[009] They do not like salt meat as well as fresh, and never use
salt themselves; but ship's pork or even a red herring did not come
amiss to them. Of pea-soup they would eat as much as the sailors could
afford to give them; and that word was the only one, with the exception
of our names, which many of them ever learned in English. Among their
own luxuries must be mentioned a rich soup called k=ay~o, made of
blood, gravy, and water, and eaten quite hot.
Their only drink is water; and of this, when they can procure it, they
swallow an inconceivable quantity; so that one of the principal
occupations of the women during the winter is the thawing of snow in the
ootkooseeks for this purpose. They cut it into thin slices, and are
careful to have it clean, on which account they will bring it from a
distance of fifty yards from the huts. They have an extreme dislike to
drinking water much above the temperature of 32 deg. In eating their
meals, the mistress of the family, having previously cooked the meat,
takes a large lump out of the pot with her fingers, and hands it to her
husband, who, placing a part of it between his teeth, cuts it off with a
large knife in that position, and then passes the knife and meat together
to his next neighbour.
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