284 CANADA PORCUPINE. 



restless and miserable, lost its appetite and refused food. We one even- 

 ing placed it on its favourite bay tree ; it immediately commenced gnaw- 

 ing the bark, which we supposed a favourable symptom, but it fell off 

 during the night, and was dead before morning. 



Whilst on the Upper Missouri river, in the year 1843, as our com- 

 panion, Mr. J. G. Bell, was cautiously making his way through a close 

 thicket of willows and brush-wood in search of a fine buck elk, that be 

 with one of our men had seen enter into this cover when they were at 

 least a mile distant, he could not avoid cracking now and then a dry 

 stick or fallen branch. He could not see more than ten paces in any 

 direction, from the denseness of the thicket, and, as he unfortunately trod 

 upon a thicker branch than usual which broke with a crash, the elk 

 brushed furiously out of the thicket, and was gone in a moment, making 

 the twigs and branches rattle as he dashed them aside with (shall we 

 say) " telegraphic " rapidity. Mr. Bell stood motionless for a minute, 

 when as he was about to retreat into the open prairie, and join his com- 

 panion after this unsuccessful termination of the elk hunt, his eyes were 

 fixed by an uncouth mass on the ground, almost at his feet ; it w^as a 

 Porcupine ; it remained perfectly still, and when he approached did 

 not attempt to retreat. Our friend was rather perplexed to know how to 

 treat an enemy that would neither " fight nor fly," and seizing a large 

 stick, he commenced operations by giving the Porcupine (which must 

 have been by this time displeased at least, if not " fretful,") a severe 

 blow with it on the nose. The animal immediately concealed the in- 

 jured organ, and his whole head also, under his belly ; rolling himself 

 up into a ball, with the exception of his tail, which he occasionally jerked 

 about and flirted upwards over his back. He now remained still again, 

 and Mr. Bell drew a good sized knife, with which he tried to kill him 

 by striking at his side so as to avoid the points of the quills as much as 

 he could. This fresh attack caused the Porcupine to make violent efforts 

 to escape, he seized hold of the branches or roots within reach of his fore- 

 feet, and pulled forwards with great force ; Mr. Bell then placed his 

 gun before him, which stopped him ; then finding he could not lay hold 

 of him nor capture him in any other way, he drew his ramrod, which had 

 a large screw at the end, for wiping out his gun, and commenced screwing 

 it into the Porcupine's back. This induced the poor animal again to 

 make violent efforts to escape, but by the aid of the screw and repeated 

 thrusts with the knife, he soon killed the creature. 



He was now anxious to rejoin his companion, but did not like to relin- 

 quish his game ; he therefore, not thinking it advisable to stop and skin 

 it on the spot, managed to tie it by the fore-legs, and then dragged it on 



