[Translated from French]

All Paris has recently been upset about milk made from animal brains; which does not prevent all Paris today from drinking without disgust, and without remembering its forgotten emotion, the unhealthy beverage called café au lait.

Like adulterated milk, horse flesh, at a time when butcher's meat is so expensive, is said to enter Paris fraudulently in large quantities, and is sometimes sold for beef. It is curious and useful to examine whether this flesh in fact deserves the reprobation with which it is subjected.

Let us first seek what is the primary cause of the prejudices preserved to this day against horse flesh, used as food. Keysler, in his work entitled: Antiquitates selectœ septentrionales, after having demonstrated the good qualities and excellence of this flesh, teaches it in these terms:

— " The ancient Celts, northern peoples, sacrificed horses to their gods, and as the flesh of these victims composed the principal dish of the solemn feasts which followed these sacrifices, the horror which one had of these false acts of religion spread to all that entered into them; hence the zeal of the clergy, who, to destroy the heretical custom, believed it necessary to regard horse flesh as impure, and those who used it as filthy.
" The passage from a letter addressed on this occasion by Pope Gregory III to Saint Boniface, bishop of Germany, is too remarkable not to be quoted here.
"You have shown me," said this pontiff, "that some ate wild horse, and most of them domestic horse; Do not allow this to happen henceforth, most holy brother; abolish this custom by all means possible to you, and impose on all horse-eaters a just penance. They are filthy, and their action is execrable."
"It is since that time," adds Keysler, "that our ancestors have continued to be deprived of horse flesh, and this to their great detriment, magno rei familiaris de trimento."

This shows that horse flesh was very good and much sought after in those remote times. Let us prove that it has not changed in nature, and that it suits the stomachs of our contemporaries as well as those of our ancestors.

We owe the following documents to Mr. Baron Larrey, one of the most distinguished witnesses and instruments of our ancient military glory.
"The muscular flesh of the horse, especially that of the hindquarters, can be used to make soup, especially if a certain quantity of bacon is added; it can also be used in grilling and in beef à la mode, with the appropriate seasoning.
" Liver can also be used and prepared in the same way as that of horned beasts; it is even, it seems, more delicate than that which comes from them. This dish, continues Mr. Larrey, was especially sought after by our companions in the Russian campaign, who all spoke highly of it.
"Everyone knows, moreover, that horse flesh is the principal food of the peoples of Asiatic Tartary. I myself have very often had the soldiers and wounded of our armies use it with the greatest success.

"In some of our campaigns on the Rhine, Catalonia and the Maritime Alps, I have had it given to our soldiers on several occasions; but it was especially during the siege of Alexandria, in Egypt, that this meat was used to great advantage. Not only did it preserve the life of the troops who defended this city, but it also contributed powerfully to the healing and recovery of the sick and wounded, whom we had in great numbers in the hospitals; it also contributed to the disappearance of a scorbutic epidemic (scurvy) which had seized the whole army. Regular distributions of this meat were made daily, and fortunately the number of horses was sufficient to lead the army until the time of the capitulation. These animals, of the Arab breed, were very thin, due to the shortage of fodder, but they were generally young. To answer the objections which had been made by many prominent figures in the army, and to overcome the repugnance of the soldier, I was the first to have my horses killed and to eat this meat.
"At the siege of El-Arych in Syria, after having consumed the camels that we had, to feed the sick and wounded that were left in the fort, we were obliged to resort to horse meat, which served us very well.
"At the battle of Eylau, during the first twenty-four hours, I had to feed my wounded again with horse meat prepared in soup and in beef in the fashion; but, as we did not lack seasoning objects on this occasion, the wounded hardly distinguished this meat from that of beef. We must also say that the horses that were dedicated to this use were young and in satisfactory shape.
"After the battle of Eslingen, isolated on the island of Lobau, with the greater part of the French army and about six thousand wounded (the communication bridges having been broken), we were deprived of all resources for three days. To calm, in this critical circumstance, the hunger and impatience of these unfortunates, I had them make soup with the flesh of a fairly large quantity of horses scattered on this island, and which belonged to generals and senior officers. The breastplate of the dismounted and wounded horsemen themselves served as a pot for the concoction of this meat, and instead of salt, of which we were entirely devoid, it was seasoned with gunpowder. I only took care to decant the broth by pouring it from one breastplate into another through a cloth, and after having left it to clarify by rest. All our soldiers found this meat and this broth of a very good quality. Here I also gave the example by the sacrifice of one of my horses, and I made use of this same food, with this difference that I had been able to keep some salt and a little biscuit, which I used to make soup. Marshal Masséna, commander-in-chief of these troops, was very happy to share my meal, and seemed very satisfied with it.
"Thus," says Mr. Larrey, "experience shows that the use of horse meat is very suitable for human food; it seems to me especially very nourishing, because it contains a lot of osmazome. The taste is also pleasant; only this flesh is more or less stringy, according to the leanness and age of the animal. Why, adds this famous surgeon, not take advantage for the poor class and for the prisoners, of the horses that are killed every day in Paris? "

Doctor Berthollet, nephew of the famous chemist of the same name, and who practiced medicine for a long time in Taranto (kingdom of Naples), wrote that the people of this city ate horse flesh with pleasure; that it was sold there publicly by the pound, and that the sale was always prompt. The liver was considered a delicate piece; it was prepared in the same way as that of other livestock.

Géraud, a distinguished physician of the last century, advances in a very remarkable work, "that one would derive a very great utility from horse flesh, by using it as food."... After some developments, he adds: "A considerable quantity of horse and donkey flesh stealthily enters the large cities, and especially Paris, which, after the barrier, is sold under the name of beef, veal, and this meat is given at a lower price than that under the name under which it is sold... Why should we not have butcher's stalls where this meat would be publicly sold? It would be a great resource, especially in these times, when the flesh of ordinary animals is at a price that hardly allows the unfortunate to feed themselves with it. "

Géraud attributes several illnesses of the workers to the deprivation of meat... He would prefer horse flesh for them to the viscera of animals, such as the lungs, liver, spleen, stomachs, which the tripe sellers provide them... "If the sale of horses were free," he says, "it would be better and more advantageous, because the animal would be killed while still in good health, without waiting for an illness, an accident or old age to make it perish."

Let us add to these notions that at the time of the revolution, Paris was fed largely, for the space of three months, only with horse meat, without anyone noticing it and without the slightest accident resulting from it. Mr. Huzard has the proof; no one was any more able by their position to know what was happening there in this respect.

These precious details of facts observed on a large scale, at points of the globe far removed from each other, and in completely opposite circumstances, tend to demonstrate that horse flesh can be used, without inconvenience, as food.

In 1763, four ships, the Zacharias and Elizabeth, the Holy Triniry, the

John, and the Adrian and Natalie, were visiting Umnak and Unalaska,

two of the larger islands of the Aleutian chain that Russians had dis-

covered only four years earlier. The captains collected iasak from local

Aleuts and demanded amanaty to ensure prompt payment and their own

safety. Then they divided their crews into hunting parties, as Aleuts

from Unalaska, Umnak, and neighboring islands had expected. The

Aleuts hatched a plan. As Solov'ev reported it, local residents would

"live in friendship at first," but when the Russians split up to hunt and

trade, they would take them by surprise. "Using this ruse," they hoped

to "kill all the Russians."

On Unalaska, the Aleuts ambushed the hunting parties from the

Zacharias and Elizabal. Four survivors, fleeing along the coust to their

vessel, spotted a locker washed ashore, then bits and pieces of the ship

itself, and finally the bodies of their mates, mangled and strewn about

the beach. Months later, they reached the Holy Trinity, where they

learned that, besides themselves, only three of their chirty-seven crew-

mates had survived."

The Holy Trinity had also come under attack and would soon be

destroyed. The skeleton crew, reduced in number and weakened by

scurvy, could not control the vessel, and in heavy winds it was driven

to Umnak and crushed on the rocky shore. Aleuts set upon fifty-four

castaways that same night. In July 1764, the twelve survivors of that

raid built a skin boat and rowed around the island, searching for the

John, the third of the four ships that had been trading in the islands.

In a steam bath constructed by the Russians, they found only a charred

frame and the garroted bodies of twenty countrymen. (No one from the

Job survived to recount its story, but in 1970, archaeologists discovered

the steam bath and the remains of the crew. The refugees from the

Zacharias and Elizabeth and the Holy Trinity were soon rescued by the

last surviving ship, the Adrian and Natalie. In September 1764, relief

arrived when Solovey anchored off Unalaska and learned of the plight

of his fellow promyshlenniki."

In retaliation, Solover killed at least seventy Aleuts in five differ-

ent engagements. "I preferred to talk them out of evil intentions so

that they could live in friendship with the Russian people," he main-

tained. But elderly promyshlenniki, interviewed in the early nine-

tenth century, would remember differently. On one occasion, Solovev,

after being provoked, killed one hundred Aleuts "on the spot." The 

bloodshed was "terrible," they recalled. On another, Solovev blew up

a fortified structure sheltering three hundred Aleuts and cut down

the survivors with guns and sabers. One trader stated that Solovev

had killed more than three thousand in all, perhaps an exaggera-

tion; another insisted that he had killed no more than two hundred.

Considering that Unalaska sheltered only a few thousand inhabitants,

even two hundred deaths would have represented a crushing blow to

the population."

Years later, Aleuts insisted that Solovief, above all others, was

responsible for their decline. The Russian captain had killed hundreds

or thousands, they said, and many others had fled at his approach. He

made a practice of destroying their haidarkat, as kayaks are known in

the Aleutians. The boats were essential for hunting, "as indispens-

able as the plow and the horse for the farmer," observed one Russian.

Many of the refugees died from starvation or exposure while laboring

to replace the skin-covered vessels, which took over a year to build."

On Unalaska and surrounding islands, Solover "shot all the men;

three residents recalled in 1789. He reportedly practiced a cruel experi-

ment: arranging the Aleuts in a line, he fired at the first to discover

how many people the bullet would pass through. On one occasion,

villagers sought refuge on Egg Island, a tiny outcropping with cliffs

four hundred feet high, lying in deep water just off the eastern edge

of Unalaska. Its rocky shoreline hindered Solov'ev's approach, but he

made landfall on the second attempt and killed the men, women, and

children who had gathered there. "The slaughter was so atrocious,"

Aleuts said, "that the sea around the islet, became bloody from those

who threw themselves or were thrown into it."6

In his journal, Solover remained largely silent about his thirty-five

months on Unalaska and the surrounding islands, where his crew

harvested the vast majority of the furs that would eventually be

sent on to Kyakhta. There was "nothing worthy of notice" in the journal,

declared the Russian Senate, which ordered future voyagers to keep bet-

ter records. Solov'ev's reticence may have been grounded in knowledge

of the fate of Ivan Bechevin, a wealthy Irkutsk merchant who was put

on trial in 1764 for the actions of his company. The official investigation

concluded that Bechevin's promyshlenniki-_who kidnapped, raped,

and murdered a number of Aleut women--committed "indescribable

abuses, ruin and murder upon the natives."3

Nonetheless, enough details exist to reveal that relations berween

Solover and the Aleuts rapidly deteriorated. Shortly after Solov'ev set

up camp on Unalaska, he sent out two hunting parties. A detachment

from the first became stranded in a cove surrounded by high cliffs.

The Aleuts who discovered the vulnerable men severed their arm and

leg tendons and then cut off their limbs and heads. Later, they boasted

to Solovev, "we are going to kill all of you just like we killed Russian

people before." Solov'ev ordered two Aleut captives stabbed to death."

The remainder of the first party went west, to hunt dt Umnak and

other western islands. It mer with success, according to Solov'ev. The

men lived peacefully with the islanders, who "voluntarily" gave them

hostages, traded with them, and paid dasak. "I was always happy wich

those foreigners and nothing bad happened while we stayed there,

" he stated. (lozemtry, meaning "foreigners," was the term Russians applied to

the native peoples of Siberia, as well as to the Aleuts.) Their acquiescence

to Solov'ev's presence may have been forged in the 1760s, when, accord-

ing to one report, promyshlenniki had virtually "exterminated" the

'"disobedient" populations on southern Umnak and its western islets.**

THE BUFFALOE OR BISON

This animal has been so minutely described by travellers that I have considered it of little importance to enter into the details of its shape and size, and shall therefore omit those descriptions with which I suppose the public to be already acquainted, and try to convey some idea of its peculiarities which probably are not so well known. The vast numbers of these animals which once traversed such an extensive region in Nth. America are fast diminishing. The continual increasing demand for robes in the civilised world has already and is still contributing in no small degree to their destruction, whilst on the other hand the continual increase of wolves and other 4 footed enemies far exceeds that of the Buffaloe when these combined efforts for its destruction is taken into consideration, it will not be doubted for a moment that this noble race of animals, so useful in supplying the wants of man, will at no far distant period become extinct in North America. The Buffaloe is already a stranger, altho so numerous 10 years ago, in that part of the country which is drained by the sources of the Colerado, Bear and Snake Rivers and occupied by the Snake and Bonnack Indians. The flesh of the Buffaloe Cow is considered far superior to that of the domestic Beef and it is so much impregnated with salt that it requires but little seasoning when cooked. All the time, trouble and care bestowed by man upon improving the breed and food of meat cattle seems to be entirely thrown away when we compare those animals in their original state which are reared upon the food supplied them by Nature with the same species when domesticated and fed on cultivated grasses and grains and the fact seems to justify the opinion that Nature will not allow herself to be outdone by art for it is fairly proved to this enlightened age that the rude and untaught savage feasts on better beef and Mutton than the most learned and experienced Agriculturists now if every effect is produced by a cause perhaps I may stumble upon the cause which produces the effect in this instance at any rate I shall attempt it - In the first place, the rutting season of the Buffaloe is regular commencing about the 15th of July when the males and females are fat, and ends about the 15 of Aug. Consequently the females bring forth their young in the latter part of April and the first of May when the grass is most luxuriant and thereby enables the cow to afford the most nourishment for her calf and enables the young to quit the natural nourishment of its dam and feed upon the tender herbage sooner than it would at any other season of the year. Another proof is that when the rutting season commences the strongest healthiest and most vigorous Bulls drive the weaker ones from the cows hence the calves are from the best breed which is thereby kept upon a regular basis. In summer season they generally go to water and drink once in 24 hours but in the winter they seldom get water at all. The cows are fattest in Octr and the Bulls in July The cows retain their flesh in a great measure throughout the winter until the Spring opens and they get at water from whence they become poor in a short time So much for the regularity of their habits and the next point is the food on which they subsist The grass on which the Buffaloe generally feeds is short, firm and of the most nutritious kind. The salts with which the mountain regions is much impregnated are imbibed in a great degree by the vegetation and as there is very little rain in Summer Autumn or winter the grass arrives at maturity and dries in the sun without being wet it is made like hay; in this state it remains throughout the winter and while the spring rains are divesting the old growth of its nutricious qualities they are in the meantime pushing forward the new - The Buffaloe are very particular in their choice of grass always preferring the short of the uplands to that of the luxuriant growth of the fertile alluvial bottoms. Thus they are taught by nature to choose such food as is most palatable and she has also provided that such as is most palatable is the best suited to their condition and that condition the best calculated to supply the wants and necessities of her rude untutored children for whom they were prepared. Thus nature looks with a smile of derision upon the magnified efforts of art to excel her works by a continual breach of her laws The most general mode practiced by the Indians for killing Buffaloe is running upon horseback and shooting them with arrows but it requires a degree of experience for both man and horse to kill them in this manner with any degree of safety particularly in places where the ground is rocky and uneven. The horse that is well trained for this purpose not only watches the ground over which he is running and avoids the holes ditchs and rocks by shortening or extending his leaps but also the animal which he is pursuing in order to prevent being `horned' when tis brot suddenly to bay which is done instantaneously and if the Buffaloe wheel to the right the horse passes as quick as thought to the left behind it and thereby avoids its horns but if the horse in close pursuit wheels on the same side with the Buffaloe he comes directly in contact with its horns and with one stroke the horses entrails are often torn out and his rider thrown headlong to the ground After the Buffaloe is brought to bay the trained horse will immediately commence describing a circle about 10 paces from the animal in which he moves continually in a slow gallop or trot which prevents the raging animal from making a direct bound at him by keeping it continually turning round until it is killed by the rider with arrows or bullets. If a hunter discovers a band of Buffaloe in a place too rough and broken for his horse to run with safety and there is smooth ground nearby he secretly rides on the leward side as near as he can without being discovered he then starts up suddenly without apparently noticing the Buffaloe and gallops in the direction he wishes the band to run the Buffaloe on seeing him run to the plain start in the same direction in order to prevent themselves from being headed and kept from the smooth ground The same course would be pursued if he wished to take them to any particular place in the mountains - One of the hunters first instructions to an inexperienced hand is "run towards the place where you wish the Buffaloe to run but do not close on them behind until they get to that place" for instance if the hunter is to the right the leading Buffaloe keep inclining to the right and if he should fall in behind and crowd upon the rear they would separate in different directions and it would be a mere chance if any took the direction he wished them - When he gets to the plain he gives his horse the rein and darts thro the band selects his victim reins his horse up along side and shoots and if he considers the wound mortal he pulls up the rein the horse knowing his business keeps along galloping with the band until the rider has reloaded when he darts forward upon another Buffaloe as at first A Cow seldom stops at bay before she is wounded and therefore is not so dangerous as a Bull who wheels soon after he is pushed from the band and becomes fatigued whether he is wounded or not. When running over ground where there is rocks holes or gullies the horse must be reined up gradually if he is reined at all there is more accidents happens in running Buffaloes by the riders getting frightened and suddenly checking their horses than any other way. If they come upon a Gully over which the horse can leap by an extra exertion the best plan is to give him the rein and the whip or spur at the same time and fear not for any ditch that a Buffaloe can leap can be cleared with safety by a horse and one too wide for a Buffaloe to clear an experienced rider will generally see in time to check his horse gradually before he gets to it - And now as I have finished my description of the Buffaloe and the manner of killing them I will put a simple question for the reader's solution -

If Kings Princes Nobles and Gentlemen can derive so much sport and Pleasure as they boast of in chasing a fox or simple hare all day? which when they have caught is of little or no benefit to them what pleasure can the Rocky Mountain hunter be expected to derive in running with a well trained horse such a noble and stately animal as the Bison? which when killed is of some service to him. There are men of noble birth noble Estate and noble minds who have attained to a tolerable degree of perfection in fox hunting in Europe and Buffaloe hunting in the Rocky Mountains, and I have heard some of them decide that the points would not bear a comparison if the word Fashion could be stricken from the English language It also requires a considerable degree of practice to approach on foot and kill Buffaloe with a Rifle A person must be well acquainted with the shape and make of the animal and the manner which it is standing in order to direct his aim with certainty - And it also requires experience to enable him choose a fat animal the best looking Buffaloe is not always the fattest and a hunter by constant practice may lay down rules for selecting the fattest when on foot which would be no guide to him when running upon horseback for he is then placed in a different position and one which requires different rules for choosing.

He said the Village would go to the Fort in three or four days to trade. We left them next morning loaded with as much fat dried Buffaloe meat as our horses could carry which had been given as a gratuity: we were accompanied on our return to the Fort by six of the men. On the 10th the Village arrived and pitched their Lodges within about 200 yards of the Fort. I now commenced learning the Snake Language and progressed so far in a short time that I was able to understand most of their words employed in matters of trade. Octr 20th a Village of Bonnaks consisting of 250 Lodges arrived at the Fort from these we traded a considerable quantity of furs, a large supply of dried meat, Deer, Elk and Sheep skins etc. - In the meantime we were employed building small log houses and making other nessary preparations for the approaching winter