148 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



them without arousing their anger to such an extent that 

 they were liable to attack him. This forced him to always 

 go armed when hunting them, and to wear a sabre-bayonet, 

 so keenly sharpened that he could cleave the head of one 

 open with a blow if necessary. 



Useful as he found them, he thought them too dangerous 

 for his own safety, and he was trying to supersede them 

 by a cross between the mastiff and deer-hound, or the fox- 

 hound and greyhound, as he thought these would be less 

 irritable, more easily handled, and do their work equally as 

 well as the fierce brutes which were then in his kennel, and 

 whose sole reliable obedience consisted in not touching a 

 dead wolf. I went on a hunt with him one day with this 

 pack, and the moment they were let out of the rude stable 

 they commenced baying and dashing about, as if they were 

 overjoyed at the thought of a run. Both of us being well 

 mounted, and armed with breech - loading guns charged 

 with buckshot, we directed our course toward some rocky, 

 wooded hills which loomed against the horizon about four 

 miles to the north. Moving at a rapid gait, we were soon 

 at their base, and the hounds, which seemed fresh and anx- 

 ious, were set to work in a piece of shrubbery Avhere a few 

 wolves were generally found, especially during the cubbing 

 season, as hares, antelopes, and other food were always to 

 be procured in its vicinity. The hounds rushed through 

 this as if it were a plain, and commenced quartering in 

 every direction. 



Beating back toward us, one gave tongue within five 

 yards of our position, and a moment later we saw a large 

 grayish object darting through the bushes, and the hound 

 in full cry after it. The others soon joined in the chorus, 

 and away all dashed for the hills. " That must have been 

 a she-wolf," said my friend, "or the critter would not have 

 stayed there so long when we were so near ; it is, there- 

 fore, very likely that we may find the cubs where she 

 started from." We accordingly commenced a search for 

 them, and in a few moments found six little creatures, evi- 

 dently about a month old, in a grassy cleft between two 



