32 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



him over onto his back. While holding him in that position with the 

 paddle, he would see whether he was young and fat. If found satis- 

 factory, he was despatched; if not he was allowed to go. 



The period of gestation appears to be rather long, extending from 

 about the end of September to about the end of May, or seven months. 

 There are only two young ones at a birth. These are quite large for 

 the size of the parents. The mother is well supplied with milk, which 

 is not very sweet, but of excellent flavour. Notwithstanding this, the 

 young ones seem to be so strongly imbued with the solitary instinct, that 

 they appear to be in a hurry to get away from her. One day, about the 

 end of July, while walking in the Gaspé woods, I happened on a young 

 porcupine about the size of a woodchuck. He had climbed nearly to the 

 top of a small white spruce tree, but had not yet gnawed any of the 

 bark. On seeing me at the foot of the tree, he made haste to come do^vn. 

 He was quite black, and, although his short quills could not be seen, he 

 felt quite prickly. On letting him go, he made better time over the 

 moss than his parents could have done. 



In Gaspé, during the hottest weather, I noticed that some of the 

 porcupines had shed more or less of their hair and quills and I saw 

 one individual going about on a wide, gravelly shore which was 

 absolutely naked, having lost the whole of his hair and quills. His skin 

 had the same appearance as that of the hairless Chinese dogs, being of 

 a shiny leaden black colour. On the other hand, specimens of this 

 species, taken in winter near the verge of the forest in the MacKenzie 

 river region, have a thick, matted coat of wool, through which the longest 

 quills protrude only about a quarter of their length. Being well pro- 

 tected from the cold by hair and wool and having abundance of food 

 always at hand, the porcupine does not require to hibernate and he has 

 never been known to do so. 



The porcupine is a cleanly animal. In the warm weather he is 

 frequently seen swimming in the water. On one occasion on a calm 

 summer evening, I saw a porcupine deliberately plunging off a rock into 

 deep water swimming round a small circle and returning again and 

 again to repeat the same thing, apparently for the purpose of thoroughly 

 washing himself. 



As might be expected of an animal which lives entirely on clean 

 vegetable food of a pleasant flavour, the flesh is of excellent quality, 

 resembling lamb and is much relished by any unprejudiced person who 

 has tasted it. The fat is not oily, but rather of a firm gelatinous consist- 

 ence when boiled. But good judges of the qualities of meats who have 

 tried porcupine flesh prepared in various ways, consider that the best 

 method of cooking the animal is to roast him whole with the skin on, 



