8G2 "SYILD SPOETS IN THE SOUTH. 



wliich they occasionally gave, I knew at once that theso 

 \Yerc the mnch dreaded white wolf. 



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

 description given of them, I had but little pleasui'e 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. 



" Yfitli 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, 

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

 time for thought, so I bent my bead 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 



