e sport--many a
sweet excitement that cheers his long winter nights, and chequers with
brighter spots the dull and darksome monotony of his slave-life. I have
often thought what a pity it would be if the 'coon and the opossum
should be extirpated before slavery itself became extinct. I had often
shared in this peculiar sport of the negro, and joined in a real
'coon-chase, but the most exciting of all was the first in which I had
been engaged, and I proffered my comrades an account of it.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

A 'COON-CHASE.

"My 'coon-chase took place in Tennessee, where I was sojourning for some
time upon a plantation. It was the first affair of the kind I had been
present at, and I was somewhat curious as to the mode of carrying it on.
My companion and inductor was a certain `Uncle Abe,' a gentleman very
much after the style and complexion of our own Jake here.

"I need not tell you, gentlemen, that throughout the Western States
every neighbourhood has its noted 'coon-hunter. He is usually a wary
old `nigger,' who knows all the tricks and dodges of the 'coon. He
either owns a dog himself, or has trained one of his master's, in that
peculiar line. It is of little importance what breed the dog may be. I
have known curs that were excellent `'coon-dogs.' All that is wanted
is, that he have a good nose, and that he be a good runner, and of
sufficient bulk to be able to bully a 'coon when taken. This a very
small dog cannot do, as the 'coon frequently makes a desperate fight
before yielding. Mastiffs, terriers, and half-bred pointers make the
best `'coon-dogs.'

"Uncle Abe was the mighty hunter, the Nimrod of the neighbourhood in
which I happened to be; and Uncle Abe's dog--a stout terrier--was
esteemed the `smartest 'coon-dog' in a circle of twenty miles. In going
out with Uncle Abe, therefore, I had full confidence that I should see
sport.

"On one side of the plantation was a heavily-timbered `bottom', through
which meandered a small stream, called, of course, a `creek.' This
bottom was a favourite _habitat_ of the 'coons, as there were large
trees growing near the water, many of which were hollow either in their
trunks or some of their huge limbs. Moreover, there were vast trellises
of vines extending from tree to tree; some of them, as the fox and
muscadine (_Vitis Labrusca_), yielding sweet grapes, of which the
raccoons are very fond.

"To this bottom, then, we directed our course, Abe acting a