OPOSSUM. 10 1 



palate, is persimmons and wild grapes, together with the various 

 berries and fruits that abound in the Southern States. After the 

 first hoar frost has whitened the hills the 'possum is most eagerly 

 sought for by Cassar, Pluto, and Mars. At night the darkies start 

 forth en masse, armed to the teeth with every available weapon, 

 and accompanied by a number of nondescript dogs, generally well 

 trained for 'Possum or Coon hunting. These dogs have some 

 hound blood in their composition, and understand the require- 

 ments of the occasion perfectly. Some ancient shade of Dis with 

 snowy hair is selected as leader, and he controls the dogs and 

 manipulates the horn. The favorite haunts of the " varmint " are 

 familiar to the negroes, and the " meet " is generally held on the 

 borders of the swamp where persimmons abound, or, if the moon 

 shine too brightly for the game to venture far from cover, in the 

 darker vales where the luscious grapes run wild and plenty. 



The dogs range far from the party, and the moment one of 

 them strikes the " trail ob an ole 'Possum " he gives the signal 

 note to the expectant party by a short yelp. This sets the sable 

 hunters wild with excitement ; they listen for the second sound, 

 sure to come, which will betoken that the varmint is treed. They 

 are not long kept in suspense, for faint away down in the valley 

 comes tlie joyful bay, and at the signal the whole party stampede, 

 spite of all "Ole Uncle Csesar's" attempts to restrain them, and 

 rush pellmell through bush and brake in the direction of the 

 sound. They arrive panting and breathless from the wild race, 

 in twos and threes, and are soon all assembled at the foot of a 

 small sapling, in the branches of which the 'Possum has taken 

 temporary refuge from his pursuers. 



Soon a nimble young buck shins the tree, and the marsupial 

 is shaken off after some difficulty, for he clings with the utmost 

 tenacity to the limb, using the tail not the least in this battle for 

 freedom. The anxious dogs below await his fall, and his death is 

 compassed in less time than it takes to tell it. This is the only 

 method employed in the capture of the Opossum, and this is 

 rapidly becoming traditional. 



