TROUT-FISHING IN SWEDISH LAPLAND. 89 



a source of anxiety to the owners, as their most 

 dangerous enemies, creating great havoc at times 

 amongst the herds belonging to the mountain Lapps. 

 A single wolf, they assert, can kill in one night as 

 many as thirty reindeer, while a band of wolves can 

 make a rich Lapp poor. If any wolf tracks have 

 been seen in the neighbourhood of the deer, a watch 

 is constantly kept, consisting of one man and a couple 

 of dogs at the very least, relieved at regular intervals. 

 When the snow has acquired sufficient depth and 

 softness, then affairs are completely reversed, for, 

 instead of the wolf hunting the reindeer, it is gene- 

 rally the Lapp who hunts the wolf. 



The alarm being given that wolf tracks or wolves 

 have been seen in any direction within reach of the 

 Lapps' camp, there takes place considerable commo- 

 tion, as the swiftest runners on snow-shoes prepare 

 for a most exciting chase. The wolf or wolves in 

 the meantime usually seem to discover that danger 

 in some shape or other is imminent, and manage, 

 without loss of time, to acquire a start of at least 

 two miles. But the track which the wolf leaves 

 behind him in the deep, soft snow is so unmistakable 

 and prominent that the hunters can follow it at their 

 best speed without any risk of losing it through not 

 following its every sinuosity, or the detours and 

 windings the animal may have made, prompted by 

 his lupine inclination or the irregularities of the 

 ground. If it wishes to preserve its skin, it must 

 strain every muscle as the chase proceeds, over ice 



