THE CAROLINA PARROT, 83 
tempted, to abandon it; but I persisted in bringing it 
along. 
When at nigbt I encamped in the woods, I placed it on 
tbe baggage beside me, where it usually sat with great com 
posure, dozing and gazing at the fire till morning. In thh 
manner I carried it upwards of a thousand miles, in mj 
pocket, where it was exposed all day to the jolting of th* 
horse, but regularly liberated at meal-times and in thf 
evening, at which it always expressed great satisfaction 
In passing through the Chickasaw and Choctaw 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 Kelinicy 
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 con- 
stant 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 
