﻿568 
  REPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  consists 
  of 
  nearly 
  equal 
  parts, 
  by 
  weight, 
  of 
  pounded 
  dried 
  meat 
  and 
  

   tallow. 
  The 
  method 
  of 
  its 
  preparation 
  has 
  been 
  repeatedly 
  described 
  

   by 
  different 
  Northern 
  travellers, 
  * 
  whose 
  accounts 
  differ 
  somewhat 
  in 
  

   respect 
  to 
  the 
  details, 
  as 
  they 
  do 
  in 
  respect 
  to 
  its 
  flavor 
  and 
  desirability 
  

   as 
  an 
  article 
  of 
  food. 
  The 
  Earl 
  of 
  Southesk 
  t 
  speaks 
  of 
  it 
  as 
  scarcely 
  

   endurable, 
  and 
  Captain 
  Butler 
  says 
  that, 
  when 
  prepared 
  in 
  the 
  best 
  

   form, 
  it 
  " 
  can 
  be 
  eaten, 
  provided 
  the 
  appetite 
  be 
  sharp 
  and 
  there 
  is 
  

   nothing 
  else 
  to 
  be 
  had, 
  — 
  this 
  last 
  consideration 
  is, 
  however, 
  of 
  impor- 
  

   tance." 
  I 
  It 
  proves, 
  however, 
  to 
  be 
  exceedingly 
  nutritious, 
  and 
  is 
  the 
  

   favorite 
  food 
  of 
  the 
  Indians 
  and 
  the 
  half-breed 
  voyageurs, 
  and 
  was 
  

   formerly 
  so 
  extensively 
  used 
  in 
  the 
  Bed 
  River 
  Settlement 
  that 
  the 
  sup- 
  

   ply 
  was 
  never 
  adequate 
  to 
  the 
  demand. 
  § 
  According 
  to 
  Mr. 
  Sibley's 
  

   account, 
  as 
  famished 
  him 
  by 
  the 
  Rev. 
  Mr. 
  Belcourt,|| 
  a 
  Catholic 
  priest 
  

   residing 
  among 
  the 
  Red 
  River 
  half-breeds, 
  the 
  dried 
  meat 
  and 
  the 
  pem- 
  

   mican 
  are 
  prepared 
  by 
  these 
  people 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  

  

  " 
  The 
  meat, 
  when 
  taken 
  to 
  the 
  camp, 
  is 
  cut 
  by 
  the 
  women 
  into 
  long 
  

   strips, 
  about 
  a 
  quarter 
  of 
  an 
  inch 
  thick, 
  which 
  are 
  hung 
  upon 
  the 
  lat- 
  

   tice-work 
  prepared 
  for 
  that 
  purpose, 
  to 
  dry. 
  This 
  lattice- 
  work 
  is 
  formed 
  

   by 
  small 
  pieces 
  of 
  wood 
  placed 
  horizontally, 
  transversely, 
  and 
  equidis- 
  

   tant 
  from 
  each 
  other, 
  not 
  unlike 
  an 
  immense 
  gridiron, 
  and 
  is 
  supported 
  

   by 
  wooden 
  uprights 
  (trepieds). 
  In 
  a 
  few 
  days 
  the 
  meat 
  is 
  thoroughly 
  des- 
  

   iccated, 
  when 
  it 
  is 
  bent 
  into 
  proper 
  lengths, 
  and 
  tied 
  in 
  bundles 
  of 
  sixty 
  

   or 
  seventy 
  pounds' 
  weight. 
  This 
  is 
  called 
  dried 
  meat 
  (viande 
  seche). 
  

   Other 
  portions, 
  which 
  are 
  destined 
  to 
  be 
  made 
  into 
  pmilceJiigan, 
  or 
  pem- 
  

   ican, 
  are 
  exposed 
  to 
  an 
  ardent 
  heat, 
  and 
  thus 
  become 
  brittle 
  and 
  easily 
  

   reducible 
  to 
  small 
  particles 
  by 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  a 
  flail 
  ; 
  the 
  buffalo-hide 
  answer- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  a 
  threshing-floor. 
  The 
  fat, 
  or 
  tallow, 
  being 
  cut 
  up 
  

   and 
  melted 
  in 
  large 
  kettles 
  of 
  sheet-iron, 
  is 
  poured 
  upon 
  this 
  pounded 
  

   meat, 
  and 
  the 
  whole 
  mass 
  is 
  worked 
  together 
  with 
  shovels 
  until 
  it 
  is 
  

   well 
  amalgamated, 
  when 
  it 
  is 
  i)ressed, 
  still 
  warm, 
  into 
  bags 
  made 
  of 
  

   buffalo-skin, 
  which 
  are 
  strongly 
  sewed 
  up, 
  and 
  the 
  mixture 
  gradually 
  

   cools 
  and 
  becomes 
  almost 
  as 
  hard 
  as 
  a 
  rock. 
  If 
  the 
  fat 
  used 
  in 
  the 
  pro- 
  

   cess 
  is 
  taken 
  from 
  the 
  parts 
  containing 
  the 
  udder, 
  the 
  meat 
  is 
  called^ne 
  

   pemican. 
  In 
  some 
  cases 
  dried 
  fruits, 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  i^rairie-pear 
  and 
  cherry, 
  

   are 
  intermixed, 
  which 
  make 
  what 
  is 
  called 
  seed 
  pemican. 
  The 
  lovers 
  of 
  

   good 
  eating 
  judge 
  the 
  first 
  described 
  to 
  be 
  very 
  palatable, 
  the 
  second 
  

   better, 
  and 
  the 
  third 
  excellent. 
  A 
  taurean 
  of 
  pemican 
  weighs 
  from 
  one 
  

   hundred 
  to 
  one 
  hundred 
  and 
  ten 
  pounds. 
  Some 
  idea 
  may 
  be 
  formed 
  of 
  

   the 
  immense 
  destruction 
  of 
  buffalo 
  by 
  these 
  people 
  when 
  it 
  is 
  stated 
  

   that 
  a 
  whole 
  cow 
  yields 
  one-half 
  a 
  bag 
  of 
  pemican,. 
  and 
  three-fourths 
  

   of 
  a 
  bundle 
  of 
  dried 
  meat 
  5 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  most 
  economical 
  calculate 
  that 
  

   from 
  eight 
  to 
  ten 
  cows 
  are 
  required 
  for 
  the 
  load 
  of 
  a 
  single 
  vehicle."^ 
  

  

  The 
  same 
  account 
  says 
  that 
  " 
  the 
  men 
  break 
  the 
  bones, 
  which 
  are 
  

   boiled 
  in 
  water 
  to 
  extract 
  the 
  marrow 
  to 
  be 
  used 
  for 
  frying 
  and 
  for 
  

   other 
  culinary 
  purposes. 
  The 
  oil 
  is 
  then 
  poured 
  into 
  the 
  bladder 
  of 
  the 
  

   animal, 
  which 
  contains 
  when 
  tilled 
  about 
  twelve 
  pounds, 
  being 
  the 
  yield 
  

  

  * 
  See 
  Ross, 
  Red 
  River 
  Settlement, 
  pp. 
  262-264 
  ; 
  Sibley, 
  in 
  Schoolcraft's 
  History, 
  

   Condition, 
  and 
  Prospects 
  of 
  the 
  Indian 
  Tribes, 
  Part 
  IV, 
  p. 
  107 
  ; 
  Hind, 
  Canadian 
  Ex- 
  

   ploring 
  Expedition, 
  Vol. 
  I, 
  p. 
  312 
  , 
  Butler, 
  The 
  Great 
  Lone 
  Laud, 
  p. 
  153, 
  &c. 
  

  

  t 
  Saskatchewan 
  and 
  the 
  Rocky 
  Mountains, 
  p. 
  302. 
  

  

  t 
  The 
  Great 
  Lone 
  Land, 
  p. 
  134. 
  

  

  ^ 
  Ross, 
  Red 
  River 
  Settlement, 
  p. 
  165. 
  

  

  II 
  Mr. 
  Belcourt's 
  account 
  appears 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  previously 
  communicated 
  to 
  Major 
  

   S. 
  Woods, 
  by 
  whom 
  it 
  was 
  published 
  in 
  the 
  original 
  French 
  as 
  early 
  as 
  1849, 
  in 
  his 
  

   report 
  of 
  his 
  Expedition 
  to 
  the 
  J'erabina 
  Settlements. 
  See 
  Congress. 
  Rep., 
  31st 
  Con- 
  

   gress, 
  1st 
  Session,* 
  House 
  Ex. 
  Doc 
  , 
  Vol. 
  VIII, 
  No. 
  54, 
  pp. 
  44-52. 
  

  

  U 
  Schoolcraft's 
  History, 
  Condition, 
  and 
  Prospects 
  of 
  the 
  Indian 
  Tribes, 
  Part 
  IV, 
  

   p. 
  107. 
  

  

  