INDIAN DIET. 295 
flesh, though in default of this they often sus- 
tain themselves for weeks together upon roots, 
herbs and fruits. The buffalo are the com- 
mon herds of these savages, affording them 
‘food, raiment and shelter.’ It seems there 
were anciently occasional cannibal tribes* in 
those regions, but not a vestige of cannibal- 
ism, as I believe, now remains; except such 
an inhuman appetite may be ascribed to some 
of the more savage warriors, who, as I have 
heard, in the delirium of exultant victory, 
have been known to devour the hearts of their 
bravest victims, at once to satiate their blood- 
thirsty propensities, and to appropriate to 
themselves, as they fancy, the valor of the 
slain enem 
However, they make food of nearly every 
animal of their country, and often of insects 
and even the filthiest vermin. y some 
tribes, grasshoppers, locusts and the like are 
collected and dried for future use. Among 
nearly all the northern tribes, the flesh of the 
dogf is considered as the greatest delicacy ; so 
much so, indeed, that when a favorite visitor is 
expected to dine, they are sure to have served 
up for him the choicest pieces from some one 
of the many fat whelps which pertain to every 
lodge. In this way travellers have often been 
* A diminutive tribe on cod Texas border, called Tonkewas, 
made food of human flesh wi the pre 3 svar gnc 
be, of late years, though I ‘ames not heard it menti 
tebe to have been S bee ae article fey food 
among the veces. aie different parts. Y Relat er Marquette, in his 
vo" the Mississippi in 1673, remarks of an Indian feast, 
"Ee hn sevice wan huge Dog, whom they killed on pur- 
