IN THE CATSKILLS 



is visible only when you climb into a treetop. I 

 climbed and saluted him, and promised to call next 

 time. 



We passed the night on the Wittenberg, sleeping 

 on the moss, between two decayed logs, with balsam 

 boughs thrust into the ground and meeting and 

 forming a canopy over us. In coming off the moun- 

 tain in the morning we ran upon a huge porcupine, 

 and I learned for the first time that the tail of a por- 

 cupine goes with a spring like a trap. It seems to be 

 a set-lock; and you no sooner touch with the weight 

 of a hair one of the quills than the tail leaps up in 

 a most surprising manner, and the laugh is not on 

 your side. The beast cantered along the path in my 

 front, and I threw myself upon him, shielded by 

 my roll of blankets. He submitted quietly to the 

 indignity, and lay very still under my blankets, with 

 his broad tail pressed close to the ground. This I 

 proceeded to investigate, but had not fairly made a 

 beginning when it went off like a trap, and my hand 

 and wrist were full of quills. This caused me to let 

 up on the creature, when it lumbered away till it 

 tumbled down a precipice. The quills were quickly 

 removed from my hand, when we gave chase. When 

 we came up to him, he had wedged himself in be- 

 tween the rocks so that he presented only a back 

 bristling with quills, with the tail lying in ambush 

 below. He had chosen his position well, and seemed 

 to defy us. After amusing ourselves by repeatedly 

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