I never heard of any Lions; they told me of a Creature killed whilst I was there, in Glocester County, which I conceived to be a sort of Pard, or Tyger.
Bears there are, and yet but few in the Inhabited part of Virginia; towards Carolina there are many more. There was a small Bear killed within three Miles of James City the Year that I left the Country, but it was supposed to have strayed, and swam over James River. They are not very fierce, their Flesh is commended for a very rich sort of Pork; but the lying side of the Bear, as I remember, is but half the value of the other, weight for weight.
There are several sorts of Wild-Cats and Poll-Cats.
Beavers build their Houses in like manner as the Musk-Rats do, only much larger, and with pieces of Timber make Dams over Rivers; as I suppose either to preserve their Furs dry in their passage over the Rivers, otherwise to catch Fish by standing to watch them thereon, and jumping upon them on a sudden; they are very subtil Creatures, and if half the Stories be true that I have been told, they have a very orderly Government among them; in their Works each knows his proper Work and Station, and the Overseers beat those Young Ones that loiter in their Business, and will make them cry, and work stoutly.
Wolves there are great store; you may hear a Company Hunting in an Evening, and yelping like a pack of Beagles; but they are very cowardly, and dare scarce venture on any thing that faces them; yet if Hungry, will pull down a good large Sheep that flies from them. I never heard that any of them adventured to set on Man or Child.
Foxes, they are very much like ours, only their Fur is much more grisled, or gray; neither do I remember ever to have seen any Fox-holes, but of this I am not positive.
Every House keeps three or four Mungrel Dogs to destroy Vermin, such as Wolves, Foxes, Rackoons, Opossums, &c. But they never Hunt with Hounds, I suppose, because there are so many Branches of Rivers, that they cannot follow them. Neither do they keep Grey-Hounds, because they say, that they are subject to break their Necks by running against Trees, and any Cur will serve to run their Hares into a hollow Tree, where after the aforesaid manner they catch them.
They have great store both of Land and Water Tortoises, but they are very small, I think I never saw any in that Country to exceed a Foot in length; there is also another sort of Land-Tortoise, different from the common sort, with a higher ridged Back, and speckled with red sort of Spots.
Frogs they have of several sorts, one of a prodigious largeness, eight or ten times as big as any in England, and it makes a strange noise, something like the Bellowing of a Bull, or betwixt that and the hollow sounding noise that the English Bittern makes.