THE EUROPEAN WOLF. 249 



In those plains of Siberia that are infested by wolves a sledge journey 

 is far from agreeable, for frequently a band of these ferocious brutes per- 

 sistently follows travelers. If the sledge stops for only a second, the men 

 and horses are lost ; safety exists only in flight. The struggle on such 

 occasions is fearful. The horses, mad with terror, seem to have wings. 

 The wolves follow on their track, their eyes flashing with fire. It is a 

 terrible situation to be placed in, to behold these black spectres tearing 

 across the surface of the white shroud of snow, thirsting for your blood. 

 From time to time a report is heard ; a wolf falls. More audacious than 

 the others, the victim had tried to climb the sledge, and one of the trav 

 elers has shot it. This incident gives some advantage to the fugitives ; 

 for the carnivorous troop halt for a few seconds to devour the body of 

 their companion. But the end is nigh : the village or castle appears 

 against the gray sky, and the wolves are deprived of their anticipated 

 prey. At other times the adventure terminates in a tragical manner : 

 after a pursuit of some hours, the team, exhausted and incapable of pro- 

 gressing farther, is overtaken ; the sledge is surrounded and carried by 

 assault ; the rest may be imagined ! 



Certain wolves — fortunately they are rare — show a marked preference 

 for human flesh. Such was the notorious animal which desolated G6- 

 vaudan, in the second half of the eighteenth century, and whose evil 

 reputation yet survives. This animal was of enormous size (measuring 

 about six feet from the point of the nose to the tip of the tail), and for 

 several years defied all efforts made for its destruction. In India, where 

 wolves are classed among sacred animals, they levy tribute on mankind, 

 carrying off" every year numbers of children. 



Bold as the wolf usually is, it is exceedingly suspicious ; a stick and 

 a piece of rag will keep it at a distance from the carcass of a deer, and 

 a piece of rope trailed from a carriage is always an object of much fear. 



All methods are justifiable for the destruction of the wolf: snares, 

 traps, even poison. It is said that a trapped wolf will permit itself to be 

 handled without attempting to resist, and will even lie passively by the 

 hunter's side till he resets his trap. The bite of the wolf is peculiar; 

 it is a short, fierce snap delivered with such energy that when it misses 

 its mark the jaws clash like a closing steel trap. 



The wolf can be tamed ; Cuvier relates the history of a wolf that lived 

 in the menagerie of the Jardin des Plantes, Paris, which, after being reared 

 by a person who had to leave to proceed abroad, displayed more pas" 

 32 



