Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1886-05-07


first experience of the alleged wolf was
two days out from Orenburg. We were
. crossing to the Ural Mountains. 1t was
about midnight when on one of the
highest ridges the Jingle of tho bells
suddenly ceased, and the ycmshik came
to say that he was off the road, and that
the six horses could not extricate the
sled from the snow-bank into which he
had run. was inside the sled with my
interpreter. We emerged from our cozy
nest of furs and looked around u.s. A
violent drift-storm was raging, and the
nearest post-station was ten miles away
on the other side of the mountain. We
decided to send two of the yemshks 1--WE
had three) on horseback TO the next viii
lago to bring assistance OF horses and
man. Seeing these depart the ycmshik-
iR-chief seemed to become possessed of
terror at being left behind with the re-
naming horses, and he insisted on fol-
lowing the other two. .l....
Perhaps he had good reason for doing
this, since wolves are known to infcst
the mountains in great numbers, and
disabled horses would certainly have
proved great attraction to them. BE
this as it may, We watched the horses
disappear over the ridge.
| Finally, the jingle of bells could no
longer be heard. We were left alone.
A strangefelling comes over The hearts of
men left in such dilemma. Might not
the men who had gone for assistance get
into still deeper drifts, and thus succor
be delayed for an indefinate timep But we
resolved to waitpaticntly and to watch.
We got out our weapons and determined,
should wolves appear, to keep them of
as well as we could, and if attacked IT,
mount to the top of the slcdgc and
there defend ourselves as well and as long
as we could. The wind drowned every
noise. We could not hear any bowling,
but through the mist, hundred and
fifty or two hundred yards away,
| we discerned small black
point which we eriainly had not OBJ
served before, and then others, which
we decided could only be wolves or else
dwarf shrubs cleared of snow by the
driving blast. We watched them close
| ". They seemed to move. We de-
termincd to give them volley. We
fired. The black spots were still there.
Either we had made very lucky shots
n most improbable thing-or the points
were only shrubs planted by the road
| side to guide the sledgc drivers over
the snowy wastes. Which they We're |
am quite unable to say, although my in
terpreter, who had for three years been
n dweller in Siberia, insisted on making
wolves out of them. 'All that L know is
that at last, weary and chilled, care
less whether wolves came or not, we
got into our slcdge, buried ourselves in
our furs and waited for deliverancc. 1t
was IL long, anxious wait, and it was
only after five hours had elapsed that
we heard the welcome jingle of har-
ness bells. We were saved. But in the
meantime we had slept soundly. The
wolves were, am afraid, nothing but
bushes.
Altogether my EXPERIENCES of Siberian
wolves We're not exciting, and am COM
PEELED to say that those on the Orcnburg
steppes are'not in the habit of attacking
travellers. They are arrant towards; they
may follow solitary travellers, but as
rule they coniine their attacks to the
farm-yards of the villages or watch their
opportunity during the day to get at
young, juicy, but indiscrcet horse that
has wandered away from the drove or
sheep that has strayed away from the
flock and their nomadc shepherds. Dur
ing all my long journeys saw, as said, |
only fourteen, besides the imaginary |
ones in the Urals. One evening, three |
days after the above adventure, while |
watching the dreary snow landscape, my |
companion suddenly shouted out: |
"There they are!" Sure enough, there
We're the wolves. looked out of the
sled and saw eleven of the brutes.
They were rs big again rs good-sizcd |
foxes, and We're passing quite across
the road in front of us in very leisurely |
manner. After we had passed they |
stopped and calmly looked at us. | or
dered the yemshik to stop the team, |
and, getting out of the sled, we had |
time to take out our rifles, load them |
and fire before they ever attempted to |
move. Even then they only went away |
in most dignited and insulting man
ner, as if they were not quite sure what |
was best to be done under the circum-
stances-whether to remain in the line !
of fire, where they were comparatively |
safe, or by running away, put them
selves incautiously in the. way of acci-
dental and sudden death. Another
time two wolves crossed the road and |
waited for us to have n shot at them be- |
fore they thought of loping off to safer
quarters.
To prove how little danger the ma
tives and dwellers of the Orcnburg |
steppes consider they are in from wolves
may say that the drivers scarcely ever
notice their presence. The Kirghese |
and Cossacks who dwell on the Oren-
burg plains have much of their best |
ri in r..lf hINN
want to chastise the brutes for robbing |
them of their stock and devouring fat |
lamb or two, they mount their fleet
little horses, and armed with a heavy
club, set out to hunt down the marau-
ders on the steppes. This they can
easily 10 when the snow is deep and not |
yet firmly frozen over, since the wolf |
sinks through the snow at every step
and becomes exhausted, unit | final !
ly he sits down on his launches in
the snow and quietly awaits for the
hunter TO knock him on the head with
his club. In summer the Kirghese
hunt the wolves down in n similar man
ner on the steppes, using lasso in
stead of a club. The high, prickly
growth of the prairies prevents the
brutes from running far, and they
fall an easy prey to the hunter.
As for wolves following the sleds am
inclined to doubt that they do this on
the great post-roads. 1t is the one alb
sorbing task of traveller in Siberia TO
tell when he gets home of the wild race
before the pursuing wolves, to describe
how he shot the one that approached
nearest the sledge, how the brute COM
pani rs stopped TO devour their late