584 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



the: coon taking his own picture by pulling string baited with cheese: 



and pish (see page 594) 



Picture shows he preferred the cheese to the fish. Note how he holds the cheese in his paws, 



eating like a monkey. Photo by George Shiras, 3rd 



hills nearly four hundred feet in eleva- 

 tion. As the sun lowered behind the 

 tops of the great pine forest the canoe 

 was pushed out from the blind of freshly 

 cut balsam, and under the impetus of 

 two paddles we entered the lake on a 

 rapid run for camp, situated half a mile 

 below the lake, on the banks of the lower 

 river. 



On approaching the outlet I noticed a 

 small, snow-white object, which, in the 

 darker shades of the western bank, was 

 doubtless much more conspicuous than 

 would have been the case in sunlight. 

 What was it? At this season of the year 

 the rabbits, weasels, and the owls were 

 no longer white, and as the object showed 

 motion and there was no breeze to stir 

 a fugitive paper that might have been 

 carried from my house-boat in an adjoin- 

 ing bay, it was certain that we were 



gazing upon an animal never seen here- 

 tofore during the many years this little 

 lake had been traversed by a canoe. 



When within 100 yards, my guide said 

 it looked like a young polar bear but 

 walked like a porcupine — a view that I 

 concurred in. Just then it walked into 

 some thick brush, and we cautiously ap- 

 proached, to be gratified in a few min- 

 utes by the appearance of a most perfect 

 specimen of an albino porcupine. It 

 seemed wholly unconcerned about our 

 presence and intent upon pulling out of 

 the water fragments of tender moss, 

 which were eaten with great relish. 

 Every portion of the body was white — 

 quills, hair, claws, and nose — while it 

 was certain it did not have the beady 

 black eyes of the normal animal ; but 

 whether they were pink could not be de- 

 termined at the time. 



