Books OnLine

In disposition it is mild and gentle, as becomes a
grass-eater; but it bites hard, and is furious when provoked. Mr. Bass
never heard its voice but at that time; it was a low cry, between a
hissing and a whizzing, which could not be heard at a distance of more
than thirty or forty yards. He chased one, and with his hands under his
belly suddenly lifted him off the ground without hurting him, and laid
him upon his back along his arm, like a child. It made no noise, nor any
effort to escape, not even a struggle. Its countenance was placid and
undisturbed, and it seemed as contented as if it had been nursed by Mr.
Bass* from its infancy. He carried the beast upwards of a mile, and often
shifted him from arm to arm, sometimes laying him upon his shoulder, all
of which he took in good part; until, being obliged to secure his legs
while he went into the brush to cut a specimen of a new wood, the
creature's anger arose with the pinching of the twine; he whizzed with
all his might, kicked and scratched most furiously, and snapped off a
piece from the elbow of Mr.


Pages:
260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284