A TAME CAROLINA PARROT. 527 



the stern of my boat, and presented it with some cockle-burs, which it freely fed on, in 

 less than an hour after it had been on board. The intermediate time between eating and 

 sleeping was occupied in gnawing the sticks that formed its place of confinement, in order 

 to make a practicable breach, which it repeatedly effected. 



When I abandoned the river and travelled by land, I wrapped it up closely in a silk 

 handkerchief, tying it tightly around, and carried it in my pocket. When I stopped for 

 refreshment I unbound my prisoner and gave it its allowance, which it generally 

 despatched with great dexterity, unhusking the seeds from the bur in a twinkling ; in 

 doing which it always employed its left foot to hold the bur, as did several others that I 

 kept for some time. I began to think that this might be peculiar to the whole tribe, and 

 that they all were, if I may use the expression, left-footed ; but by shooting a number 

 afterwards while engaged in eating mulberries, I found sometimes the left and sometimes 

 the right foot stained with the fruit, the other always clean ; from which, and the constant 

 practice of those I kept, it appears that, like the human species in the use of their hands, 

 they do not prefer one or the other indiscriminately, but are either left or right footed. 



But to return to my prisoner. In recommitting it to ' durance vile ' we generally had 

 a quarrel, during which it frequently paid me in kind for the wound I had inflicted and 

 for depriving it of liberty, by cutting and almost disabling several of my fingers with its 

 sharp and powerful bill. 



The path between Nashville and Natchez is in some places bad beyond description. 

 There are dangerous creeks to swim, miles of morass to struggle through, rendered almost 

 as gloomy as night by a prodigious growth of timber, and an underwood of canes, and other 

 evergreens, while the descent into these sluggish streams is often ten or fifteen feet 

 perpendicular into a bed of deep clay. In some of the worst of these places, where I had 

 as it were to fight my way through, the Paroquet frequently escaped from my pocket, 

 obliging me to dismount and pursue it through the worst of the morass before I could 

 regain it. On these occasions I was several times tempted to abandon it, but I persisted 

 in bringing it along. When at night I encamped in the woods, I placed it on the baggage 

 beside me, where it usually sat with great composure, dozing and gazing at the fire till 

 morning. In this manner I carried it upwards of a thousand miles in my pocket, where 

 it was exposed all day to the jolting of the horse, but regularly liberated at meal times 

 and in the evening, at which it always expressed great satisfaction. 



In passing through the Chickasaw and Chactaw nations, the Indians, whenever I 

 stopped to feed, collected around me men, women, and children laughing, and seemingly 

 wonderfully amused with the novelty of my companion. The Chickasaws called it in 

 their language ' Kelinky,' but when they heard me call it Poll, they soon repeated the 

 name ; and whenever I chanced to stop amongst these people, we soon became familiar 

 with each other through the medium of Poll. 



On arriving at Mr. Dunbar's, below Natchez, I procured a cage, and placed it under 

 the piazza, where, by its call, it soon attracted the passing flocks, such is the attachment 

 they have for each other. Numerous parties frequently alighted on the trees immediately 

 above, keeping up a constant conversation with the prisoner. One of these I wounded 

 slightly in the wing, and the pleasure Poll expressed on meeting with this new companion 

 was really amusing. She crept close up to it as it hung on the side of the cage, chattering 

 to it in a low tone of voice as if sympathising in its misfortune, scratched about its head 

 and neck with her bill, and both at night nestled as close as possible to each other, some- 

 times Poll's head being thrust among the plumage of the other. 



On the death of this companion she appeared restless and inconsolable for several 

 days. On reaching New Orleans I placed a looking-glass beside the place where she 

 usually sat, and the instant she perceived her image, all her former fondness seemed to 

 return, so that she could scarcely absent herself from it a moment. It was evident she 

 was completely deceived. Always when evening drew on, and often during the day, she 

 laid her head close to that of the image in the glass, and began to doze with great 

 composure and satisfaction. 



In this short space she had learned to know her name, to answer when called on, to 

 cJimb up my clothes, sit on my shoulder, and eat from my mouth. I took her with me to 



