THE RACOON. 149 



semble those of monkeys, that the first troop 

 of racoons I fell in with I took to be monkeys 

 until near enough to make out the diiFerence. 

 The animal is too well known to require 

 description, but a short notice of their wild 

 habits may perhaps be acceptable. They 

 wander about the country in troops of fifty or 

 more, and, like the monkeys, are seldom seen 

 many days near the same spot ; they are 

 often seen playing on the ground, but much 

 more often in the trees; and as they are much 

 used in some parts as food, and I had not the 

 same compunction at shooting them as the 

 monkey, had many opportunities of examining 

 them both before and after cooking. There are 

 two sorts of racoon, yet they are precisely 

 the same species ; there are those that go 

 about in troops, which are generally lean and 

 dry, and those that are found by themselves, 

 now and then, and are really excellent eating ; 

 but any roasted racoon is an excellent sub- 

 stitute for going to sleep empty. 



From one cause or another, which I could 

 never discover, a racoon separates himself 

 from the troop and turns hermit, and thus 

 gains the name given him " Pisote solo/' I 

 had long been looking out for a " soHtary 

 racoon ;" but though I had met hundreds and 



