should think so] how these wolves doe take a bottle that is full of this liquor between their teeth, and so cast it on their shoulders, and runne away withall, as our wolves here doe with a sheepe."

It would have been an agreeable pendant to this story, had Senhor Lopez described the way in which the wolf lubricated his lank chaps when at home with his bottle. Another ingenious expedient of this same Congo wolf is told by Father Jerome Merolla of Sorrento, a Capuchin missionary, who made a voyage to that part of Southern Africa in the year 1682. He tells us :

"The wolves that infest those parts are so very subtil, that they will scratch through the walls of the houses, built here with palme leaves, on purpose to come at the people, whom having found, they incontinently devour, or tear to pieces. A certain woman," he goes on to say, once happening to go a little further from her house than ordinary, left her child within asleep while she was gone, a wolf broke in and lay down close by the child that was asleep. The mother coming soon after, went in to feed her child, and spy'd the wolf, who, seeing himself discovered, immediately fled."

"These wolves do not go in packs; they wander about by day, but more commonly in the evening; they burrow in holes; are generally very silent, excepting during the breeding season, when they utter cries which were described to me as resembling those of the Canis Azaræ.”

Commodore Byron (in 1765) describes the fierceness of the Antarctic wolves in the following terms:

"The master having been sent out one day to sound the coast upon the south shore, reported at his return that four creatures of great fierceness, resembling wolves, ran up to their bellies in the water to attack the people in his boat, and that, as they happened to have no fire-arms with them, they had immediately to put the boat off in deep water. ... When any of these creatures got sight of our people, though at ever so great a distance, they ran directly at them; and no less than five of them were killed this day. They were always called wolves by the ship's company, but, except in their size and the shape of the tail, I think they bore a greater resemblance to a fox. They are as big as a middle-sized mastiff, and their fangs are re

markably long and sharp. There are great numbers of them upon the coast, though it is not perhaps easy to guess how they first came hither, for these islands are at least one hun

Authors differ very much about the properties of these African wolves; but my opinion of the wolf, based on the authority of observers in all parts of the globe, is, that a wolf is a wolf all the world over, whether he be white, as in the Arctic regions; "gray-headed [the hypocrite] and speckled with black spots like the tyger," as in Ethiopia; black, as in the North American prairies, or striped with gray and black, as at the Cape of Good Hope. Look for the wolf in the very Antartic regions, and you will find no improvement in his character, though he occupies an intermediate position, with respect to his general habits, between the Mr. Canis lupus and the Canis vulpes. Waterhouse, in his Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle, under Captain Fitzroy, says he was assured by several of the Spanish countrymen at the Falkland Islands, that they used repeatedly to kill wolves by means of a knife held in one hand, and a piece of meat to tempt them to approach them in the other. The Falkland Islands wolves subsist almost exclusively on the upland geese; which, from fear of them, like the eider-ducks of Iceland, build only on the small outlying islets. Mr. Waterhouse observes:

row in the ground like a fox, and we have fremangled, and the skins of penguins lie scattered quently seen pieces of seals which they have about the mouths of their holes. To get rid of these creatures, our people set fire to the grass, so that the country was in a blaze as far as the eye could reach, for several days, and we could see them running in great numbers to seek other quarters."

The early adventurers in New England had also their experience of wolves. One of the party of Captain Miles Standish, who, in the year 1620, founded the settlement of Plymouth, thus describes a pleasant interview with two of these worthies:

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"This day, in the evening, John Goodman went abroad to use his lame feet, that were pittifully ill with the cold hee had got, having a little spannel with him; a little from the the dog ran to him, and betwixt his legs for plantation two great wolves ran after the dog, succour; he had nothing in his hands, but tooke up a sticke, and hit him, and they presently ran both away, but came againe; he got a paile boord in his hand, and they sate both on their tailes, grinning at him a good while, and went their way and left him."

One of the wolves described by Captain Sherrard Osborne, in his recent account of Sir R. M'Clure's successful voyage of discovery, did something more than grin on a similar occasion; for a deer being killed, there was a regular tussle between

a wolf and a sergeant of marines which should have the animal, each holding on by opposite legs till the wolf was scared away.

Amicable relations may, however, be established with wolves as well as with other animals usually untamable. Captain Richard Whitburne, in his description of Newfoundland, in the year 1615, gives us an instance:

"It was well knowne to eight and fortie persons of my companie, and divers other men, [plenty of witnesses,] that three generall times, the wolves of the countrie came downe neere them to the sea-side, where they were laboring about their fish, howling and making a noise: so that each time my mastiffe dogge went unto them, [as the like in that countrie hath not been seene,] the one began to fawne and play with the other, and so went together into the woods, and continued with them, everie of these times, nine or ten daies, and did return unto us without any hurt."

But to do the wolf "a shrewd turn," as old English writers have it, is undoubtedly the general rule: "There seems," says Audubon, "to be a universal feeling of hostility of men against the wolf." It rarely happens that wolves begin the fray with man, and only one instance of their doing so occurred within his knowledge, which he thus describes :

"Two young negroes, who resided on the banks of the Ohio, in the lower part of the State of Kentucky, about twenty-three years ago, [he is writing in 1835,] had sweethearts living on a plantation ten miles distant. After the labors of the day were over, they frequently visited the fair ladies of their choice, the nearest way to whose dwelling lay directly across a great cane brake. As to the lover every moment is precious, they usually took this route to save time. Winter had commenced, cold, dark, and forbidding, and after sunset scarcely a glimpse of light or glow of warmth, one might imagine, could be found in that dreary swamp, excepting in the eyes and bosom of the ardent youths, or the hungry wolves that prowled about. The snow covered the earth, and rendered them more easy to be scented by the famished beasts. Prudent in a certain degree, the young lovers carried their axes on their shoulders, and walked as briskly as the narrow path would allow. Some transient glimpses of light now and then met their eyes, but so faint were they that they believed them to be caused by their faces coming in contact with the slender reeds covered with snow. Suddenly, however, a long and frightful howl burst upon them, and they instantly knew that it proceeded from a troop of hungry, perhaps desperate, wolves. They stopped; and, putting themselves in an attitude of defense, awaited the result. All around was dark, save a few feet of snow, and the silence of night was dismal. Nothing could be done to

better their situation; and, after standing a few minutes in expectation of an attack, they judged it best to resume their march. But no sooner had they replaced their axes on their shoulders and begun to move, than the foremost found himself assailed by several foes. His legs were held fast as if pressed by a powerful screw, and the torture inflicted by the fangs of the ravenous animals was for a moment excruciating. Several wolves in the meantime sprung upon the breast of the other negro, and dragged him to the ground. Both struggled manfully against their foes; but in a short time one of them ceased to move, and the other, reduced in strength, and perhaps despairing of maintaining his ground, sprang to the branch of a tree, and speedily gained a place of safety near the top. The next morning, the mangled remains of his comrade lay scattered around on the snow, which was stained with blood. Three dead wolves lay around, but the rest of the pack had disappeared, and Scipio, sliding to the ground, took up the axes, and made the best of his way home, to relate the sad adventure."

It is by means of pitting that the farmers get the better of these marauders. Audubon tells us how, while between Henderson and Vincennes, he chanced to stop for the night at a farmer's house by the side of the road:

"After putting up my horse and refreshing myself, I entered into conversation with mine host, who asked if I should like to pay a visit to the wolf-pits, which were about half a mile distant. Glad of the opportunity, I accompanied him across the fields to the neighborhood of a deep wood, and soon saw the engines of destruction. He had three pits, within a few hundred yards of each other. They were about eight feet deep, and broader at bottom, so as to render it impossible for the most active animal to escape from them. The aperture was covered with a revolving platform of twigs, attached to a central axis. On either surface of the platform was fastened a large piece of putrid venison, with other matters by no means pleasant to my olfactory 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 dayly, for the purpose 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 I would tarry with him a few hours next morning, he would beyond a doubt show me some sport rarely seen in those parts. We retired to rest in due time, and were up with the dawn. 'I think,' said my host, 'that all's right, for I see the dogs are anxious to get away to the pits, and although they are nothing but curs, their noses are none the worse for that.' As he took up his gun, an ax, and a 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 a subterranean passage for himself, and

after it.'

"Off he went, accordingly, with as much alacrity as any youngster could show. In a short time he returned, out of breath, and wiping his forehead with the back of his hand, Now for it.' I was desired to raise and hold the platform on its central balance, while he, with all the dexterity of an Indian, threw a noose over the neck of one of the wolves.

"We hauled it up motionless with fright, as if dead, its disabled legs swinging to and fro, its jaws wide open, and the gurgle in its throat alone indicating that it was alive. Letting him drop on the ground, the farmer loosened the rope by means of a 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 probably the oldest, as it was the blackest, showed some spirit the moment it was let loose to the mercy of the

curs.

"This wolf, which we afterward found to be a female, scuffled along on its forelegs at a surprising rate, giving a snap every now and then at the nearest dog, which went off howling dismally, with a mouthful of skin torn from its side. And so well did this ferocious beast defend itself that, apprehending its escape, the farmer leveled his rifle at it, and shot it through the heart, on which the curs rushed upon it, and satiated their vengeance on the destroyer of their master's flock."

To imitate a wolf, or, rather, to personate one, is sometimes found advantageous. The Black Foot Indians, on the Upper Missouri, do this, Mr. Catlin tells

us:

"There are several varieties of the wolf species in this country, the most formidable and most numerous of which are white, often sneaking about in gangs or families of fifty and sixty in number, appearing in the distance on the green prairies like nothing but a flock of sheep. Many of these animals grow to a very

great size, being, I should think, quite a match for the largest Newfoundland dog. At present, while the buffaloes are so abundant, and these ferocious animals are glutted with the buffaloes' flesh, they are harmless, and everywhere sneak away from man's presence. 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 overtake and devour those that are wounded, which fall an easy prey to them.

"While the herd of buffaloes 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 advantage of this fact, and often places himself under the skin of this animal, and crawls for half a 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 propria persona; always, however, with great odds in his favor, for he is a wary gamester. Mr. Catlin says:

"A short time since, as one of my hunting companions and myself were returning to our encampment with our horses loaded with meat, we discovered, at a distance, a large bull enWe rode circled with a gang of white wolves. 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 a few moments and made a sketch in my note-book; after which we rode up and gave the 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 resistance, until his eyes were entirely eaten out of his head, the grizzle (gristle) of his nose mostly gone, his tongue was half eaten 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 devourers, who had ceased hostilities for a few minutes, to enjoy a sort of parley, recovering strength, and preparing to resume the attack in a few moments again. In this group some were reclining to gain breath, while others were sneaking about and licking their chaps in anxiety for a renewal of the attack; and others, less lucky, had been crushed to death by the feet or horns of the bull. I rode nearer to the pitiable object as he stood bleeding and trembling before me, and said to him, Now is your time, old fellow, and you had better be off. Though blind and nearly destroyed, there seemed evidently to be a recognition of a friend in me, as he straightened up, and, trembling with excitement, dashed off at full We speed upon the prairie, in a straight line. turned our horses and resumed our march, and when we had advanced a mile or more looked back, and on our left, when we saw again the ill-fated animal surrounded by his tormentors, to whose insatiable voracity he unquestionably soon fell a victim."

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