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; 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 brings 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 w r ho 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 
