This brought the dressed animal into the centre of the hole, without permitting it to touch either the sides or the bottom.

He then laid twigs across the top of the hole, covered them with moss, and threw nearly a foot of loose earth over the moss.

The sides and bottom of the hole, as I have said, were very hot, and Sam's plan was to keep the heat in until it should roast the meat thoroughly.

That his plan was a good one, I know from experience, having roasted more than one turkey in that way.

It is, in fact, the very best way in which meat of any kind can possibly be roasted at all, as it lets none of the flavor escape in the form of gases.
Sam waited patiently for an hour, when, opening his earth oven, he found his opossum cooked to a rich, crisp brown.