AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 



243 



that of a child. Dr. Best, of Lexington, Ky., in a letter to 

 Dr. Godman, says, that in the State of Ohio they "take up 

 their residence in hollow trees, whence it appeared to me, 

 in several instances, from their tracks in the snow, they 

 only travel to the nearest ash tree, whose branches serve 

 them for food. In every instance which came under my 

 observation, there was no single track, but a plain beaten 

 path, from the tree in which they lodged, to the ash, from 

 which they obtained their food. I cut down two trees for 

 Porcupine, and found but one in each; one of the trees also 

 contained four raccoons, but in a separate hollow, they occu- 

 pied the trunk, the Porcupine the limbs." 



They are readily killed by striking them on the nose, 

 and their flesh is much esteemed by the natives, though it 

 soon disgusts whites j its taste is said to resemble flabby 

 pork. The bones are often tinged of a greenish yellow 

 colour; this arises in all probability from some of the vege- 

 table substances on which it feeds. Like all animals of 

 similar habits, the Porcupine is much infested with intesti- 

 nal worms. 



They pair about the latter end of September, and the 

 female bi'ings forth two young in April and May. 



THE COUGAR. 



There is an extensive Swamp in the section of the State 

 of Mississippi which lies partly in the Choctaw territory. 

 It commences at the borders of the Mississippi, at no great 

 distance from a Chicasaw village, situated near the mouth 

 of a creek known by the name of Vanconnah, and partly 

 inundated by the swellings of several large bayous, the prin- 

 cipal of which, crossing the swamp in its whole extent, dis- 

 charges its waters not far from the mouth of the Yazoo 

 River. This famous bayou is called False River. The 

 swamp of which I am speaking follows the windings of the 

 Yazoo, until the latter branches off to the north-east, and at 

 this point forms the stream named Cold Water River, below 

 which the Yazoo receives the draining of another bayou 

 inclining towards the north-west, and intersecting that 

 known by the name of False River, at a short distance from 

 the place where the latter receives the waters of the Missis- 

 sippi. This tedious account of the situation of the swamp, 

 is given with the view of pointing it out to all students of 

 nature who may chance to go that way, and whom I would 

 earnestly urge to visit its interior, as it abounds in rare and 

 interesting productions: birds, quadrupeds, and reptiles, as 

 well as molluscous animals, many of which, I am persuaded, 

 have never been described. 



In the course of one of my rambles, I chanced to meet 



with a squatter's cabin on the banks of the Cold Water 

 River. In the owner of this hut, like most of those adven- 

 turous settlers in the uncultivated tracts of our frontier dis- 

 tricts, I found a person well versed in the chase, and 

 acquainted with the habits of some of the larger species of 

 quadrupeds and birds. As he who is desirous of instruction 

 ought not to disdain listening to any one who has know- 

 ledge to communicate, however humble may be his lot, or 

 however limited his talents, I entered the squatter's cabin, 

 and immediately opened a conversation with him respecting 

 the situation of the swamp, and its natural productions. He 

 told me he thought it the very place I ought to visit, spoke 

 of the game which it contained, and pointed to some bear 

 and deer skins, adding that the individuals to which they 

 had belonged formed but a small portion of the number of 

 those animals which he had shot within it. My heart 

 swelled with delight, and on asking if he would accompany 

 me through the great morass, and allow me to become an 

 inmate of his humble but hospitable mansion, I was gratified 

 to find that he cordially assented to all my proposals. So I 

 immediately unstrapped my drawing materials, laid up my 

 gun, and sat down to partake of the homely but wholesome 

 fare intended for the supper of the squatter, his wife, and 

 his two sons. 



The quietness of the evening seemed in perfect accord- 

 ance with the gentle demeanour of the family. The wife 

 and children, I more than once thought, seemed to look 

 upon me as a strange sort of person, going about, as I told 

 them I was, in search of birds and plants; and were I here 

 to relate the many questions which they put to me in return 

 for those which I addressed to them, the catalogue would 

 occupy several pages. The husband, a native of Connecti- 

 cut, had heard of the existence of such men as myself, both 

 in our own country and abroad, and seemed greatly pleased 

 to have me under his roof Supper over, I asked my kind 

 host what had induced him to remove to this wild and soli- 

 tary spot. "The people are growing too numerous now to 

 thrive in New England," was his answer. I thought of 

 the state of some parts of Europe, and calculating the dense- 

 ness of their population compared with that of New Eng- 

 land, exclaimed to myself, "How much more difficult must 

 it be for men to thrive in those populous countries!" The 

 conversation then changed, and the squatter, his sons and 

 myself, spoke of hunting and fishing, until at length tired, 

 we laid ourselves down on pallets of bear skins, and reposed 

 in peace on the floor of the only apartment of which the hut 

 consisted. 



Day dawned, and the squatter's call to his hogs, which, 

 being almost in a wild state, were suffered to seek the 

 greater portion of their food in the woods, awakened me. 

 Being ready dressed, I was not long in joining him. The 



