I8 



THE AMERICAN MOOSE 



tions were not divided. The tongue of a moose 

 would be given to a single person, the tail and 

 head of a beaver to another. These were the 

 best pieces, and were called "the captain's part.'* 

 ''As for the fat intestines of the moose, which are 

 their great delicacies, they usually roast them, 

 and let every one taste them, as also another dish 

 which they hold in high esteem, namely, the 

 large intestine of the beast filled with grease, 

 and roasted, fastened to a cord, hanging and 

 turning before the fire."""^ 



In seasons of plenty some of the meat would be 

 dried and smoked for future use. As a prelimi- 

 nary the juice would be forced out, as far as 

 possible, by pounding with stones and trampling 

 with the feet. Whole sides of moose would be 

 dried at once, the bones being removed, and where 

 the masses of flesh were thick, deep slashes would 

 be cut to enable the smoke to penetrate. The 

 missionaries speak often of eating this dried 



«' Fr. Le Jeune, writing in 1634. See Jes. Rel., vol. vi., p. 281. 

 Ibid., vol. vi., p. 297. The dried meat of the western country is 

 first cut into thin strips, and is seasoned with pepper and salt. The 

 strips are laid for drying on a framework of poles about four feet from 

 the ground, and a slow fire, preferably of black birch, furnishes heat 

 and smoke for the curing process. When required for use the meat is 

 pounded fine and made into soup, but it may be eaten dry. This sort 

 of meat is commonly called "jerky" — a corruption of ''charqui,'' a 

 Peruvian word meaning dried meat. — See Kephart, Book of Camping 

 and Woodcraft (N. Y., 1906), p. 222. 



