Year: 1876




A Lumber Inspector In Canada has Mar


row Escape---He Passes Several Hour,


i'm a Tree Surrounded by Hungry Wolves


The Ottawa Free Press prints the fol
lowing account of an adventure by Mr.
John A. Gum, in the township OF Blake,
Quebec:


I set ont in company with two In.
dams to ascertain if any trespasses had
been committed on limit owned by oul
firm, the said limit being northeast OF
the Gatineau river, and running parallel
with the Duievre. The district IS re-
marksLle only for its mountainous char
acter, the range being called Mont
Diable, or Devils mountain. 1took my
horse along with me so long as beaten
track enabled me to do so, when l tied
him up, and continued the journey on
snowsbues. We had gone only about
four miles, when one of the Indians, q
very cunning and experienced hunter,
solemnly warned me to turn back, as
there were .unmistakable indications Of
wolves being in close proximity but,
not needing the voice of the dusky son
of the forest, / made up my mind to
keep on my way, as it is principle OF
mine never to look back until my work
Is accomplished. On the present occa-
sion, however, my contempt for tie pro-
phetic words of the Indian came near
costing me dearly. Approaching the
foot of the mountain, beheld full In
view, and only short distance away on
a small eminence, pack of wolves,
twenty-seven in number, devouripg the
remains of deer. This was rather an
unpleasant position to be In, and the
only recourse for safety was retreat or to
climb tree. The former decided on
without much delay, but on turning
about [ found that the two Indians had
gone. / saw to my revolvers as my best
friends immediately, and found all night.
/ determined to live as long as could,
and to sell my life as dearly as possible.
I began the retreat, however, with all
the haste that my physical powers were
capable of, but was soon alarmed by
hearing the bowling of the wolves In
pursuit. I have always prided myself
on nv fieetness of foot, as / have seldom
met my equal, but in this race with
wolves lost ground very fast. l quick
ly realized that the attempt to escape
was vain, for at the rate of going l could
not hold out long, and therefore, behev-
ing that prudence was the better part
of valor," concluded to climb tree,
and though it took me very few mo-
ments to reach o convenient bough, [
was none too quick, for the pack was
nigh ON hand, anxious for fresh dish
after disposing of the deer. They drew
up in line, about ten yards from the
tree, and considering the opportunity a
good one, I commenced to blaze away at
them, with deadly effect, no less than
four falling in answer to seven shots.
This destructive fire did not abate their
fury in the least, and / proceeded to
draw nv second revolver, when, unfor-
tunately, it caught in twig and was
jerked out of my hand to the ground. 1
now felt my predicament a worse one
than ever, fearing that they would re-
main and starve me ont, or until l
should become benumbed with the cold
and fall an easy prey to the ravenous
pack. My buffalo coat I had left in the
cutter, and, being very thinly clad, l
began very soon to experience the effects
of the cold. The wolves, l believe, real
lied my helplessness, and became bold
accordingly. They walked up to the
foot of the tree, which was very small
one, and as they could not reach me by
leaping, they began to gnaw it down. 1
had been in many tight place before,
in whalefishing and other perilous posi-
tions, and hatter myself I have never
been much of coward; but on the
present occasion, with hungry pack of
wolves methodically at work, one after
the other, gnawing away the tree on
which had taken refuge, I began to
feel loose about the jaw, and my spirits
went down to forty-fve Fahrenheit.
However, an idea occurred to me de-
cided upon plan. Taking out my knife
I cut the longest limb / could reach, and
leaving hook on the end of it caught
hold of large cedar tree about ten feet
off, and as the wolves continued gnaw-
ing, and my perch got more and more
unsteady, I pulled on the pole and drew
the tree over toward the cedar. With q
desperate e1ertion, and after several
minutes of ,!eep anxiety, I succeeded in
gaining the cedar, and took up safe
position among its branches. The wolves
uttered q fierce howl and took their de-
parture, but did not venture to descend
from my perch until the last sound from
them was family heard from the distant
hills. On reaching the place where ]
had left my horse, I found that he had
got frightened and had gone. 1 was
about striking out in pursuit, when
espied the two Indians, who were en-
deavoring to secure two young moose,
which they had got into kind of Gre
vssse at the base Of high rock.
t,,-na1 il, With them, and we succeeded