PTARMIGANS. 193 
very high altitude in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade 
Ranges the year round, owing to the vastness of the 
forests, the ease with which plenty of pabulum, in the 
form of spruce and fir buds, can be procured, and the 
many opportunies afforded for securing shelter and avoid- 
ing foes. The first birds we had shot were made into a 
savory stew by the half-breed, by boiling them with salt 
pork, flour, potatoes, onions, and biscuits. This was so 
appetizing that we did it full justice, for, owing to our 
tramping and the bracing air of the mountains, we ate 
to an extent that would have been repletion under other 
circumstances. 
Feeling satisfied with our inner consciousness after this 
repast, we threw ourselves on the ground near the fire and 
devoted an hour to the postprandial pipe and to watching 
the Sons of the Forest as they gulped down their food, 
much as a hungry dog would swallow a piece of fresh 
beef. They worked long and earnestly at the filling pro- 
cess, and ceased only when there was no more to be de- 
voured. Indians are, perhaps, the greatest gormandizers 
on earth, and can eat an amount of food that would kill 
white men. One cause of their capacity is due, no 
doubt, to the fact that they live largely on wild roots and 
vegetables, and as great quantities of these must be eaten 
in order to give the body nutrition enough to support it 
for any length of time, the abdomen becomes distended 
to an unusual extent, and will carry a cargo which that 
of a pale-face cannot even approach. Notwithstand- 
ing his capacious maw and readiness to eat at all 
hours, an Indian can go without food a long time, and 
bear hunger, thirst, cold, heat, and other privations 
which would kill a pale-face. He can march rapidly 
and fight well on a little pemmican, fish, or bread made 
of cowse or camas roots; and a hearty dinner seems to 
last him two or three days. After we had enjoyed our 
hour of repose, Jabe gave the signal for another start, so 
9 
