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100 T H R O U G H T H E M A C K E N Z I E B A S IN
chase, by some of the party, of an o l d p a i r of m o u l t i n g gray
geese w i t h their young, a l l , of course, unable to fly. It was
p i t i f u l to watch the clever and fearless actions of the old
birds as decoys, f a l l i n g victims, at last, to parental love.
Indeed, they were not worth eating, and to k i l l them was a
sin. But when were there ever scruples over food on Peace
R i v e r , that theatre of mighty feats of gormandism?
I have already hinted at those masterpieces of v o r a c i t y -
for which the region is renowned; yet the undoubted facts
related around our camp- fires, and otherwise, a few of which
follow, almost beggar belief. M r . Y o u n g , of our party, an
o l d Hudson's B a y officer, knew of sixteen trackers who, in
a few days, consumed eight bears, two moose, two bags of
pemmican, two sacks of flour, and three sacks of potatoes.
Bishop G r o u a r d vouched for four men eating a reindeer at a
s i t t i n g . Our friend, M r . d'Eschambault, once gave Oskin-nequ—"
The Y o u n g M a n " — s i x pounds of pemmican, who
ate i t a l l at a meal, washing i t down w i t h a g a l l o n of tea, and
then complained that he had not had enough. Sir George
Simpson states that at Athabasca Lake, i n 1820, he was one
of a p a r t y of twelve who ate twenty- two geese a n d three ducks
at a single meal. But, as he says, they had been three whole
days without food. The Saskatchewan folk, however, known
of old as the Gens de Blaireaux—'"' T h e People of the Badger
Holes "— were not behind their congeners. That man of
weight and might, our old friend, Chief- factor Belanger—
drowned, alas, many years ago w i t h young Simpson at Sea
Falls— once served out to thirteen men a sack of pemmican
weighing n i n e t y pounds. It was enough for three days; but,
there and then, they sat down and consumed it a l l at a single
meal, not, it must be added, without some subsequent and
just pangs of indigestion. M r . B . having occasion to pass
the place of eating, and finding the sack of pemmican, as he
supposed, i n h i s path, gave i t a k i c k ; but, to his amazement,
it bounded aloft several yards, and then l i t . It was empty!
When i t is remembered that, i n the old buffalo days, the d a i ly
Object Description
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| Title | Page 114 |
| OCR | 100 T H R O U G H T H E M A C K E N Z I E B A S IN chase, by some of the party, of an o l d p a i r of m o u l t i n g gray geese w i t h their young, a l l , of course, unable to fly. It was p i t i f u l to watch the clever and fearless actions of the old birds as decoys, f a l l i n g victims, at last, to parental love. Indeed, they were not worth eating, and to k i l l them was a sin. But when were there ever scruples over food on Peace R i v e r , that theatre of mighty feats of gormandism? I have already hinted at those masterpieces of v o r a c i t y - for which the region is renowned; yet the undoubted facts related around our camp- fires, and otherwise, a few of which follow, almost beggar belief. M r . Y o u n g , of our party, an o l d Hudson's B a y officer, knew of sixteen trackers who, in a few days, consumed eight bears, two moose, two bags of pemmican, two sacks of flour, and three sacks of potatoes. Bishop G r o u a r d vouched for four men eating a reindeer at a s i t t i n g . Our friend, M r . d'Eschambault, once gave Oskin-nequ—" The Y o u n g M a n " — s i x pounds of pemmican, who ate i t a l l at a meal, washing i t down w i t h a g a l l o n of tea, and then complained that he had not had enough. Sir George Simpson states that at Athabasca Lake, i n 1820, he was one of a p a r t y of twelve who ate twenty- two geese a n d three ducks at a single meal. But, as he says, they had been three whole days without food. The Saskatchewan folk, however, known of old as the Gens de Blaireaux—'"' T h e People of the Badger Holes "— were not behind their congeners. That man of weight and might, our old friend, Chief- factor Belanger— drowned, alas, many years ago w i t h young Simpson at Sea Falls— once served out to thirteen men a sack of pemmican weighing n i n e t y pounds. It was enough for three days; but, there and then, they sat down and consumed it a l l at a single meal, not, it must be added, without some subsequent and just pangs of indigestion. M r . B . having occasion to pass the place of eating, and finding the sack of pemmican, as he supposed, i n h i s path, gave i t a k i c k ; but, to his amazement, it bounded aloft several yards, and then l i t . It was empty! When i t is remembered that, i n the old buffalo days, the d a i ly |
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