320 



ANIMALS OF 



to come to perfection. Of this, however, 

 there is as yet no certainty, no more than of 

 what huntsmen assert, that in all the litters 

 there are more males than females. From 

 them also we learn, that there are some of 

 the males who attach themselves to the fe- 

 male, who accompany her during her gesta- 

 tion, until the time of bringing forth, when she 

 hides the place of her retreat from the male, 

 lest he should devour her cubs. But after 

 this, when they are brought forth, that he then 

 takes the same care of them as the female, 

 carries them provisions, and, if the dam should 

 happen to be killed, rears them up in her stead. 



The wolf grows gray as he grows old, and 

 his teeth wear, like those of most other ani- 

 mals, by using. He sleeps when his belly is 

 full, or when he is fatigued, rather by day than 

 night; and always, like the dog, is very ea- 

 sily waked. He drinks frequently; and in 

 times of drought, when there is no water to 

 be found in the trunks of old trees, or in the 

 pools about the forest, he comes often, in the 

 day, down to the brooks, or the lakes in the 

 plain. Although very voracious, he supports 

 hunger for a long time, and often lives four or 

 five days without food, provided he be supplied 

 with water. 



The wolf has great strength, particularly in 

 his fore parts, in the muscles of his neck and 

 jaws. He carries off a sheep in his mouth 

 without letting it touch the ground, and runs 

 with it much swifter than the shepherds who 

 pursue him; so that nothing but the dogs can 

 overtake, and oblige him to quit his prey. 

 He bites cruelly, and always with greater ve- 

 hemence in proportion as he is least resisted; 

 for he uses precautions with such animals as 

 attempt to stand upon the defensive. He is 

 ever cowardly, and never fights but when un- 

 der a necessity of satisfying hunger, or making 

 good his retreat. When he is wounded by a 

 bullet, he is heard to cry out ; and yet, when 

 surrounded by the peasants, and attacked 

 with clubs, he never howls as the dog under 

 correction, but defends himself in silence, and 

 dies as hard as he lived. 



His nature is, in fact, more savage than that 

 of the dog ; he has less sensibility and greater 

 strength. He travels, runs, and keeps plun- 

 dering for whole days and nights together. 

 He is in a manner indefatigable; and perhaps 



of all animals he is the most difficult to be' 

 hunted down. The dog is good natured and 

 courageous ; the wolf, though savage, is ever 

 fearful. If he happens to be caught in a pit-' 

 fall, he is for some time so frightened and as- 

 tonished, that he may be killed without offer- 

 ing to resist, or taken alive without much dan- 

 ger. At that instant, one may clap a collar 

 round his neck, muzzle him, and drag him 1 

 along, without his ever giving the least signs 

 of anger or resentment. At all other times 

 he has his senses in great perfection ; his eye, 

 his ear, and particularly his sense of smelling, 

 which is even superior to the two former. He 

 smells a carcass at more than a league's dis- 

 tance; he also perceives living animals a great 

 way off, and follows them a long time upon 

 the scent. Whenever he leaves the wood, 

 he always takes care to go out against the 

 wind. When just come to its extremity, he 

 stops to examine, by his smell, on all sides, 

 the emanations that may come either from his 

 enemy or his prey, which he very nicely dis- 

 tinguishes. He prefers those animals which 

 he kills himself to those he finds dead ; and 

 yet he does not disdain these when no better 

 is to be had. He is particularly fond of hu- 

 man flesh ; and perhaps, if he was sufficiently 

 powerful, he would eat no other. Wolves 

 have been seen following armies, and arriving 

 in numbers upon the field of battle, where 

 they devoured such dead bodies as were left 

 upon the field, or but negligently interred. 

 These, when once accustomed to human flesh, 

 ever afterseek particularly toattack mankind, 

 and choose to fall upon the shepherd rather 

 than his flock. We have had a late instance 

 of two or three of these keeping a whole pro- 

 vince, for more than a month, in a continual 

 alarm. 



It sometimes happens that a whole country 

 is called out to extirpate these most danger- 

 ous invaders. The hunting the wolf is a fa- 

 vourite diversion among the great of some 

 countries ; and it must be confessed it seems 

 to be the most useful of any. These animals 

 are distinguished by the huntsmen into the 

 young wolf, the old wolf, and the great wolf. 

 They are known by the prints of their feet ; 

 the older the wolf, the larger the track he 

 leaves. That of the female is narrower and 

 longer than those of the male. It is necessary 



