68 ANIMAL FOOD RESOURCES OF DIFFERENT NATIONS. 



voyagers agreed with Hearne in comparing the flavour' 

 of a young Arctic fox to that of the American hare. 

 Captain Lyon considered it to resemble the flesh of a 

 kid. In Ross's voyage they were named lambs, from 

 their resemblance in flavour to very young lamb. 



" The flesh," observes Sir James Ross, " of the old fox 

 is by no means so palatable, and the water it is boiled 

 in becomes so acrid as to excoriate the mouth and tongue. 

 During our late expedition they constituted one of the 

 principal luxuries of our table, and were always re- 

 served for holidays and great occasions. We ate them 

 boiled, or more frequently parboiled, roasted in a pitch 

 kettle." 



Mr. Kennedy, in his " Voyage to the Arctic Regions,'' 

 speaks of the delicacy of a fox pie, which was pronounced 

 by competent authorities in hi^ mess to be equal to rab- 

 bit, but then he honestly admits that there were others 

 to whom it suggested uncomfortable reminiscences of 

 dead cats, and who generally preferred the opposite side 

 of the table when this dish made its appearance. Tastes, 

 however, seem to difler, and much no doubt depends on 

 the keenness of the appetite and the choice there may 

 be at table. 



At a dinner given after a grand wolf hunt at Genis 

 (Dordogne) by M. Piston d'Aubonne, master of the wolf- 

 hounds, a dish of cutlets was served from one of the 

 animals killed, but they were found very tough and 

 insipid. 



At another sportsman's dinner in the department of 

 Correze, fillets of fox flesh were cooked and declared to 

 be excellent eating. They eat foxes in Italy, where they 

 are sold dear, and thought fit for the table of a cardinal. 



Passing now to the feline or cat-like animals of prey 

 — the terrible wild hunters of the forests and deserts— ' 

 we find many of these are in turn devoured by man. 



Lions. — The flesh of the lion is eaten by the Hotten- 

 tots ; and a tribe of Arabs between Tunis and Algeria, 

 according to Blumenbach, live almost entirely upon it 

 when they can get it. After a lion has been killed and 



