One of these
hunters brought into camp a wild tale of a snake which, he said, "made
a guttural noise like a turkey." One of the French voyageurs confirmed
this story; but the croaking snake was never found and identified.
On the twenty-fourth of June the explorers halted to prepare some of the
meat which their hunters brought in. Numerous herds of deer were feeding
on the abundant grass and young willows that grew along the river banks.
The meat, cut in small strips, or ribbons, was dried quickly in the hot
sun. This was called "jirked" meat. Later on the word was corrupted into
"jerked," and "jerked beef" is not unknown at the present day. The verb
"jerk" is corrupted from the Chilian word, charqui, meaning sun-dried
meat; but it is not easy to explain how the Chilian word got into the
Northwest.
As the season advanced, the party found many delicious wild fruits, such
as currants, plums, raspberries, wild apples, and vast quantities of
mulberries. Wild turkeys were also found in large numbers, and the party
had evidently entered a land of plenty. Wild geese were abundant, and
numerous tracks of elk were seen. But we may as well say here that the
so-called elk of the Northwest is not the elk of ancient Europe; a more
correct and distinctive name for this animal is wapiti, the name given
the animal by the Indians. The European elk more closely resembles the
American moose. Its antlers are flat, low, and palmated like our moose;
whereas the antlers of the American elk, so-called, are long, high, and
round-shaped with many sharp points or tines.
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