362 "WILD SPOETS IN THE SOUTH. 



which they occasionally gave, I knew at once that these 

 were the much di'eaded white wolf. 



" I had never met with these animals, but from the 

 description given of them, I had but little pleasure in 

 making their acquaintance. Their untamable fierceness 

 and the untiring strength which seems part of their 

 nature, render them objects of dread to every benighted 

 traveller. 



" With their long gallop, which can tire 

 The Deer-hound's hate, the hunter's fire," 



they pursue their prey never straying from the track 

 of their victim and as the wearied hunter thinks he has 

 at last outstripped them, he finds that they but waited for 

 the evening to seize their prey, and falls a prize to their 

 tireless cunning. 



"The bushes that skirted the shore flew past with 'the 

 velocity of lightning, as I dashed on in my flight to pass 

 the narrow opening. The outlet was nearly gained ; one 

 second more, and I would be comparatively safe, when 

 my pursuers appeared on the bank directly above me, 

 which here rose to the height often feet. There was no 

 time for thought, so I bent my head and dashed madly 

 forward. The wolves sprang, but miscalculating my 

 speed, sprang behind, while their intended prey glided 

 out upon the river. 



" Nature turned me toward home. The light flakes 

 of snow spun from the iron of my skates, and I was some 

 distance from my pursuers, when their fierce howl told me 



