The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1886-05-07

1
suddenly ceased, and the yemshik 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 nv
interpreter. We emerged from our cozy
nest of furs and looked around us. 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 yemshiks 1--WE
had thrce) on horseback 70 the next viii
lage to bring assistance of horses and
men. Seeing these depart the yemshik-
in-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.
Perhaps he had good reason for doing
this, since wolves are known to infest
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 strange telling 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 time? But we
resolved to wait patiently and to watch.
We got out our weapons and determined,
should wolves appear, to keep them off
as well as we could. and if attacked to
mount to the top of the sledge and
there defend ourselves as well and as long
as we could. The wind drowned every
noisa We could not hear any bowling,
but through the mist, a hundred and
fifty or two hundred yards away.
we discerned small black
point which we certainly 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
ly. They seemed to move. We de-
termined to give them volley. We
fired. The black spots were still there.
Either We had made very lucky shots
a most improbable thing-or the points
were only shrubs planted by the road
side to guide the sledge drivers over
the snowy wastes. Which they were l
am quite unable to say, although my in
terpreter, who had for three years been
a dweller in Siberia, insisted on making
wolves out of them. All that I know Is
that at last, weary and chilled, care
less whether wolves came or not, we
got into our sledge, buried ourselves in
| our furs and waited for deliverance. 1t
was a 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, l am afraid, nothing but
| bushes.
Altogether my EXPERIENCES of Siberian
wolves were not exciting. and am COM
PEELED to say that those on the Orenburg
| steppes are not in the habit of attacking
travellers. They are arrant towards; they
| may follow solitary travellers, but as a
rule they coniine their attacks to the
farm-yards of the villages or watch their
opportunity during the day to get at a
young, juicy, but indiscreet horse that
has wandered away from the drove or a
sheep that has strayed away from the
flock and their nomadic shepherds. Dur
ing allmy long Journeys saw, as I 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
were the wolves. I looked out Of the
sled and saw eleven of the brutcs.
They were as big again as gOod-sized
foxes, and were passing quite across
the road in front of US in very leisurely
manner. After we had passed they
stopped and calmly looked at us. I 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 emily went away
in q most dignified and insulting man
ner. rs 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 acct
dental and sudden death. Another
time two wolves crossed the road and
waited for US to have q shot at them be-
fore they thought of Looping off to safer
quarters.
To prove how little danger the na-
tives and jewellers of the Orenburg
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
sport in wof-hunting. Whenever they
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 3 heavy
club, set out to hunt down the marau-
ders On the steppes. This they can
easily do when the snow is deep and not
yet firmly frozen over, since the wolf
sinks through the snow At every step
and becomes exhausted, until final
" 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 a similar man.
ner on the steppes, using a 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 abb
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