plate of pounded dried meat and 

 several good-sized lumps of clear grease were about the 

 most tempting morsels I had set before me at any time 

 on my trip. Perhaps I should not care for either now, 

 but on the especial occasions I was favored I believed an 

 epicure who did not smack his lips in relish would be im- 

 possible to please. One never gets enough of grease in 

 the Northland ; it is eaten as some in the civilized world 

 consume sugar; in fact, I developed a craving for sweets 

 that even grease did riot satisfy, chiefly, I expect, because 

 the supply was so limited, and somewhat notabfe in my 

 case for the reason that ordinarily I seldom if ever touch 

 sweets. The absence of bread and vegetables, and the 

 excessive cold, undoubtedly combine to excite the desire 

 for both grease and sweets. 



Resolution, next to Fort Simpson, is credited, I believe, 



