66 EXTRAORDINARY EATING. 



death lent to tlieir ready feet, — but not until another victim had dank the 

 sod with the unsought libation of its heart's blood. 



It pained me, as I came up, to witness the noble beasts as they lay ex- 

 tended upon the gore-dyed ground. But the present was no time for 

 regret ; we were to feed upon their carcases. 



The process of butchering was a new developement of that most use- 

 ful science. The carcase was first turned upon the belly, and braced to a 

 position by its distended legs. The operator then commenced his labors by 

 gathering the long hair of the " boss,^' and severing a piece obliquely at 

 the junction of the neck and shoulders, — then parting the hide from neck 

 to rump, a few passes of his ready knife laid bare the sides, — next paring 

 away the loose skin and preparing a hold, with one hand he pulled the 

 shoulder towards him and with the other severed it from the body ; — cut- 

 ting aslant the uprights of the spina dorsi and "hump ribs," along the late- 

 ral to the curve, and parting the " fleece " from the tough flesh at that point 

 he deposited it upon a clean grass-spot. 



Tlie same process being described upon the opposite side, the carcase 

 was then slightly inclined, and, by aid of the leg-bone bisected at the knee- 

 joint, the "hump-ribs" were parted from the vertebrae; after which, pass- 

 ing his knife aside the ninth rib and around the ends at the midriff, he laid 

 hold of the dissevered side, and, with two or three well directed jerks, re- 

 moved it to be laid upon his choicely assorted pile ; a few other brief minu- 

 tiae then completed the task. 



Meanwhile, divers of the company had joined the butcher, and, while 

 some were greedily feeding upon liver and gall, others helped themselves 

 to marrow- bones, "iowt^tns," and intestinum medulcc, (choice selections 

 with mountaineers,) and others, laden with rich spoils, hastened their re- 

 turn to commence the more agreeable task of cooking and eating. 



The remaining animal was butchered in a trice, and select portions of 

 each were then placed upon a pack-horse and conveyed to the waggons. 



The assortment was, indeed, a splendid one. The " dcpouille " (fleece- 

 fat) was full two inches thick upon the animal's back, and the other dainties 

 were enough to charm the eyes and excite the voracity of an epicure. 



The camp-fires soon presented a busy and amusing spectacle. Each 

 one v»as ornamented with delicious roasts, en appolas, on sticks planted 

 aslope around it, attentively watched by the longing voyageurs, who await- 

 ed the slow process of cooking. Some were seen with thin slices from the 

 larder, barely heated through by the agency of a few coals, retreating from 

 the admiring throng to enjoy solo their half-cooked morsels, — others, paring 

 oflT bit by bit from the fresh-turned hissing roasts, while their opposite re- 

 ceived the finishing operation of the fire, — and others, tossing their everted 

 boudins into the flames, and in a few seconds withdrawing for the repast, 

 each seizing his ample share, bemouthed the end in quick succession to 

 sever the chosen esculent, which, while yielding to the eager teeth, coursed 

 miniature rivulets of oily exuberance from the extremities of the active 

 orifice, bedaubing both face and chin, and leaving its delighted eater in all 

 t,he glories of grease ! 



i^very man had now become his own cook, and, not to be backward, I 

 closed in with the overture. 



Seizing a frying-pan replete with tempting levies from tlie " fleece," I 



