The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1922-09-27
RATTLESNAKE MEAT.

soon to- give the opening party 1t
may not be- out Of place to give some
data on choice dishes likely to be
served either by Col. Sondley or
some other setback artist.
It is not generally known, we be-
lieve, except. on Greenville Street,
that roast rathesnake and ~rattlesnake
soup are accounted amongst the
choicest dishes which may be served
at a function. like a setback party.
Mr.. E. W. Hodge, Of the Bureau OF
American Ethnology, it is true, says
in a letter to Prof. Wallace, Of Wof-
ford College,. which letter is quoted
by Prof. Wallace in his ellie, Of Hen
ny Laurens," that he does not know
Of any custom of eating rattlesnakes
by either the, aborigines or the white
settlers in America, but that, ut
has. been: stated that the eating of
snakes is a recognized custom in
Italy. the snake. being referred to as
''the eel of the hedge. as distin-
guished from "the eel of the water"
But evidently Mr.. Hodge, who may
lie kin to MI. Hodges mentioned by
Charles Dickens, does not know
everything, because Prof. Wallace
gives us an extract from a letter re-
ceived by him from Prof. Alexander
F. Chamberlain, of Clark University
and author of an article in the Brit
annica Oh the American Indian, in
which it is stated, Roast rattle
snakes were eaten by a number of
our Indian tribes" but he does not
know about the whites.
However, Prof. Wallace produces
better proof than the word of Prof.
Chamberlain. Quoting from a letter
of Henry Laurens to Andrew Will
hanson, who lived at Whitehall (now
in Greenwood County, in the up
country, written October 3Oth, 1854,
Mr.; Laurens acknowledges the re-
ceipt of "chestnuts, hazelnuts, Tel
onish G. puccoon, for which I return
thanks as I do for the poor u%nfortu-
nate ~rattlesnake whose body made
an addition to my table today" This
letter is found among the manu-
scripts in the Historical Society of
Pennsylvania.
We find further proof that the
flesh of rattlesnakes was regarded
as 4 choice article of food in Bevcr-
idge's "The Life of John Marshall"
II a footnote to page SO, Vo:., l of
this work, We find the following:
Thirty years earlier (1773) Colo
ne! Byrd records that Bears,
Wolves and Panth - roameI about
the site Of Richmond; that deer were
plentiful and rattlesnekes considered
a d~elicacy." For authority for the
Statement he cites Byrd's Writings:
Bassett, 293, 31S-19.
In a recent issue of The New
York Herald will be found a letter
to the editor written by George w.
Cerlach Of in which he
quotes from another letter written
by Capt. James Murray to a brother.
July 18th, 1853, describing the
country about Lake George. In that
letter we find the following:
Sometimes when I have been
out On command l have killed
rattlesnakes about four feet
long and as thick as the small of
3 ones leg, with eighteen rattles,
which altogether might be about
four inches long. They say some
have twenty or more. They have
both teeth and a sting. The rat
ties being at the tail makes
them that they can stand up on
end and spring a short way at
one. When touched they make
great noise with their rattles.
Their bite is not so bad as call
ed for it can be easily cured
with oil or salt. They smell en-
actly like a goat, rather rank
er if possible before they are
seized, but afterward have al
most no smell at all. They make