﻿ALLEx.] 
  PRODUCTS 
  OF 
  THE 
  BUFFALO. 
  567 
  

  

  usually 
  tbe 
  case, 
  it 
  rivals 
  beef 
  and 
  venison 
  in 
  cheapness 
  if 
  not 
  in 
  qual- 
  

   ity, 
  besides 
  having 
  the 
  special 
  feature 
  of 
  novelty. 
  

  

  The 
  meat 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  is 
  often 
  spoken 
  of 
  as 
  being 
  dry 
  and 
  tough, 
  

   and 
  far 
  inferior 
  in 
  quality 
  to 
  beef. 
  This 
  is 
  in 
  a 
  measure 
  true, 
  the 
  

   flesh 
  of 
  middle-aged 
  and 
  elderly 
  bulls 
  being 
  of 
  this 
  character, 
  that 
  

   of 
  old 
  bulls 
  being 
  eaten 
  only 
  when 
  none 
  other 
  can 
  be 
  obtained. 
  The 
  

   flesh 
  of 
  a 
  young 
  fat 
  cow, 
  or 
  of 
  a 
  yearling 
  or 
  two-year-old 
  bull, 
  however, 
  

   is 
  not 
  surpassed 
  by 
  the 
  finest 
  beef, 
  from 
  which 
  it 
  cannot 
  usually 
  be 
  dis- 
  

   tinguished. 
  During 
  some 
  two 
  montlis 
  spent 
  on 
  the 
  Kansas 
  plains 
  in 
  

   1871-72, 
  I 
  ate 
  it 
  daily, 
  and 
  would 
  never 
  ask 
  for, 
  as 
  indeed 
  I 
  have 
  never 
  

   tasted, 
  finer 
  beef 
  than 
  the 
  buffalo 
  meat, 
  which 
  was 
  ahnost 
  exclusively 
  

   used. 
  Often 
  at 
  the 
  hotel 
  in 
  Hays 
  City, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  at 
  other 
  public 
  tables 
  

   in 
  the 
  buffalo 
  country, 
  have 
  I 
  heard 
  the 
  beef 
  praised 
  by 
  Eastern 
  trav- 
  

   ellers, 
  who 
  frequently 
  expressed 
  their 
  surprise 
  at 
  the 
  excellent 
  quality 
  

   of 
  this 
  article 
  set 
  before 
  them. 
  Often, 
  too, 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  connection, 
  our 
  

   Eastern 
  traveller 
  would 
  ask 
  about 
  buffalo 
  meat, 
  whether 
  it 
  was 
  fit 
  to 
  eat, 
  

   whether 
  it 
  was 
  much 
  used 
  for 
  food, 
  and 
  whether 
  he 
  would 
  be 
  likely 
  to 
  

   get 
  a 
  chance 
  to 
  taste 
  it 
  in 
  his 
  journey 
  across 
  the 
  plains. 
  When 
  told 
  

   that 
  he 
  had 
  just 
  partaken 
  of 
  it, 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  buffalo 
  beef 
  which 
  he 
  had 
  

   been 
  praising, 
  and 
  that 
  it 
  vas 
  the 
  staple 
  meat 
  of 
  the 
  table 
  throughout 
  

   the 
  buffalo 
  country, 
  at 
  the 
  hotels 
  and 
  restaurants 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  

   hunter's 
  camp, 
  his 
  surprise 
  amounted 
  almost 
  to 
  incredulity, 
  which 
  only 
  

   the 
  strongest 
  assurances 
  would 
  remove. 
  The 
  age 
  and 
  condition 
  of 
  the 
  

   animal, 
  as 
  already 
  stated, 
  have 
  much 
  to 
  do 
  with 
  the 
  quality 
  of 
  the 
  meat, 
  

   and 
  a 
  more 
  miserable 
  semblance 
  of 
  food 
  could 
  hardly 
  be 
  set 
  before 
  one 
  

   than 
  a 
  steak 
  cut 
  from 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  " 
  lords 
  of 
  the 
  prairie." 
  

  

  The 
  tongue 
  of 
  even 
  an 
  old 
  bull 
  is 
  always 
  regarded 
  as 
  a 
  delicate 
  mor- 
  

   sel, 
  and 
  is 
  often 
  saved 
  when 
  no 
  other 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  animal 
  is 
  touched. 
  

   The 
  hump 
  is 
  generally 
  considered 
  to 
  be 
  next 
  in 
  delicacy 
  and 
  tenderness. 
  

   A 
  few 
  hunters 
  killed 
  buffaloes 
  during 
  the 
  autumn 
  months 
  for 
  the 
  pur- 
  

   pose 
  of 
  curing 
  the 
  meat. 
  The 
  best 
  pieces 
  only, 
  from 
  young 
  and 
  tender 
  

   animals, 
  were 
  selected, 
  and, 
  when 
  properly 
  cured, 
  were 
  fully 
  equal 
  to 
  

   the 
  best 
  dried 
  and 
  smoked 
  beef 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  Eastern 
  markets. 
  A 
  sin- 
  

   gle 
  hunter 
  at 
  Hays 
  City 
  shipped 
  annually 
  for 
  some 
  years 
  several 
  hun- 
  

   dred 
  barrels 
  thus 
  prepared, 
  which 
  the 
  consumers 
  probably 
  bought 
  for 
  

   ordinary 
  beef.* 
  

  

  Further 
  northward, 
  on 
  the 
  plains 
  of 
  the 
  Saskatchewan, 
  Assinniboine, 
  

   Red 
  Eiver, 
  and 
  Upper 
  Missouri, 
  large 
  quantities 
  of 
  the 
  meat 
  were 
  for- 
  

   merly 
  made 
  into 
  pemmican. 
  In 
  this 
  form 
  it 
  proves 
  invaluable 
  to 
  the 
  

   Northern 
  voyageurs 
  and 
  trappers, 
  of 
  whose 
  commissariat 
  it 
  formed 
  the 
  

   chief 
  resource. 
  Hind 
  states 
  that 
  the 
  Hudson's 
  Bay 
  Company 
  formerly 
  

   obtained 
  from 
  the 
  Plain 
  Crees, 
  the 
  Assinniboines, 
  and 
  the 
  Ojibways, 
  

   pemmican 
  and 
  dried 
  meat 
  to 
  supply 
  the 
  brigades 
  of 
  boats 
  in 
  their 
  ex- 
  

   peditions 
  to 
  York 
  Factory, 
  on 
  Hudson's 
  Bay, 
  and 
  throughout 
  the 
  inte- 
  

   rior.* 
  

  

  Pemmican, 
  though 
  made 
  sometimes 
  from 
  the 
  meat 
  of 
  other 
  animals, 
  

   as 
  deer, 
  elk, 
  moose, 
  mountain-sheep, 
  and 
  reindeer, 
  is 
  prepared 
  princi- 
  

   pally 
  from 
  the 
  buffalo. 
  It 
  is 
  put 
  up 
  in 
  bags 
  of 
  from 
  ninety 
  to 
  one 
  hun- 
  

   dred 
  and 
  ten 
  pounds' 
  weight 
  (according 
  to 
  different 
  authorities), 
  and 
  

  

  * 
  Dr. 
  Eichardsou's 
  testimony 
  lespectiug 
  the 
  quality 
  of 
  bison 
  meat 
  is 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  " 
  Tho 
  

   flesh 
  of 
  the 
  bison, 
  in 
  good 
  condition, 
  is 
  very 
  juicy 
  and 
  well 
  tiavored, 
  much 
  resembling 
  

   that 
  of 
  well-fed 
  beef. 
  The 
  tongue 
  is 
  deemed 
  a 
  delicacy, 
  and 
  may 
  be 
  cured 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  

   surpass 
  in 
  flavor 
  the 
  tongue 
  of 
  an 
  English 
  cow. 
  The 
  hump 
  of 
  flesh 
  covering 
  the 
  long 
  

   spinous 
  processes 
  of 
  the 
  flrst 
  dorsal 
  vertebrje 
  is 
  much 
  esteemed. 
  It 
  ... 
  . 
  has 
  a 
  fine 
  

   grain, 
  and 
  when 
  salted 
  and 
  cut 
  transversely, 
  it 
  is 
  almost 
  as 
  rich 
  and 
  tender 
  as 
  tbe 
  

   tongue." 
  — 
  Fauna 
  Boreali-Americana, 
  Vol. 
  I, 
  p. 
  282. 
  

  

  t 
  Narrative 
  of 
  the 
  Canadian 
  Exploring 
  Expedition, 
  Vol. 
  I, 
  p. 
  311. 
  

  

  