162 THE HIVE OF THE BEE-HUNTER. 
that a person may be smarter than he looks. A singed 
wild-cat, as such an illustration, would be sublime. 
The Indians, who, in their notions and traditions, 
are always picturesque and beautiful, imagine that the 
rattlesnake, to live, must breathe the poisonous air of 
the swamps, and the exhalations of decayed animal mat- 
ter; while the cat has the attribute of gloating over the 
meaner displays of evil passions of a quarrelsome per- 
son; for, speaking of a quarrelsome family, they say, 
“ That the lodge containing it fattens the wild-cat.” 
