RACOON HUNT IN KENTUCKY. 239 



goes a bullet, then a second ; and we secure the prey. " Let us go home, 

 stranger," says the woodsman ; and contented with our sport, towards his 

 cabin we trudge. On arriving there, we find a cheerful fire. Toby stays 

 without, prepares the game, stretches the skins on a frame of cane, and 

 washes the bodies. The table is already set ; the cake and the potatoes 

 are all well done ; four bowls of butter-milk are ranged in order ; and 

 now the hunters fall to. 



The Racoon is a cunning animal, and makes a pleasant pet. Monkey- 

 like, it is quite dexterous in the use of its fore feet, and it will amble after 

 its master, in the manner of a bear, and even follow him into the street. 

 It is fond of eggs, but prefers them raw, and it matters not whether it be 

 morning, noon, or night, when it finds a dozen in the pheasant's nest, or 

 one placed in your pocket to please him. He knows the habits of mussels 

 better than most conchologists. Being an expert climber, he ascends to 

 the hole of the woodpecker, and devours the young birds. He knows, 

 too, how to watch the soft-shelled turtle's crawl, and, better still, how to 

 dig up her eggs. Now by the edge of the pond, grimalkin-like, he lies 

 seemingly asleep, until the summer-duck comes within reach. No Negro 

 knows better when the corn is juicy and pleasant to eat ; and although 

 squirrels and woodpeckers know this too, the Racoon is found in the corn- 

 field longer in the season than any of them, the havock he commits there 

 amounting to a tithe. His fur is good in winter, and many think his flesh 

 good also ; but for my part I prefer a live Racoon to a dead one, and 

 should find more pleasure in hunting one than in eating him. 



