258 A JOURNEY TO THE 



1772. their bellies, are reckoned a great delicacy indeed. The hunch 

 January. ^^ their backs, or more properly on their shoulders, is not a 

 large fleshy lump, as some suppose, but is occasioned by the 

 bones that form the withers being continued to a greater 

 length than in most other animals. The flesh which sur- 

 rounds this part being so equally intermixed with fat and lean, 

 is reckoned among the nicest bits. The weight, however, is 

 by no means equal to what has been commonly reported. The 

 tongue is also very delicate ; and what is most extraordinary, 

 when the beasts are in the poorest state, which happens regularly 

 at certain seasons, their tongues are then very fat and fine ; 

 some say, fatter than when they are in the best order ; the 

 truth of which, I will not confirm. They are so esteemed 

 here, however, that many of them are brought down to the 

 Company's Factory at York as presents, and are esteemed a 

 great luxury, probably for no other reason but that they are 

 far-fetched ; for they are by no means so large, and I think 

 them not so fine, as a neat's tongue in England, 



The moose ^ deer is also a large beast, often exceeding the 

 largest horse both in height and bulk ; but the length of the legs, 

 the bulk of the body, the shortness of the neck, [255] and the 

 uncommon length of the head and ears, without any appear- 

 ance of a tail, make them have a very aukward appearance. 

 The males far exceed the females in size, and difi^er from them 

 in colour. The hair of the male, which is long, hollow, and 

 soft, like that of a deer, is at the points nearly black, but 

 a little way under the surface it is of an ash colour, and at the 

 roots perfectly white. The hair of the female is of a sandy 

 brown, and in some parts, particularly under the throat, the 

 belly, and the flank, is nearly white at the surface, and most 

 delicately so at the root. 



Their legs are so long, and their necks so short, that they 

 cannot graze on level ground like other animals, but are 



[' A Ices Americanus (Clinton), still common throughout the region. 

 — E. A. P.] 



