CHAP.
XXVIII.
or Mexican oppojjum, here called azoaree, which had been
juft taken alive, and with all its yóung.
I have already mentioned the murine oppoffum; thus
ihall now only defcribe fuch -pfecailiaritie^'-h's-l' tfas • 4hkrt6
remark, and which were indeed hut few in number, .the
animal being in the bottom o f an empty hogïhead when I
faw it, its biting preventing me to take it in my hand.—
In the firft place, it was much largèr than the former,
this being the fe e Of an over-grown. Norway rat': the
colour was a yellowilh grey all over, and the belly) and,
limbs a dirty white; ,the muzzle wast haofl bldnf than
that o f the .murine oppoffum, with long whifkers;. its
eyes not black but tranfparent, with a.black -ring round
the m s ; the tail extremely long,-:thick,‘ and;hai'ry, par-
ticularly near the root, and its fmell Was very offenïïvè.
This oppoffum had a pouch under its belly; forrusedby
the'folding o f thé Ikin, which is hairy within as wëloas
without; from this pouch ï faw thé young «fees .(five or
fix in number) federal times run odf, when 'the >mothif
was not difturbed, and as often run into it upon the
finalleft noife, or- ftiakipg the hogftiead^As 8 pitied the
poor creature, after its having been fo long tormented,
X fuddenly kicked up the hogfbead, when the oppoffum
with all its young efcapèd, and ran fwiftly up a very h igh
tree before Cblón’el Sëyburg’s cottage, and there it hung
by the tail to one o f the branches; but as it is a dreadful
deftroyer o f poultry, and the Colonel apprehended that
1 I it
it would kill every one of his fowls, he ordered it, to my cha p
farrow, to h e fhot down, with all its young ones.— The , xxviii.
Virginian oppoffum I never faw; and my only further
remark on this Ihall be, that its activity very much fur-
prized me, • as many writers have denied it this quality.
For further particulars, I refer,the reader to the murine
or moufe oppoffum above-mentioned, as in moft circum-
ftances thefe two animals perfectly agree. ■*
Among-,the deftroyers of poultry, there is another animal
in this country, known by the name o f quaçy-quacy
fome call, it the racoon., but which properly is the coati-
monctiy or Brafilian weafel ; though many people, with
fome, degree;, o f propriety, compare it to a fox, as it rs
often able to carry away a goofe or a turkey, and is alfa
extremely cunning. This creature is fometimes near two-
feet long, the body fhaped like that of a. dog, and commonly
black, or rather dark brown, though many are o f
a bright bay. colour : the tail is long, hairy, and annulàted
with Ijlack, and a deep buff ; the breaft and belly are a
dirty white ; the head is a light brown, with long jaws,
and a black fnout that projects upwards for near two-
inches,. and is moveable like that o f the tapira ; the eyes-
are fmall, the ears arefhort and rounded, while on each- .
fide a curved ftripe conneéls them and the muzzle; the
legs o f the coati are fhor-t, efpecially the foremoft; the feet
are very long, with five toes on each, and long claws,
while the animal, like the bear, always walks on the heel,,
and. ftands on thofe behind. No quadrupeds (the monkies