248 HUNTING SPORTS OF THE WEST. 



he was sorry for his want of knowledge in zoology. 

 The good gentleman, however, was not only deficient in 

 zoological lore, but, fresh as he was from Europe, felt 

 more than uneasy in this out-of-the-way dwelling, and 

 would have proceeded towards my own house that night, 

 had I not at length succeeded in persuading him that he 

 was in perfect security. 



We were shown to bed. As I was almost a stranger 

 to him, and he to me, he thought it a very awkward thing 

 to be obliged to lie in the same bed with me,, but after- 

 wards spoke of it as a happy circumstance, and requested 

 that I should suffer him to be placed next the logs, 

 thinking, no doubt, that there he should run no risk. 



We started by break of day, taking with us the frozen 

 cloak, and after passing a pleasant night in my own 

 house, we parted. Some years after, I met my Ken- 

 tucky companion in a far distant land, when he assured 

 me, that whenever the sun shone on his cloak, or it was 

 brought near a fire, the scent of the Pole-cat became 

 so perceptible, that he at last gave it to a poor monk in 

 Italy. 



The animal commonly known in America by the name 

 of Pole-cat, is about a foot and a half in length, with a 

 large bushy tail, nearly as long as the body. The color 

 is generally brownish-black, with a large white patch on 

 the back of the head ; but there are many varieties of 

 coloring, in some of which the broad white bands of the 

 back are very conspicuous. The Pole-cat burrows, or 

 forms a subterranean habitation among the roots of 

 trees, or in rocky places. It feeds on birds, young 

 hares, rats, mice, and other animals, and commits great 



