FLESH FOOD FROM MAMMALS. 127 



■we principally looked for our daily rations, both on ac- 

 count of its vast superiority over all other wild flesh, and 

 from the circumstance of its being obtainable in larger 

 quantities with comparatively less labour." 



We have now to examine the food furnished by other 

 mammals, which is an important necessary to many of 

 the northern tribes. 



Bison. — The existence of the North American Indians 

 is bound up inseparably with that of the so-called 

 " buffalo " {Bos Bison). These animals exist in vast 

 numbers on the prairies, and it is computed that half a 

 million are killed yearly, mainly for their furs or " robes " 

 and the tongue, much of the flesh being wasted. The 

 late Horace Greeley, writing from the plains, remarks, 

 "What strikes the stranger with the most amazement is 

 their immense numbers. I know a million is a great 

 many, but I am confident we saw that number yester- 

 day. Certainly all we saw could not have stood on ten 

 miles of ground. . . I doubt whether the domesticated 

 horned cattle of the United States equal the numbers, 

 ■while they must fall considerably short in weight of the 

 wild ones." 



The flesh of a bison in good condition is very juicy 

 and well flavoured, much resembling that of well-fed 

 beef. The tongue is reckoned a delicacy, and may be 

 cured so as to surpass in flavour the tongue of an Eng- 

 lish ox. The hump or flesh covering the long spinous 

 processes of the first dorsal vertebrae, consisting of fat 

 and muscles, is much esteemed. It is named bos by the 

 Canadian voyageurs, and icig by the Orkney men in the 

 service of the Hudson's Bay Company. The wig has a 

 fine grain, and when salted and cut transversely it is al- 

 most as rich and tender as the tongue. 



The flesh of the bison is largely used as food, and the 

 hunch on the shoulders is esteemed a great delicacy. 

 Each buffalo will produce from 50 to 70 lbs. of tallow, 

 but a bull bison, when fat, will frequently yield 150 lbs. 

 weight of tallow, which forms a considerable article of 

 commerce. 



