246 AUDUBON THE NATURALIST 



cold, and the ilesli is excellent food, whether 

 fresh or dried or made into pemmican ; the fat 

 is reduced and put up in bladders, and in some 

 cases used for frying fish, etc. 



The hide of the buffalo is tanned or dressed 

 altogether by the women, or squaws, and the 

 children. 



The scrapings of the skins, we were informed, 

 are sometimes boiled with berries, and make a 

 kind of jelly, which is considered good food in 

 some cases by the Indians. The strips cut off 

 from the skins are sewed together and make 

 robes for the children, or caps, mittens, shoes, 

 etc. The bones are pounded fine with a large 

 stone and boiled, the grease which rises to the 

 top is skimmed off and put into bladders. This 

 i^ the favourite and famous marrow grease, 

 which is equal to butter. The sinews are used 

 for stringing their bows, and are a substitute for 

 thread; the intestines are eaten, the shoulder- 

 blades made into hoes, and in fact (as we have 

 already stated) nothing is lost or wasted, but 

 every portion of the animal, by the skill and in- 

 dustry of the Indians, is rendered useful 



