NORTHERN OCEAN 307 



The stomach of no other large animal beside the deer is 

 eaten by any of the Indians that border on Hudson's Bay. In 

 Winter, when the deer feed on fine white moss, the contents 

 of the stomach is so much esteemed by them, [3 1 8] that I have 

 often seen them sit round a deer where it was killed, and eat 

 it warm out of the paunch. In Summer the deer feed more 

 coarsely, and therefore this dish, if it deserve that appellation, 

 is then not so much in favour. 



The young calves, fawns, beaver, &c. taken out of the 

 bellies of their mothers, are reckoned most delicate food ; and 

 I am not the only European who heartily joins in pronouncing 

 them the greatest dainties that can be eaten. Many gentle- 

 men who have served with me at Churchill, as well as at York 

 Fort, and the inland settlements, will readily agree with me in 

 asserting, that no one who ever got the better of prejudice so 

 far as to taste of those young animals, but has immediately 

 become excessively fond of them ; and the same may be said 

 of young geese, ducks, &c, in the shell. In fact, it is almost 

 become a proverb in the Northern settlements, that whoever 

 wishes to know what is good, must live with the Indians. 



The parts of generation belonging to any beast they kill, 

 both male and female, are always eaten by the men and boys ; 

 and though those parts, particularly in the males, are generally 

 very tough, they are not, on any account, to be cut with an 

 edge-tool, but torn to pieces with the teeth ; and when any 

 part of them proves too tough to be masticated, it is thrown 

 into the fire and burnt. For the Indians believe firmly, that 

 if a dog should eat any part of them, it would have the same 

 effect on their [319] success in hunting, that a woman crossing 

 their hunting-track at an improper period would have. The 

 same ill-success is supposed also to attend them if a woman eat 

 any of those parts. 



They are also remarkably fond of the womb of the buffalo, 

 elk, deer, &c. which they eagerly devour without washing, or 

 any other process but barely stroking out the contents. This, 



