CAROLINA PARROT. 
385 
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, wherever I stopped to feed, collected around me, 
men, women, and children, laughing, and seeming wonderfully 
amused with the novelty of my companion. The Chickasaws 
called it in their language u Kelinky but when they heard 
me call it Poll, they soon repeated the name ; and, wherever 
I chanced to stop among 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 ; chattered to it in a low tone of 
voice, as if sympathizing in its misfortune ; scratched about 
its head and neck with her bill ; and both at night nestled as 
close as possible to each other, sometimes 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 that 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 
VOL. i. *2 B 
