TIIE GRAY WOLF. 155 



weight and strength, though it might possess nose and 

 speed. Boar-hounds would make better wolf-dogs than 

 the famous Irish breed which are sometimes exhibited pic- 

 torially in sporting newspapers, and would be far more ser- 

 viceable for general purposes. 



Two of the best wolf-dogs I saw in the West were a 

 cross respectively between a deer-hound and a mastiff, and 

 a greyhound and a bulldog, with a dash of bull- terrier 

 blood. When these two hunted together and managed to 

 come in contact with a wolf, one seized it by the throat 

 while the other seized one of its hind -legs, and between 

 them both it was killed within the space of half an hour, 

 or so seriously crippled that it fell an easy victim to the 

 hunter's revolver. Though very brave and skilful fighters, 

 they lacked speed to bring the animal to bay in a long run ; 

 and if they did not overtake it inside a distance of two or 

 three miles, they generally gave up the chase, as they could 

 not keep in sight, and they did not have sufficient nose to 

 follow it readily by its scent. Their retirement from the 

 chase is not to be wondered at, for I have known wolves 

 to run twenty or thirty miles before a fast pack of fox- 

 hounds, and escape after all; but I have seen others run 

 down in a sharp spin of five or six miles, although they 

 had a good start. On a fine day, and with hard ground 

 underfoot, a wolf will lead the fastest pack in the world a 

 merry gallop ; but during wet weather it shows to bad ad- 

 vantage, as its brush is so heavy that it is a regular mud- 

 carrier; and this drags it down so much that it may be 

 overtaken with a fast pack of fox-hounds in a run of a few 

 miles over soft ground. 



If the barsee, or Siberian wolf-hound, is all it is said to 

 be, it would prove a capital dog for the West, as the cli- 

 mate ought to be well suited to it; and wolves are abun- 

 dant enough to furnish it with all the exercise it wants, 

 and to bring out its highest qualities. 



One of the most intelligent dogs for still -hunting the 

 wolf I saw anywhere was a combination of the wire-hair- 

 ed fox-terrier and the rough-coated colly, with perhaps a 



