56 HABITS OF THE RACOON. 



defends himself against his enemies. Captivity is 

 unfavourable to the developement of instinct. Close 

 confinement and the monotony of an unvaried life 

 frequently make the most vivacious appear dull of 

 apprehension. Animals must be observed in their 

 native haunts, before an accurate judgment can be 

 formed respecting them; they must be seen also in 

 their various relations to others, before we can de- 

 cide whether they are gentle and affectionate, or 

 ferocious and incapable of being tamed. 



Like most of the wild commoners of nature, he 

 has his bounds prescribed and tenaciously pre- 

 served. Mackenzie found him on the borders of the 

 Red River, at forty-five or fifty degrees of north 

 latitude, and he also descends far towards the south, 

 ranging at will, from cold and frost-bound regions, 

 to countries blessed with perpetual spring, and, 

 again, ascending from those lofty mountains, which 

 lie beneath the equinoctial line to the verge of per- 

 petual winter, where a few gray lichens and stunted 

 pines proclaim the utmost limits of vegetable life. 

 It seems as if the racoon delighted to experience the 

 vicissitudes of soil and climate, as if it was indifferent 

 to him, whether he sojourned amid lawns and pas- 

 tures, beside clear running streams, or sunny hills, 

 and in sheltered vallies, or sought a precarious sus- 

 tenance among dreary rocks ; in wide inhospitable 

 deserts, and gloomy woods, which the cheerful 

 sunbeams can hardly penetrate. 



Respecting the Brown Coati (Nasuafusca. Cuv.\ 

 which affects the warm regions of America, the 

 natural historian has little to record, excepting that 

 although his feet are demi-webbed, he can ascend 



