at. Her ears were short and standing--
her mouth very wide, and, as we could see, full of sharp teeth. The
legs were short and stout, and the feet with their keen claws seemed to
spread out upon the ground more like hands than feet. The tail was very
peculiar; it was nearly as long as the body, tapering like that of a
rat, and quite naked. But the greatest curiosity in the structure of
this creature was a pouch like opening which appeared under her belly,
and which showed that she belonged to the family of the _marsupialia_,
or pouched animals. This, of course, we had known before. The little
`'possums' were exact pictures of their mother--all having the same
sharp snouts and long naked tails. We counted no less than thirteen of
them, playing and tumbling about among the leaves.

"As soon as the old one had shaken them all off, she stepped more nimbly
over the ground--going backwards and forwards, and looking up into one
of the pawpaws that grew above the spot where she had halted. In this
tree the orioles were now fluttering about, chirruping wildly, and at
intervals making a dash downward, until their wings almost swept the
nose of the opossum. The latter, however, appeared to take all this
very coolly; and evidently did not care for the imbecile efforts of the
birds to frighten her off, but continued her survey without paying any
attention to their manoeuvres. On looking upward, we discovered the
object of her search--the nest of the orioles--which was hanging like a
large purse, or rather like a distended stocking, from the topmost twigs
of the tree.

"After a few moments the old 'possum seemed to have made up her mind;
and, approaching the spot where the young ones were scrambling about,
she uttered a short sharp note that brought them all around her.
Several of them ran into the pouch which she had caused to open for
them. Two of them took a turn of their little tails around the root of
hers, and climbed up on her rump, almost burying themselves in the long
wool; while two or three others fastened themselves about her neck and
shoulders. It was a most singular sight to see the little creatures
holding on with `tails, teeth, and toe-nails,' while some peeped
comically out of the great breast-pocket.

"We thought she was going to move away with her cargo; but, to our
astonishment, she walked up to the pawpaw, and commenced climbing it.
When she had reached the lowermost branch--which grew nearly
horiz