“They rode over hills and plains till night, encamped, supped on a wild turkey, and continued their journey till the afternoon of the next day, when they saw three men approaching on horseback, one of whom, to Joutel's alarm, was dressed like a Spaniard. He proved, however, to be a Cenis Indian, like the others. The three turned their horses' heads, and accompanied the Frenchmen on their way. At length they neared the Indian town, which, with its large thatched lodges, looked like a cluster of gigantic haystacks. Their approach had been made known, and they were received in solemn state. Twelve of the elders came to meet them in their dress of ceremony, each with his face daubed red or black, and his head adorned with painted plumes. From their shoulders hung deer-skins wrought with gay colors. Some carried war-clubs; some, bows and arrows; some, the blades of Spanish rapiers, attached to wooden handles decorated with hawk's bells and bunches of feathers. They stopped before the honored guests, and, raising their hands aloft, uttered howls so extraordinary that Joutel could hardly preserve the gravity which the occasion demanded. Having next embraced the Frenchmen, the elders conducted them into the village, attended by a crowd of warriors and young men; ushered them into their town-hall, a large lodge, devoted to councils, feasts, dances, and other public assemblies; seated them on mats, and squatted in a ring around them. Here they were regaled with sagamite or Indian porridge, corn-cake, beans, bread made of the meal of parched corn, and another kind of bread made of the kernels of nuts and the seed of sunflowers. Then the pipe was lighted, and all smoked together. The four Frenchmen proposed to open a traffic for provisions, and their entertainers grunted assent.”
A cook of roughly the same moment, setting down the same dish.
Pick them young, and throw into a little wooden keg a layer three inches deep; then sprinkle with salt: put another layer of beans, and do the same as high as you think proper, alternately with salt; but do not be too liberal of the latter: lay a plate, or cover of wood that will go into the keg, and put on it a heavy stone. A pickle will rise from the beans and salt. If too salt, the soaking and boiling will not be sufficient to make them pleasant to the taste. When to be eaten, cut, soak, and boil as when fresh. Potatoes should be kept in the earth that adheres to them when dug; and preserved from frost. Carrots, parsnips, and turnips the same, and put in layers of dry sand. Small close cabbages laid on a stone floor before the frost sets in, will blanch and be very fine, after many weeks’ keeping.
Sources: The passage is from Francis Parkman, France and England in North America, Part III: La Salle, Discovery of , free to read in full at Project Gutenberg. The recipe is from Rundell, New system of domestic cookery, formed upon principles of of 1806, also free in full. Both are in the public domain in the United States. The binding above is ours — burgundy cloth, sheaf stamp.