BROWSING AND NIBBLING. 97 



These ginseng-diggers — or " sang-diggers," 

 as they are called — are queer folk ; very inter- 

 esting in a way, ignorant, superstitious, strong, 

 stingy, and honest — a sort of mountain tribe 

 to themselves. I followed a company of them 

 around the jutting cliffs and fertile " benches " 

 of the Carolina mountain region, until I really 

 had grown to like their careless, nomadic life, 

 with its flavor of chestnuts and ginseng. In 

 the spring is the time for browsing ; in the 

 autumn comes the nibbling season. The 

 squirrels begin eating the buds of the hickory 

 trees so soon as the sap has risen into them 

 sufficiently to make them swell. Your know- 

 ing squirrel-hunter cleans up his rifle about 

 this time, and visits every hickory tree in his 

 neighborhood. Somewhat later the grand 

 tulip trees begin blooming, and then the squir- 

 rels transfer their attention to them. A few 

 weeks of browsing in the spring woods will 

 make one acquainted with the characteristic 

 taste and fragrance of almost every tree, shrub, 

 and plant of the region. 



True, there are a few — very few indeed — 

 poisonous things, and these must be avoided. 

 Nature has her evil streaks, running at wide 

 intervals through her opulence of good ; but 

 they are easily discoverable. Who would 

 ever be so obtuse to danger as to nibble at the 

 buds of the poison ivy? This browsing-time 

 is also the season of our sweetest and most 

 charming flowers. While one is biting through 

 pungent barks and aromatic buds, one also 

 gets the benefit of perfumes as wild and witch- 

 ing as are the blooms from which they exhale. 

 I do not know how to explain the influence of 

 the bitters and sweets, the acids and sub-acids, 

 7 



