On the Canada Porcupine. 367 



regardless of its threats, and, probably supposing it to be an animal 

 not more formidable than a cat, sprung upon it with open mouth. 

 The porcupine seemed to swell up in an instant, to double its size, 

 and as the dog pounced upon it, it dealt him such a sidewise lateral 

 blow with its tail as caused the mastiff to relinquish his hold 

 instantly, and set up a loud howl in an agony of pain. Ilis mouth, 

 tongue and nose were full of porcupine quills. He could not close 

 his jaws, but hurried open-mouthed out of the premises. It proved 

 to him a lesson for life ; as nothing could ever afterwards induce 

 him to revisit a place where he had met with such an unneigh- 

 bourly reception. Although the servants immediately extracted 

 the spines from the mouth of the dog, his head was much swelled 

 for several weeks afterwards, and it was two months before he 

 finally recovered. 



" The porcupine ate almost any kind of vegetable food presented 

 to it, — cabbages, turnips, potatoes, apples, and even bread, and it 

 usually cut to pieces everything placed in the cage that it could 

 not consume. There was a large sweet bay tree in the garden, 

 and the instant the door of the cage was opened, the porcu- 

 pine would make its way to this tree, and not only feed greedily 

 upon its bark, but on its leaves also. When once it was fixed 

 upon the tree it was exceedingly difficult to induce it to come 

 down, and on such occasions only would it turn and growl at its 

 master. At night it Avas occasionally heard to utter a shrill note, 

 that might be called a low querulous shriek. This animal was 

 kept in confinement at Charleston, in the Southern States, in a 

 climate much warmer than that of its natural habitat, and as the 

 hot season came on, the poor thing would lie for hours panting in 

 the cage, lost its appetite, and died during the summer." 



The nest of the porcupine is constructed in a hollow tree, or in 

 small caves under rocks. The young are produced in April or 

 May, generally two at a litter. Sometimes three, and even four, 

 have been found in a nest. The flesh is eaten, and tastes some- 

 what like flabby pork. The Indians make considerable use of the 

 quills, in ornamenting moccasins, shot-pouches, or birch-bark 

 baskets, for which purpose they are dyed of various colours. 



The following account of this singular creature is principally 

 from Audubon and Bachman : — 



"The body of this species is thick, very broad, cylindrical, and, 

 to a high degree, clumsy. The back is much arched in a curve 

 from the nose to the buttocks, when it declines in an angle to the 

 tail. 



