The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1898-01-17
HUNTING THE 'P0SSUM.
AS ENJOYED IN MIDDLE GEOR-
GA IN SLAVERY DAYS.
It Is Described by Richard Mall
colin Johnston in a Government
Pamphlet on EARLY Educa-
tional Life in Middle Georgia"

tional Life in Middle Georgia"
Richard Malcolm Johnston is the au-
thor of a Government pamphlet on
Early Educational Life in Middle
Georgia. 1t is an exception to the
general rule of Government pamphlets.
and is genuine literature and full Of in
terest. From it the following account
of possum hunting is extracted:
"A sport which boys greatly delighted
in was accompanying the negroes while
hunting the opossum. It's relish was
the dearer because of the infrequency
with which parents, especially mothers,
consented to it. OF all delights TO the
palate of Southern negro, and, in
deed, Of many a Southern white man,
the flesh of the opossum, when baked
to the proper degree of brown, is the
dearest. Astounding in fat, perhaps,
beyond any other animal, its flesh re-
sembles much that of the sucking pig,
only being more soft. 1t is so easily
fattened that on being taken out of the
woods it generally is in condition fit
for the oven. Southerners regard it
of all meats the least indigestible, and
appear more frequently on the tables
of the whites. In some houses this
superiority was disposed of by placing
a layer or more Of oak or hickory sticks
to the hight Of three or four inches at
the bottom of the oven, and upon the
lattice work thus made laying the opos-
sum. By such mode much of the oil
was deposited on the bottom. The ne
resorts to these measures, but takes his
favorite as he is, indeed preferring him
with all his imperfections on his head.
AT every home, whatever might be
lacking for making up the full Of home
comforts, it was never an opossum
dog; seldom was it without two or
three. These We're not of the pack Of
hounds-from four to eight and more
kept by the owner for the fox and the
rabbit. They belonged to the negroes,
and were usually well trained. The
hunter, providing himself with an ak, a
torch of lightwood sticks of suitable
length (about two feeD, accompanied
by at least one other, bearing another
ak and an armful of other sticks, sal
lied forth TO the woods.
Both he and his dog we'll knew the
along skirts of wood and meadow
wherain grew the persimmon, the mus
cadine and the wild grape. A rabbit
starting up attracted little notice from
the dog, which understood we'll enough
that that sort of game was for the
day, never for the night. After the
trail was found the pursuit was usually
brief, as the beast is not swift of foot
rrax oil N
space The dog banks little or none
while pursuing, and so the opossum,
when about to be overtaken by surprise,
makes with what speed is possible to a
tree. In his emergency he sometimes
has to take small sapling, up which
he can mount to no higher than six or
eight feet without bending the top. If
he is not too holly pressed he will take
to a large one. although he is not as
particular in that matter as the rae
coon, who, being more swift of foot and
more capable in general of taking care
of himself invariably seeks the largest
he can find for his flight. There was
one exception, however, and that was
in the case of an opossum of smaller
size, more slender of make, much more
fleet of foot and with preponderance
of black hairs in his skin. Whenever
it was a very large tree to which the
hunter was called by his dog, he was
apt to suspect that it was either a rae
coon or Blue Dick as this variety
was called. Whether ii was of a dis
finct species was not known. Individ-
uals We're not often met with, and a
black hunter was always disappointed
when one of them took the place of its
betters, as, being small and thin, 1t
cost more to take him and to fatten him
afterward
1.-The freeing was announced by a
bark peculiar to that office, and entire
1y different from others There was nc
sound of eagerness, as in those of pur-
suit It was one brief utterance OF
mere announcement, as if the dog had
finished the task assigned to him and
would now lie down and rest till his
owners came up. If his bark was
hardened to he gave no more. If not
he repeated it at intervals until it was
Then he sat or lay while the tree was
being felled. Just before this crisis
unless the tree was very small, one OF
the axmen, quitting that work, re-
paired a short distance on the side OPP
posite to that in which the tree was tc
fall and held the dog by the collar dur
ing the descent This was done to Sc
cure him from being crushed by rush
ing too speedily among the branches
Instantly upon the fall he was loosed
and, rushing forward, seized his game
nearly always before 1t could get to an
other tree At that instant all the ex-
element ended. A moment before the
seizure. if he had it to spare, the
opossum, offering no resistance, laid it.
self down and to all appearances died
This was regarded as an instructive
artifice to attempt to escape from death
by seeming to be dead already. 1t vii
fight with neither man nor dog, and
at last seems to implore for pity and
sparing OF life to one so entirely sub
1nissive. This gave rise to the phrase
playing 'possum,' applied to persons
SUSPECTED of making insincere ado
about their own ailments or other suf-
fering. or pretending to be asleep.
THE way in which the captive was
secured. If not novel, was curious anc
eingularly hard. A hickory stick of
say. two inches in thickness and five
or six feet long was split at small
distance from one end, and before the
wedge was withdrawn the long. hair