able of feeding on both descriptions of food.

I once caught a young raccoon, which soon became domesticated--being
quite as tame as a dog. It possessed, however, a habit of which I could
not cure it; that of seizing any fowls it set eyes on, and biting off
their heads. It having treated two or three of Aunt Hannah's in this
way, I was compelled to carry it into the forest and set it at liberty.
It enjoyed its freedom but a short time, however, as it was soon
afterwards hunted and killed by some of our boys.

Having got so far from home, our party were not inclined to return
without something in addition to the unfortunate animal we had
slaughtered. Mike, too, announced to us that he had seen a brown bear
at a spot a little further on; so it was at once agreed that we should
"knock up the quarters of Mr Bruin."

It was necessary to proceed with caution; for though the "musquaw" or
brown bear will seldom attack a human being unless first assaulted, our
friend, if unceremoniously disturbed at night, would probably not be in
a good-humour. Our three well-trained dogs kept at our heels, but the
other curs went yelping away through the forest; nor could their
masters' voices succeed in calling them back. We feared, therefore,
that they would rouse up the bear, and thus give it time to escape
before we could reach its dwelling.

"Faix, though, I am not sure that the noise outside won't make the old
gentleman keep quiet in his den," observed Mike. "He will be after
saying to his wife, `Sure, what would be the use, Molly, of turning out
to go hunting thim noisy spalpeens of dogs? I'll sit snug and quiet
till they come to the door; and thin, sure, it will be toime enough to
axe thim what they want.'"

Mike's notion encouraged us to go on; and at length Pop, Snap, and Yelp
gave signs of uneasiness, and showed a decided inclination to rush
forward.

"Let dem go!" exclaimed Quambo.

"Off with you!" we cried at once; and the dogs darted on, barking
furiously, until they stopped before the decayed trunk of a huge tree,
round which several smaller trees, once saplings, had grown up--a
well-selected natural fortification. As the light of our torches fell
on it, we fully expected to see Mr Bruin stalk forth and inquire what
we wanted.

Quambo proposed that we should light a fire in the neighbourhood, so
that, did our enemy appear, we might be better able to attack him and
defend ourselves. We followed the black's advi