THE WOLVES. 135 



made efforts to drag him through ; his cries awa- 

 kening the whole vicinity, the beast was compelled 

 to quit his hold, but although encountered and 

 struck at by many, he escaped ; the man was nearly 

 scalped and dreadfully lacerated, but recovered. 

 Wolves, when attacking cattle or horses, are said to 

 take them by the throat, or by the nose, till they 

 pull them down. A French farmer, however, re- 

 lated that a horse of his, killed by a wolf the pre- 

 ceding night, had been seized by the tail and dragged 

 over till it fell upon the side; and on visiting the 

 remains of it, we verified the fact of no wound 

 appearing in front ; the ham had been strung, and 

 the wolf had fed exclusively on the solid parts of the 

 buttock. A similar mode of attack appeared to 

 have been adopted, where a cow was the victim of 

 an American wolf, which likewise came under our 

 personal inspection. Sheep and lambs they actually 

 carry off at a round pace, contriving to throw a part 

 of the weight upon their shoulders. Capt. William- 

 son describes a case that came under his own eyes, 

 and where he, being on horseback, attempted to 

 interpose, but the wolf laid down his burden and 

 gave signs of assailing the Captain s horse ; and he 

 being unarmed, felt the prudence of allowing him to 

 escape with his prize. 



According to accounts we received from the Don 

 Cossacks, their horses bred wild on the steppes 

 resist the attacks of whole troops of wolves. The 

 mares form circles round the foals ; and the stallions, 

 remaining outside, resolutely charge them, and gene- 



