CHAT, xir. FEROCITY OP WOLVES. 193 



dren is great, and the adults seldom attain an advanced 

 age.* 



'What's that?' said one of the voyageurs, who was 

 lying full length before the fire, listening to the conversa- 

 tion, as a distant howl was distinctly audible. 



4 A wolf,' answered Pierre. 'Be still, and you will hear 

 it again soon. There ! ' 



' But that is in a different direction, the first noise carne 

 from over yonder.' 



' One wolf answers another,' said Pierre. ' Perhaps you 

 will hear half a dozen yet ; but I don't think there are 

 many wolves here, there is nothing for them to eat.' 



Canadian hunters will never fire at a wolf during the 

 winter, if they are alone, unless they are sure of killing 

 him. They think that, if he is only wounded, his cries 

 will attract others as he runs aw T ay through the woods, 

 who will first kill and eat him, and then follow the tracks 

 of the hunter and attack him. They are not afraid of 

 wolves, provided the animals have not recently tasted 

 blood. When three or four hunters are together, they 

 can bid defiance to any number of wolves by waiting 



* Amongst all the tribes, especially those in a civilised or semi-civilised 

 state, much harm is done, and the constitution irreparably injured, by re- 

 peated bleedings. Even in slight rheumatic pains, or the stiffiiess arising 

 from fatigue, they almost invariably resort to this mode of cure, which 

 affords temporary relief, but ultimately can scarcely fail to prove injurious. 

 The plants and roots used by them as purgatives and emetics are extremely 

 harsh and violent in their operation, and consequently hurtful in many of 

 their diseases ; as there is no better established fact in medicine, that in 

 proportion as the strength is diminished the liability to disease is increased, 

 and this especially holds true in scrofulous subjects. The Indians bear pain 

 with considerable fortitude, and are amenable to the directions of the me- 

 dical attendant. Generally they require much larger doses of medicine than 

 Europeans. A purgative which does not produce a proper proportion of 

 griping is not regarded as effectual to the evil for which it was taken. 



VOL. I. O 



