Year: 1859




nerves, although, no doubt, attractive to
the wolves. My companion wished to
visit them that evening, merely as he. was
in the habit of doing SO daily, for the pur-
pose of seeing that all was right. He
said the wolves were very abundant that
autumn, and had killed nearly the whole
of his sheep and one of his colts, but that
he was now paying them off in full; and
added that if / would tarry few hours
with him next morning, he would, beyond
doubt, show me some sport rarely seen in
those parts. We retired to rest in due
time, and were up with the dawn. /
think said my host, that ALPS right, for l
see the dogs are anxious to get away to the
pits, and although they are nothing but
ours, their noses are none the worse for
that AS he took up his gun, an axe, and
large knife, the dogs began to howl and
bark, and whisked around us, as if full of
joy When we reached the first pit, we
found the bait all gone and the platform
much injured, but the animal that had
been entrapped had scraped subterranean
passage for himself, and so escaped. On
peeping at the next, he assured me that
three famous fellows were safe enough in
it. also peeped in and saw the wolves,
two black and the other brindled, all of
goodly size, sure enough. They lay fiat
on the earth; their ears lay close over their
head; their eyes indicating fear more than
anger;


"' How, sirT said the farmer why,
by going down, to be sure, and ham-string-
ing them


Being a novice in these matters, l beg
ged to be merely looker-on.


"'With all my heart quoth the farmer;
stand here and look at me through the
brush


Whereupon he glided down, taking
with him his axe and knife, and leaving
his rife to my care. | was not a little
surprised to see the cowardice of the
wolves. He pulled out successfully their
hind legs, and with side stroke of the
knife cut the principal tendon above the
Joint, exhibiting as little fear as if he had
been marking lambs. Lop exclaimed the
farmer, when he had got out, we have for
gotten the rope; I'll go after it. Off he
went, accordingly, with as much alacrity
as any youngster could show. In short
time he returned out of breath, and wip-
ing his forehead with the back of his hand
said, Now for it, Twas desired to raise and
hold the platform on its central balance,
whilst he, with all the dexterity of an In
nian, threw a moose over the neck of one
of the wolves. We hauled it up motion
less with fright, as if dead, its disabled
legs swinging to and fro, its jaws wide
open, and the gurgle in its throat alone in
dicating that it was alive. Letting him
drop on the ground, the farmer loosened
the rope by means of stick, and left him
to the dogs, all of which set upon him with
great fury, and soon worried him to death.
The second was dealt with in the same
manner; but the third, which was proba-
bly, the oldest, as it was the blacklist,
showed some spirit the moment it was let
loose to the mercy of the ours. This wolf,
which we afterwards found to be female,
scufled along on its fore legs at surpris-
ing rate, giving a snap every now and then
at the nearest dog, which went off howling
dismally, with mouthful of skin torn
from its side. And so well did this fero-
cious beast defend itself, that apprehending
its escape, The farmer levelled his rife at
it, and shot it through the heart, on which
the ours rushed upon it, and satiated their
vengeance on the destroyer of their mas
ter's flock"


"TheY always are seen following about
in the vicinity of herds of buffaloes, and
stand ready to pick the bones of those the
hunters leave on the ground, or to over
take and devour those that are wounded,
which fall an easy prey to them. While
the herd of bufaloes are together, they
seem to have little dread of the wolf, and
allow them to come in close company with
them. The Indian, then, has taken ad-
vantage of this fact, and often places him
self under the skin of this animal, and
crawls for half mile or more, on his hands
and knees, until he approaches within a
few rods of the unsuspecting group, and
easily shoots down the fattest of the
throng" But the white wolf occasionally
attacks the buffalo in foropria persona; al
ways, however, with great odds in his ia
vor, for he is wary gamester. A short
time SINCE" says Mr. Catlin, Gas one of
my hunting companions and myself were
returning to our encampment with our
horses loaded with meat, we discovered, at
distance, large bull encircled with a
gang of white wolves We rode up as
near as we could without driving them
away, and; being within pistol-shot, we
had a remarkably good view, where I sat
for few moments and made sketch in
my notebook; after which, we rode up
and gave signal for them to disperse,
which they instantly did, Withdrawing
themselves to the distance of fifty or sixty
rods, when we found, to our great surprise,
that the animal had made desperate resist
ance, until his eyes were entirely eaten
out of his head, the grizzle (gristle) of his
nose mostly gone, his tongue half eat
en- off, and the skin and flesh of his legs
torn literally into strings. In this tattered
and torn condition, the poor old veteran
stood bracing up in the midst of his de-