Part 23 (1/2)
The professional trapper on a campaign depends much upon his traps for his food, and often entirely contents himself with the subsistence thus gained. We _encourage_ and _believe_ in ”roughing it” to a certain extent, but not to that limit to which it is often carried by many professional ”followers of the trap” throughout our country.
The course of diet to which these individuals subject themselves, would often do better credit to a half civilized barbarian than to an enlightened white man, and when it comes to starting on a campaign with no provision for food excepting a few traps, a gun, and a box of matches, and relying on a chance chip for a frying-pan, he would rather be ”counted out.” In ordinary cases we see no necessity for such deprivation, and, on the other hand, we decry the idea of transporting a whole kitchen and larder into the woods. There is a happy medium between the two extremes, whereby a light amount of luggage in the shape of cooking utensils and closely packed portable food, may render the wild life of the trapper very cozy and comfortable, and his meals a source of enjoyment, instead of a [Page 231]
fulfilment of physical duty. What with the stock of traps, necessary tools, blankets, etc., the trapper's burden is bound to be pretty heavy, and it becomes necessary to select such food for transportation as shall combine the greatest amount of nutriment and the least possible weight, and to confine the utensils to those absolutely necessary for decent cooking.
The trapper's culinary outfit may then be reduced to the following items, and in them he will find a sufficiency for very pa.s.sable living.
One of the most nutritious and desirable articles of food consists of fine sifted Indian meal; and it is the only substantial article of diet which many trappers will deign to carry at all.
By some it is mixed with twice its quant.i.ty of wheat flour, and is thus used in the preparation of quite a variety of palatable dishes. One or two pounds of salt pork will also be found a valuable addition; boxes of pepper and salt and soda should also be carried.
With these simple provisions alone, relying on his gun, traps and fis.h.i.+ng tackle for animal food, the young trapper may rely on three enjoyable meals a day, if he is anything of a cook. Pork fritters are not to be despised, even at a hotel table; and with the above they can be made to suit the palate of the most fastidious.
Indian meal is a valuable accessory with cooks generally, and to the trapper it often becomes his great ”staff of life.” If our young enthusiast desires to try his hand at roughing it to the fullest extent, compatible with common sense and the strength of an ordinary physical const.i.tution, he may endeavor to content himself with the above portable rations; but with anything less it becomes too much like starvation to arouse our enthusiasm. For cooking utensils, a small frying-pan and a deep tin basin are indispensable; and a drinking cup is also to be desired. The kind known as the telescope cup, constructed in three parts, which close within each other, when not in use, possesses great advantages on account of its portability. With these one can get along pretty decently.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
The pork fritters already mentioned form a favorite dish with trappers generally, and can be made in the following [Page 232]
way; have at hand a thick batter of the Indian meal and flour; cut a few slices of the pork, and fry them in the frying-pan until the fat is tried out; cut a few more slices of the pork; dip them in the batter and drop them in the bubbling fat, seasoning with salt and pepper; cook until light brown and eat while hot. The question now arises, ”What shall we eat them with?” If you are ”roughing it,” such luxuries as plates and knifes and forks are surely out of the question; and you must content yourself with a pair of chop sticks ”a la Chinee,” or make your jackknife do double purpose, using a flat chip or stone as a plate. A small tin plate may be added to the list of utensils if desired, but we are now confining ourselves to the ”lowest limit” of absolute necessities. That wholesome dish known as ”boiled mush,” may come under the above bill of fare; and fried mush is an old stand-by to the rough and ready trapper. In the first case the Indian meal is slowly boiled for one hour, and then seasoned as eaten. It is then allowed to cool, and is cut in slices and fried in fat. Indian meal cakes are easily made by dropping a quant.i.ty of the hot mush in the frying-pan, having previously stirred in a small quant.i.ty of soda, and turning it as soon as the lower side is browned. A Johnny cake thus made is always appetizing, and with the addition of a little sugar, it becomes a positive luxury. Hoe cakes, so much relished by many, can be made by mixing up a quant.i.ty into a thick ma.s.s, adding a little soda. Bake in the fire on a chip or flat stone. The trapper's ground is generally in the neighborhood of lakes or streams, and fresh fish are always to be had. They may be cooked in a manner which would tempt a city epicure; and when it comes to the cooking of a fresh brook trout, neither a Prof. Blot nor a Delmonico can compete with the trapper's recipe.
The trout is first emptied and cleaned through a hole at the neck, if the fish is large enough to admit of it; if not, it should be done by a slit up the belly. The interior should be carefully washed and seasoned with salt and pepper; and in the case of a large fish, it should be stuffed with Indian meal. Build a good fire and allow the wood to burn down to embers; lay the fish in the hot ashes and cover it with the burning coals and embers; leave it thus for about half an hour, more or less, in proportion to the size of the fish (this may be easily determined by experiment); when done, remove it carefully from the ashes, and peel off the skin. The clean pink flesh and delicious savor which now manifest themselves will create an appet.i.te where none before existed. All the delicate [Page 233]
flavor and sweet juices of the fish are thus retained, and the trout as food is then known in its perfection.
By the ordinary method of cooking, the trout loses much of its original flavor by the evaporation of its juices; and although a delicious morsel in any event, it is never fully appreciated excepting after being roasted in the ashes, as above described.
The other method consists in rolling the fish in the Indian meal and frying it in the frying-pan with a piece of the salt pork.
Seasoning as desired.
Partridges, ducks, quail, and other wild fowl are most delicious when cooked in the ashes as described for the trout. The bird should be drawn in the ordinary manner, and the inside washed perfectly clean. It should then be embedded in the hot coals and ashes, the feathers having been previously saturated with water. When done, the skin and feathers will easily peel off, and the flesh will be found to be wonderfully sweet, tender, and juicy. A stuffing of pounded crackers and minced meat of any kind, with plenty of seasoning, greatly improves the result, or the Indian meal may be used if desired. A fowl thus roasted is a rare delicacy. A partridge, squirrel, pigeon, woodc.o.c.k, or any other game can be broiled as well in the woods as at home, using a couple of green-branched twigs for a spider or ”toaster,” and turning occasionally. For this purpose the bird should be plucked of its feathers, cleanly drawn and washed, and spread out by cutting down the back. Venison, moose, or bear meat, can be deliciously roasted in joints of several pounds before a good fire, using a green birch branch as a spit, and resting it on two logs, situated on opposite sides of the fire.
The meat can thus be occasionally turned and propped in place by a small stick, sprinkling occasionally with salt and pepper. The above manner of making the fire is that adopted by most woodsmen.
Two large green logs, of several feet in length, being first laid down at about three feet distant, between these the fire is built, and when a kettle is used a heavy pole is so arranged as to project and hold it over the fire. A cutlet of venison fried in the pan is delicious, and a ”Johnny cake” cooked in the fat of this meat is a decided dainty.
With the above hints for a ”rough and ready” campaign, we think the young trapper ought to be able to get along quite comfortably.
We will now pa.s.s on to the consideration of what the average [Page 234]
professional trapper would call ”luxuries.” The stock of these depends much upon the location of the trapping ground. If accessible by wagon or boat, or both, they may be carried in unlimited quant.i.ties, but when they are to be borne on the back of the trapper through a pathless wilderness of miles, the supply will, of course, have to be cut short. When two or three start out together it becomes much easier, one carrying the traps and tools; another the guns, cooking utensils, etc.; the third confining his luggage to the food.
One of the most necessary requisites for a journey on foot consists in a knapsack or large square basket, which can be easily strapped to the back of the shoulders, thus leaving the hands free. Matches are absolutely indispensable, and a good supply should be carried.
They should always be enclosed in a large-mouthed bottle with a close fitting cork, to prevent their being damaged by moisture. For further safety in this regard the matches may be rendered perfectly water-proof by dipping their ends in thin mastic or sh.e.l.lac varnish.
If not at hand, this varnish can be easily made by dissolving a small quant.i.ty of either sort of gum in three or four times its bulk of alcohol. It is well to dip the whole stick in the solution, thereby rendering the entire match impervious to moisture. Lucifer matches are the best, and, when thus prepared, they may lay in water for hours without any injury. It is a fearful thing to find oneself in the wilderness, cold and hungry, and without the means of lighting a fire, and to prepare for such an emergency it is always advisable to be provided with a pocket sun gla.s.s. So long as the sun s.h.i.+nes a fire is thus always to be had, either by igniting a small quant.i.ty of powder (which the trapper is always supposed to carry) or using powdered ”touch wood” or ”punk tinder” in its place. Fine sc.r.a.pings from dry wood will easily ignite by the sun gla.s.s, and by fanning the fire and adding additional fuel it will soon burst into flame. In cloudy weather, and in the absence of matches, a fire may easily be kindled by sprinkling a small quant.i.ty of powder on a large flat stone, setting a percussion cap in its midst, and covering the whole with dry leaves. A smart strike on the cap with a hammer will have the desired result, and by heaping additional fuel on the blazing leaves the fire soon reaches large proportions. If the young trapper should ever be so unfortunate as to find himself in the wild woods, chilled and hungry, minus matches, powder, caps, and sun gla.s.s, he may as a last resort try the following: Sc.r.a.pe some lint or cotton from some portion of the garment, or some tinder from a dry stick, and lay it on the [Page 235]
surface of some rough rock, white quartz rock if it can be found.
Next procure a fragment of the same stone, or a piece of steel from some one of the traps, and strike its edge sharply, and with a skipping stroke into the further side of the tinder, the direction being such as will send the sparks thus produced into the inflammable material. Continue this operation until the tinder ignites. By now gently fanning the smoking ma.s.s it may easily be coaxed into flame.
At least so our Adirondack guide told us last summer. The author has never had occasion to test the merits of the plan for himself, and has no special desire of being so placed, as that his life will hang upon its success. He presents it therefore as a mere suggestion without endorsing its practicability, and would rather prefer matches in the long run. The open fire generally serves both for purposes of warmth and cooking, but by many, a camp stove is considered a great improvement. Stoves of this character, and for this especial purpose, are in the market. They are small and portable, with pipe and furniture, all of which pack away closely into the interior.
A fire is easily started in one of these stoves, and, by closing the damper, a slow fire may be kept up through the night. The stove is generally set up at the entrance of the tent, the pipe pa.s.sing through the top, in a hole near the ridge pole. The furniture consists of three pots or kettles, which pack easily into each other, and when in the stove still leave ample room for a considerable amount of provisions.
The kettles are made of block-tin, and frying-pans also, as these are much more light and portable than those made of iron. The lid may be used as a plate, and for this purpose the handle consists of an iron ring, which will fold flat against the surface when inverted. Knives, forks, and spoons are easily stowed away in the stove or knapsack, and a coffee-pot should always be carried. There is a knife known as the combination camp-knife, which is much used by hunters and trappers, and contains a spoon, fork, knife, and various other useful appendages, in a most compact form. It costs from one to two dollars.
For provisions, potatoes will be found excellent, both on account of their portability and the variety of ways in which they may be served. They are healthy and nutritions, and always palatable.
Beans are also very desirable for the same reasons. Wheat flour will form a valuable addition to the trapper's larder, and particularly so, if the ”self-raising” kind can be had. This [Page 236]
flour contains all the required ingredients for light bread and biscuit, and is sold by grocers generally, in packages of various sizes, with accompanying recipes. We strongly recommend it where a stove is employed; and to anyone who is fond of biscuit, bread, or pancakes, it will be appreciated. b.u.t.ter, lard, sugar, salt, pepper and mustard are valuable accessories, and curry-powder, olive oil, and vinegar will often be found useful. Olive oil is often used by camping parties with the curry powder, and also as a subst.i.tute for lard in the frying-pan. Pork, Indian meal and crackers, wheaten grits, rice, and oat-meal are desirable, and coffee and tea are great luxuries. For soups, Liebig's extract of beef is a most valuable article, and with the addition of other ingredients, vegetables or meat, the result is a most delicious and nutritious dish. This extract is obtainable at almost any grocer's, and full directions and recipes accompany each jar. Canned vegetables are much to be desired on account of their portability, and are never so delicious as when cooked over a camp fire. Lemonade is always a luscious beverage, but never so much so as to a thirsty trapper. A few lemons are easily carried and will repay the trouble.
All provisions, such as meal, flour, sugar, salt, crackers, and the like, should be enclosed in water-proof canvas bags, and labelled.
The bags may be rendered water-proof either by painting, (in which case no _lead_ or a.r.s.enic paints should be used) or by dipping in the preparation described on page 247. If these are not used, a rubber blanket, page 250, may be subst.i.tuted, the eatables being carefully wrapped therein, when not in use. The b.u.t.ter and lard should be put up in air-tight jars, and should be kept in a cool place, either on the ground in a shady spot, or in some cool spring.