MINERALS FOUND IN GROTON. 83 



A SILVER-GRAY FOX. 



On May 31, 1907, the day after the Memorial exercises at 

 Groton, I was driving with the late Colonel T. Lawrence 

 Motley in the easterly part of the town, passing by the 

 Rocky Hill district into the township of Dunstable. Just be- 

 fore we reached the Groton line again toward Pepperell, a 

 large silver-gray fox came out of the sprout land or woods 

 on the easterly side of the road and trotted along very lei- 

 surely ahead of us. We reined up the horse and followed the 

 fox slowly for perhaps thirty or forty rods. He did not ap- 

 pear to be at all frightened, and was so large that at first sight 

 I thought he was a wolf, but his brush clinched the matter 

 in regard to the kind of animal. There was no mistake about 

 the tail. In a minute or two the fox left the road and trotted 

 into the woods on the westerly side of the way. We then 

 hastened toward the spot where he had disappeared, not ex- 

 pecting to see him again. When we reached the place, much 

 to our astonishment he had turned around, and was standing 

 agape within twelve or fifteen feet of the road staring at us. 

 He seemed to be enjoying the situation and was grinning 

 apparently at our surprise. We stopped for a moment 

 and watched him, when I made the remark. What a pity it is 

 that we could not have caught him with a kodak, as he then 

 stood. By this time the fox had seen enough of us, when 

 he deliberately turned round and disappeared in the 

 underbrush and forests. 



He was the largest specimen of a fox, and the only one of 

 this variety, that I had ever seen ; and Colonel Motley agreed 

 with me fully in regard to the size and the. kind that ever 

 came under his observation. 



MINERALS FOUND IN GROTON. 



The following paper is found, among the manuscripts of 

 the Massachusetts Historical Society, in the first volume of 

 Belknap Papers, marked on the back " Miscellaneous Letters. 



