The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1853-05-03
ARCTIC DIET.

soon to leave our shores ffsEssiH taxes Win KhGh hGh il
mirably systematised dietary; the result, evil
dently, of much careful study. fa
For long marches, where the labor of carri-
| riage requires the greatest economy of weight
a condensed and portable food becomes of par
amount Importance. Until very latsly the ri
file was the larder of the fron;ierman, but we
are now in the midst of great exodus. Men,
women and children strike out into our Wes-
tern deserts, nd the vast inter-space between
our Atlantic and Pacific civilizations, is mass
of moving life. We think that valuable prac-
tical lesson might be taught to such omigrants,
by tha preparations of this little Arctic party.
We devoted morning to an inspection OF
their resources They take out with them, the
meat, biscuit of Borden. the desiccated veget-
ables of Cholet the impacted milk cakes of the
Messrs. Abbatt, and the Pemican of the Indian
voydgeurs.
The meat biscuit has. after careful experiment
been adopted by DR.. Kane for his sledge jour-
neys. 1t combines the essential elements of
-four and beef, and six ounces day have been
proved to be sufficient to sustain life, while in
active exercise. Sir Lyon Playfair. who ana
ysed this article at the Worlds Fair. reports
in unqualified terms as TO its value. The veg
etables are dried by rapidly changing the at
mospheres, and compressed by hydraulic pow
or so as to occupy an inceivably small bulk
The milk, which is destined to do away with
passenger cows, was as hard as a brick bat, but
with thesaid Of little water, was hardly dstin-
guished from breakfast cream.
But the great stand By the sheet .Anchor of
Arctic voyagers, was the Pemican. All our
Northern Indian tribes, but especially the Crees
and Chippewynn, use this preparation for their
long marches. 1t consists Of the pounded meats
of the moose or Buffalo. carefully dried by fire
and sun, and incorporated with fat or marrow.
Tho word Penis, which in the Algonquin, sig
nifies grease, is probably the origin of the
term.
The Pemican of the American expedition
was prepared on large scale from beef, and
in its manufacture we were much interested.
We We're shown into large kiln of some
twenty-five feet square. heated to tempera-
ture of l40o Fahrenheit, and completely filled
with beef steaks. No less than, 1000 lbs, OF
carefully cut rnmp pieces were strung upon
wooden frames, and undergoing the process of
drying. The steak when dried to one-fourtb
of its original weight was ground in mill to
the size Of pounded homminy, and then mixed
with an equal weight ofpure lard.
Tho whole process was superinteDded by
Mr.. Borden--the inventor of the ment biscuit,
who had been selected by Mr.. Grinnell to
carry out his instructions. We were told that
fonr thousand pounds of meat and one thous-
and of lard would make about two thousand
pounds of this concentrated diet. and that the
scale of DR.. Kanc's rations for his final sledge
Journey over the Polar leo would be limited to
two pounds per man per diem ofthis novel COM
pound OF beef and grease.
VOL as this was adapted to it's purpose, those
Of us "who live at home at case" could not help
being impressed with the priyations of men
who, dragging their sledges over a wilderness
Of ice, have but this homely mixture to sustain
their energies and prepare them for their labors
ahead. Great credit is due DR.. Kane for his
skillfnl oxertions in this matter.-[Jou Of
Commerce