EXTRAORDINARY VORACITY. 459 



needless destruction ; for he may reason like the famishing 

 man, who finds himself seated before a plenteous hoard, and 

 who is apt to fancy the whole contents of a larder will not 

 be enough to satisfy his appetite, which, however, soon 

 becomes appeased. 



We read, for instance, that one winter's night, four 

 wolves paid a visit to a Svin-gdrd, or piggery, in one of the 

 rural districts of Sweden. Only one of the beasts had the 

 temerity to leap over the high palisades surrounding the 

 enclosure. But he played his part well, for in a very short 

 time he slaughtered no less than eleven large hogs, devouring, 

 however, only a very small portion of one of them. As was 

 subsequently seen by the tracks in the snow, the other three 

 wolves were merely spectators of the butchery. But the 

 surviving pigs were soon revenged for the death of their 

 fellows ; for the proprietor, hearing of what was going on, 

 hastened to the spot, and quickly destroyed the invader. 



Wolves were occasionally destructive in the neighbour- 

 hood of Ronnum. On one occasion, within two or three 

 miles of the house, these beasts^ slaughtered twenty or more 

 sheep, the property of a peasant. These, for their better pre- 

 servation, were confined for the night in a sort of movable 

 shed, closed in front, and placed in the field in which 

 they pastured. Unfortunately, however, there was no floor, 

 and the wolves burrowing under it, obtained ready access to 

 the poor creatures. The owner of the sheep was a consi- 

 derable sufferer ; but his loss was somewhat diminished, owing 

 to myself and others purchasing a portion of the mutton, 

 which, from being mangled, was in a very unsaleable state. 



However savage wolves may be in their native wilds, yet 



