of his chest was painful to see. The hunters stood gazing at him in the
pool, while all around was by the flare of the torch rendered trebly dark
and dismal. It was a good scene for a skilful painter.
We had now two coons, whose furs were worth two quarters of a dollar,
and whose bodies, which I must not forget, as Toby informed us,
would produce two more. " What now," I asked—" What now," quoth
the father, " why go after more to be sure." So we did, the dogs ahead,
and I far behind. In a short time the curs treed another, and when we
came up, we found them seated on their haunches, looking upwards, and
barking. The hunters now employed their axes, and sent the chips about
at such a rate that one of them coming in contact with my cheek marked
it so, that a week after several of my friends asked me where, in the name
of wonder, I had got that black eye. At length the tree began to crack,
and slowly leaning to one side, the heavy mass swung rustling through
the air, and fell to the earth with a crash. It was not one coon that was
surprised here, but three—aye three of them, one of which, more crafty
than the rest, leaped fairly from the main top while the tree was staggering.
The other two stuck to the hollow of a branch, from which they
were soon driven by one of the dogs. Tyke and Lion having nosed the
cunning old one, scampered after him, not mouthing like the well-trained
hounds of our southern fox hunters, but yelling like furies. The hunter's
sons attacked those on the tree, while the woodsman and I, preceded
by Toby, made after the other; and busy enough we all were. Our
animal was of extraordinary size, and after some parley, a rifle ball was
sent through his brain. He reeled once only,—next moment he lay dead.
The rest were dispatched by the axe and the club, for a shot in those days
was too valuable to be spent when it could be saved. It could procure
a deer, and therefore was worth more than a coon's skin.
Now, look at the moon ! how full and clear has she risen on the Racoon
hunters ! Now is the time for sport! Onward we go, one following
the long shadow of his precursor. The twigs are no impediment,
and we move at a brisker pace, as we return to the hills. What a hue
and cry !—here are the dogs. Overhead and all around, on the forks of
each tree, the hunter's keen eye searches for something round, which is
likely to prove a coiled up Racoon. There's one ! Between me and the
moon I spied the cunning thing crouched in silence. After taking aim,
I raise my barrel ever so little, the trigger is pressed; down falls the Racoon
to the ground. Another and another are on the same tree. Off
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. Monkeylike,
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 cornfield
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.