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iictioii followed. Poultry, also, to use the language of the venerable 

 African, had to '• roost mighty high " when Pontiac was round. From 

 this fact you may naturally conclude that hens and otters cannot advan- 

 tageously be kept at large on the same pi^emises. Next to fish, Pontiac 

 had an unconqueiable jjartiality for fat chickens, irresjiective of plum 

 age or pedigree. 



Pontiac knew his name, always came when called, and followed 

 his master on the street, or in the woods, as faithfully as a dog. One 

 evening in summer I started in a bai-k canoe for " Brighams's Creek," 

 leaving Pontiac on shore. Apparently in great trouble, he immediately 

 began whistling, and started after me swimming on the surface of the 

 water, seeming as if afraid of losing sight of me. When he found that 

 he was losing ground — or rather water — he concluded that a desperate 

 •alternative was necessary ; and iinder he went, and in less than two 

 ■minutes, all dripping with water, he was on my back. The afternoon 

 was warm and I did not mind the wetting. 



Pontiac had a nose as keen as that of a highly In-ed hound or 

 ,])ointer, both of which dogs, in extreme sensitiveness of smelling, excel 

 the setter. In our rambles, Avhen we chanced to get into a cedar 

 swamp, which was quite frequently the case, I have seen him running 

 on hare-tracks with the spirit and vivacity of a beagle or a harrier. On 

 .such occasions he has been often upwards of half an hour at a time out 

 ■of si»ht. When wanted, a call or two would bring him out instantly, 

 and no matter how winding or circling ray track might be to a hiding 

 place, either on snow or on bare ground, he followed it with the pre- 

 ■cision of a bloodhound, whistling almost at every jump to let me know 

 that he was coming. 



Notwithstanding his apparent craniological defects, Pontiac was 

 singularly sagacious ; so much so, as to constitute a living contradiction 

 to the dicta of phrenology. In his fiat, serpent-like head Prof. Fowler 

 would find it difficult to imagine where there was roonj for brains. 

 His organs of aliicentiveness and destructiveuess, however, must have 

 been fully developed, a fact which cats, fishes and poultry, if they could 

 speak, would amply confirm. 



My other little otter, " Pocahontas," I regret to say, died young, 

 from the eSects of a blow on the head from a stone ; an unlucky inci- 



