American wild fruits.
The “pagessaveg” of the Indians, Prunes sauvages of the French-Canadians, or “wild plum” of the trappers, is usually collected late in the month of October. It grows abundantly on the river sides and lake shores. The Indians either dry or boil it with maple sugar, when it is converted into a sort of cake by boiling and stirring the fruit about in the kettle until the mass is thick enough for treatment, when it is thrown from the pot and spread out to about an inch deep in a flat layer on a piece of birch bark, when it is exposed to the sun until it becomes quite tough and tenacious. It is then rolled up like soft leather, placed in a birch-bark box, and buried in the earth until wanted. During the winter season, when dried meat is in use, large pieces of this preparation are cut off with a knife and boiled with it.
The “sand cherry” of the trappers, or “la cerise à grappe” of the Canadians, grows abundantly about the borders of sugar-maple groves, on the edges of old clearings, and about the borders of the prairies. It is fit to gather in the month of August. The Indians gather large quantities, crush them between flat heavy stones, stir the mass well together with deer fat, and then boil it in a kettle until it becomes a thick tenacious cake or paste, when it is, like the wild plum cake, buried until required.
The small red forest crab apples can be thoroughly prepared by drying, when they are both wholesome and nutritious.
The “wortleberry” of the trappers, or “bellois” of the Canadians, is extremely abundant in a great number of localities. To prepare the fruit a thick close basket-work tray, or hurdle of white cedar, is used. This, when covered with a layer of ripe berries, is suspended over a slow steady wood fire until dry, when they are packed away in bark boxes. They are either mixed with dough to form cake, or boiled with meat or fish.
The “mashkigimin” of the Indians, “les ottakas” of the Canadians, the “cranberry” of the trappers: this fruit, although commonly known among trappers and English settlers as the cranberry, is much larger than the European variety. Swampy ground is most congenial to its growth. It is fit to gather as early as the month of October, but remains on the bushes even after being thickly buried by snow in the winter season. Immense quantities of these berries are annually gathered by the Indians, not only for their own use, but as a branch of trade with the United States traders, who readily purchase them for preserving. For Indian use, they require no treatment, as they do not readily decay; but by settlers they are usually boiled in syrup, or preserved in maple sugar.
Wild hazel nuts are found in great abundance. These are best kept by first packing, and then burying them in an earthen jar or bark box.
“Swan potatoes” are found growing on the shallow margins of rivers, lakes, and streams. These, when dug from the soft ooze and washed clean, are strung on a long thin strip of white cedar wood, and hung up over the fire to dry. They are boiled for use, when they become plump and palatable.
Wild raspberries, strawberries, &c., are to be met with in many parts of America.
Butter nuts, hickory nuts, and pinons, or cone nuts, are all, more or less, deserving of the attention of the hunter or explorer.