THE PORCUPINE. 127 



wound. Some Naturalists have believed that it dis- 

 charges these weapons into the bodies of those animals 

 it wishes to attack ; but this opinion has been founded 

 upon error, for experience proves that the quills are 

 immoveable, and that the porcupine uses them merely 

 as a defence. 



In its natural state this animal feeds chiefly upon ve- 

 getables ; but those which are shewn in this country 

 live upon fruits, and bread and milk ; but, as they do 

 not refuse meat when it is offered to them, it is believ- 

 ed that they occasionally partake of animal food. When 

 the porcupine * is hunted, either by a wolf or dog, it 

 seeks its safety by instantly climbing up a tree, and 

 never quits the secure asylum till the objects of its ter- 

 ror are out of sight. Both the Indians and Americans 

 hunt this animal for the sake of its flesh, as well as its 

 quills, with which they embroider their dress and fur- 

 niture with peculiar elegance and uncommon skill. 



CHAP. XIV. 



OF QUADRUPEDS COVERED WITH SCALES, OR 

 SHELLS, INSTEAD OF HAIR. 



THOUGH the name of quadruped seems to imply a 

 four-footed animal covered with hair, that of a bird, a 

 creature with feathers, and a Jish with scales, yet Na- 



* The porcupine goes about seven months with young, and never brings 

 forth but one at a time, which she suckles for the space of a month, and 

 then teaches it to sustain itself by vegetables and bark of trees. 



