Hunting in Many Lands 



however g-ood they be. There is always a 

 possibiHty that the dogs may loosen their hold 

 or be thrown off just at the critical moment. 

 But the greatest difficulty consists in the in- 

 ability of the hounds to hold the wolf even 

 when they have overtaken him. When it is 

 remembered that a full-grown wolf is nearly 

 twice as heavy as the average barzoi, and that 

 pound for pound he is stronger, it is clear that 

 to overtake and hold him requires great speed 

 and grit on the part of a pair of hounds. 



A famous kennel,* which two years since 

 caught forty-six wolves by the combined sys- 

 tem of hunting, took in that number but one 

 old wolf — that is, three years or more old. 

 The same kennel last year caught twenty-six 

 without having a single old one in the number. 

 We likewise failed to include in our captures a 

 single old wolf. I mention these facts to cor- 

 rect the false impression that exists with us 

 concerning the barzois, as evidenced by the 

 great disappointment when two years since a 

 pair, in one of the Western States, failed to 

 kill outright a full-grown timber wolf. At the 

 field trials on wolves, which take place twice 

 a year at Colomiaghi, near Petersburg, im- 



* That of the Grand Duke Nicolas Nicolaievitch. 

 170 



