RANDOM NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY. 



51 



After we had fairly got into the " ham- 

 mock," the clogs were let loose, and we 

 could hear them far away, their cries grow- 

 ing fainter and fainter, till, to my unedu- 

 cated ears they were no longer audible. 

 One dog showed a disposition to chase rab- 

 bits, which brought down many curses upon 

 his head from our cracker guide. A halt 

 was called when we reached an open space, 

 and we were told, as our guide expressed it, 

 that we were " gwine ter wait till the dogs 

 done treed a 'possum." 



I selected a log a little removed from the 

 others, and with a Northerner's caution in 

 regard to scorpions and centipedes, carefully 

 inspected the log before trusting myself to 

 it. 



The hammocks of Florida are full of in- 

 terest to a naturalist. Their fauna and 

 flora are wonderfully varied. In the white 

 moonlight, the trees, draped with winding 

 sheets of " Florida Moss," looked ghostly 

 enough to satisfy the cravings of the most 

 supernatural. How different from our 

 Northern forests — there, in the moonlight, 

 every outline is clear cut, every leaf shows 

 its shape, and the dark shadows suggest no 

 thought of concealment, — here every de- 

 cided outline is smothered by the long, gray 

 twiners of the moss, and a shadow, as 

 though of a unrepented sin hangs over the 

 wood. I was gliding towards the reverie 

 into which 1 am invariably drawn when in 

 the presence of Mother Nature, when I was 

 roughly awakened by a voice, shouting, 

 " They've got him ! " Every one was up in 

 an instant, and then followed a wild rush of 

 nearl}^ a mile through the thick growth, 

 over prostrate logs, and around " sinks," to 

 where the dogs were yelling like mad at the 

 foot of an immense oak — by far the largest 

 tree in the neighborhood. A council of war 

 was held — was it a 'possum or a 'coon ; and 

 how to get it down ? It seemed to be pop- 

 ular opinion that if it was a 'coon, the game 

 wasn't worth the candle, but as nothing 

 could be seen in the thick branches, it was, 

 of course, impossible to decide between 

 Didelphjis and Procyon. 



Suddenly our guide, who had maintained 

 a wise countenance when questioned con- 

 cerning his opinion, exclaimed, " I see him !" 

 There was a stampede to where he was 

 standing, and six pairs of eyes greedily 

 gazed at the tree-top. " I see him," he con- 



tinued, " right onto thet fust big limb, and 

 I reck'n its a 'possum." That settled the 

 matter, though a yonng fellow did dare to 

 remark sotto voce, " Derned if I reck'n its 

 a 'possum. Never yit seed a 'possum take 

 sich a big tree." The ipse dixit of the 

 guide seemed to settle matters with the 

 others, and the opinion of the " Northers " 

 was, of course, not asked. 



After some deliberation, and considerable 

 "cursing" of the 'possum for choosing so 

 big a tree, it was proposed to cut it down. 

 After two rounds it became evident that, at 

 the rate we were working, the tree would 

 fall some time the next aflernnou. A halt 

 was called, and more deliberation. Finally 

 a stout young fellow offered to climb the 

 tree. This was something of an undertak- 

 ing for the trunk was without a limb for 

 over forty feet, and was, moreover, about 

 twenty feet in circumference at the base. 

 However, we felled a small oak near by 

 against the larger, and by means of consid- 

 erable " boosting," he at last reached the 

 branches. The moon just then was obscured 

 by clouds, so we could hardly see him, 

 but we could hear him wondering where 

 the " derned thing" was. 



Suddenly a pistol shot from the tree-top 

 broke the silence, then another, and an- 

 other. "Got him?" No answer. Then 

 another shot. "Got him?" >^ till no 

 answer. The moon, breaking through the 

 clouds at that instant, showeil a heavy body 

 clinging despairingly to the lowest limb. 

 Another shot, and the body loosed its hold, 

 and fell swiftly into the mass of excited 

 dogs, where it would have been torn to pieces, 

 had not the guide rushed in, and driven 

 them off with heavy blows, and held up to 

 our interested gaze — a 'coon ! 



The countenance of all dropped. I 



heard some one behind me exclaim, no 



longer sotfo voce, " Derned if I reckon'd 



I 'twas a 'possum. Never yit seed a 'possum 



' take sich a big tree ! " 



We voted to give up the hunt that night, 



and tnrned homewards. The enterprising 



' fellow who had worked so hard for his 



" 'possum," slung the 'coon over his shoulder 



with rather a disappointed air. The last 



thing I heard as I turned in at our gate was, 



I "Derned if 1 didn't reck'n that warn't no 



I 'possum!" Henuy A. Kelly. 



' Bklleviku, Fla. 



