1876.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



and evergreen oaks, I heard them singing hastily 



the celebrated coon-catching epic, " Sittin' on a 



Rail." The hero of the poem, it seems, was a 



daring darkey, who fearlessly, bravely, and 



stealthily, regardless of consequences, crept up 



to— 



" De raccoon sittin' on a rail, an' sleepin' berry 



sound. 

 Den he cotch him by de tail, an' pull him to de 



ground." 

 But, as the sequel will show, in this instance, 

 he was not " sleepin' berry sound." He was " a 

 wide-awake coon." The night was more than 

 usually pleasant, so calm and cool, and almost as 

 light as day. Nature seemed to be at rest all 

 serenely. 



" The moon was bright, 'twas a shiny night. 

 In the season of the year." 



I honestly believe we all felt as merry, if not 

 as brave, as did either Earl Percy or Douglass, of 

 "Chevy Chase" renown, as we filed off along 

 the forest path. " With axe or brand, no braver 

 band, advanced to face " — a coon. 



The chief hunter rejoiced in the name of Long 

 John, while his henchman was equally proud of 

 Bogus. The next name on the roll was Festus — 

 " most noble Festus" — followed consecutively oy 

 the valiant Soger; then, yours respectfully, W. 

 T. H., and lastly, though not less famous. Vine- 

 gar, and whom all acknowledged to be " de best 

 dog dat eber treed a coon." 



Now, in many respects. Vinegar was a remark- 

 able canine, and I say it advisedly ; he was the 

 leanest and mangiest pup that ever ran before a 

 tail. Indeed, he seemed to be a " cur of low de- 

 gree," and to have, as his looks indicated, a very 

 dogged way of his own. Notwithstanding, he 

 was, to his credit be it said, in possession of more 

 than ordinary dog talents in circumventing rats, 

 rabbits, 'possums, and coons, and was honored 

 accordingly. Bogus and Vinegar were bosom 

 friends by day and bed-fellows by night, and had 

 for several seasons lived and loved together. 

 Long John was considered a good man, and I 

 believe he was; he was (what I believe they call), 

 a Gospel expounder on the plantation. In some 

 respects he resembled Saul, who, "from his 

 shoulders and upwards, he was higher than any 

 of his people." He was also a man of might in 

 his way, having had some desperate encounters, 

 as he described them, when "wreslin' wid de 

 spirit, befo' he was 'ligeous." When I remarked 

 that I thought the spirit must have been a 



plucky one that durst attack a man like him, he 

 replied, " De dibble wusn't half so plucky as he 

 'peer'd to be, wen he wus well tackled ; he mostly 

 got de wust of de scrimage." Just fancy Long 

 John and the other black fellow in a tussle. 

 Well, he was just as' good and useful on the coon- 

 path as he was terrible when on the war-path. 



After wandering about some time, through 

 bogs and swamps, until I was weary and wet, in 

 fact, I was in a shocking plight. Vinegar had the 

 credit of treeing a coon. Bogus, approvingly and 

 with much gusto, remarked, " Binegah am de 

 most cunnin' ole man dat eber wag a tail, 

 shuah." Then was heard such a hvibbub, yell- 

 ing, hooting, howling, and barking round the 

 tree as was never heard before from four men 

 and a dog. All the time the chips flew fast and 

 furious, as they vigorously applied their axes to 

 the butt of the tree. Poor blackamoor! how 

 much they seemed to enjoy the sport, and how I 

 laughed to hear them cracking funny jokes at 

 " de gemman up de tree," whom they invited to 

 come down " an' 'zamin' massa Binegah mouf, 

 case he got de toof-ache, shuah !" I really pitied 

 the poor creature, and hoped he would escape. 

 It did not seem a fair fight — five to one. The 

 rotten tree soon yielded to their efforts, and be- 

 gan to lean over. The excitement seemed to in- 

 crease as it fell, when to the astonishment of all 

 hands, three coons scampered out of a hole, and 

 together fell foul on Vinegar. Thus beset, the 

 beleagured " Binegah " seemed to be getting the 

 worst of it, until Festus interfered. Aiming a 

 blow at one of the coons, he missed it, and buried 

 his axe in the dog's side, and disemboweled poor 

 Binegah. 



"Great Goddlemighty !" exclaimed Bogus, and 

 looking at Festus, said, "See what you niggah 

 fool dun, you murdid poo' Binegah shuah !" In 

 an instant Bogus was do"WTi by the dog, vainly 

 attempting to close up the frightful gash in his 

 companion's side. The big tears flowed copi- 

 ously from the master's eyes, and fell fast upon 

 the face of his dog, whose life-blood was welling 

 away. 



In the mind's eye I see the picture now, and a 

 more pitiful sight I seldom have seen, than the 

 poor weeping negro rubbing his rugged cheek on 

 the dog's, and sobbingly commiserating with his 

 dying friend, and exclaiming, " Poo' Binegah ! 

 ole man, you dun fo' now ! No mo' rats, no mo' 

 possum, no mo' rabbit, no mo' coon, no mo' 

 nufRn, — an' no mo' -Binegah ! Dis chile will 

 miss de poo' fellow ! Sally, miss de poo' fellow I 



