CANADA PUKUUFlINJi. 283 



devoured the bark of some of the largest trees, by which they killed 

 nearly every one. They then were forced in their owii defence to remove 

 to new quarters. We were informed that in a similar ravine to the one 

 just spoken of, no less than thirteen Porcupines were killed in a single 

 season by a young hunter. 



On a visit to the western portion of the county of Saratoga, New York, 

 in the winter of 1813, a farmer residing in the vicinity carried us in his 

 sleigh to show us a Porcupine which he had frequently seen during the 

 winter, assuring us that he could find it on the very tree where he 

 had observed it the previous day. We were disappointed, finding that 

 it had deserted the tree ; we however traced it in the snow by a well 

 beaten path, which it seemed to have used daily, to a beech tree not 

 far distant, which w^e cut down, and at the distance of t^venty feet from 

 the root we found the object of our search in a hollow^ part. It 

 growled at us, and was particularly spiteful towards a small dog that 

 was with us. Our friend killed it by a blow on the nose, the only vul- 

 nerable part as he informed us. It seemed to have been confined to a 

 space of about two acres of ground through the winter. It had fed prin- 

 cipally on hemlock bark, and had destroyed upwards of a hundred trees. 

 The observations made on this occasion incline us to doubt the correct- 

 ness of the statement that the Canada Porcupine does not leave a tree 

 until it has eaten ofi" all the bark, and that it remains for a week or more 

 on the same tree ; we were on the contrary led to suppose that the indi- 

 vidual we have just spoken of, retired nightly to its comfortable domicile 

 and warm bed in the hollow beach, in which we discovered it. 



The Porcupine we kept in Charleston did not appear very choice in 

 regard to its food. It ate almost any kind of vegetable we presented to 

 it. We gave it cabbages, turnips, potatoes, apples, and even bread, and 

 it usually cut to pieces every thing we placed in the cage that it could 

 not consume. We had a tolerably large sweet bay tree (Laurus nobilis) 

 in the garden : the instant that we opened the door of the cage the Por- 

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

 bark, but on its leaves also. When it had once fixed itself on a tree it 

 was exceedingly difficult to induce it to come down, and our efforts to 

 force it from the tree were the only provocatives by which it could be 

 made to growl at us. We occasionally heard it during the night, utter- 

 ing a shrill note, that might be called a low querulous shriek. 



As the spring advanced, we ascertained that the constitution of our 

 poor Porcupine was not intended for a warm climate ; when the hot 

 weather came on it suff"ered so much that we wished it back again in its 

 Canadian wilds. It would lie panting in its cage the whole day. seemed 



