MAMMALIA: THE PORCUPINE. 
I 2 I 
In connection with the summer birds of the region it will be prof- 
itable to consider briefly the general aspect of its Fauna and Flora, as 
exhibited by associated forms of life, so far as the result of limited 
observation will permit. 
Necessarily so transient an acquaintance with the region as was ex- 
perienced was insufficient to afford a clear idea of its Mammalian Fau- 
na, so that few quadrupeds not of special faunal significance in the 
present connection will be alluded to. 
One of the most interesting- mammals encountered was the Porcu- 
pine ( Eretliizon dorsatus ). The local distribution of this animal seem- 
ed to be but little influenced by altitude, and it was observed in the 
lower valley as well as at the mountain tops. On the occasion of 
my first visit several were met with about the summit of Slide 
Mountain, but the following year at the same spot none were to be 
found, and a necrology inscribed on a smooth log accounted for two 
victims, and was interpreted as a tale of the local disappearance of their 
race with the advent of thoughtless tourists. The next year, however, 
it was discovered not only that there were survivors, but that these 
were given to aggressive familiarity toward strangers. From even- 
ing till morning dusk our cabin on the extreme summit of the moun- 
tain was virtually besieged by them, and through the chinks their 
dark forms could be seen moving about among the shadows in the 
moonlight, while their sharp cries, and often low conversational chat- 
ter singularly like the voices of infants, were weird interruptions of the 
midnight silence, or later, ol the moaning wind. 
The seeming nocturnal temerity of these creatures appeared to 
be simply an exhibition of excessive stupidity. It was found impos- 
sible to drive them from the camp for any length of time; they seem- 
ed to be destitute of the faculty of memory, and even a light charge 
of shot sent among them was only for the moment effectual. Even 
when one particularly stupid individual had been shot dead in the 
doorway trying to effect an entrance by gnawing its way through a 
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