NATURAL HISTORY. 



them, by chewing it first herself. They do not leave 

 the den where they have been littered, till they are six 

 weeks or two months old. It is not, however, till 

 they are about ten or twelve months old, and till they 

 have shed their first teeth and completed the new, that 

 the dam thinks them in a capacity to shift for them- 

 selves. Whenever they have acquired arms from na- 

 ture, and have learned industry and courage from her 

 example, she declines all future care of them, and is 

 again engaged in rearing a new progeny. These ani- 

 mals require two or three years for their growth, and 

 live to the age of fifteen or twenty. 



The wolf grows grey as he grows old, and his teeth 

 wear, like those of most other animals. He sleeps 

 when his belly is full, or when he is fatigued, rather 

 by day than night, and is always very easily awaked. 

 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 often visits the 

 brooks or 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 is supplied 

 with water. 



The wolf has great strength, particularly in his fore 

 parts, in the muscles of his neck and jaws. He car- 

 ries off a sheep in his mouth without letting it touch 

 the ground, and runs with it much swifter than the 

 shepherds who pursue him. Hence nothing but the 

 dogs can overtake, or oblige him to quit his prey. He 

 bites cruelly, and always with greater vehemence in 

 proportion as he is less resisted ; for he uses precau- 

 tions with such animals as attempt to stand upon the 

 defensive. He is cowardly, and never fights but when 

 under a necessity of satisfying his hunger, or of mak- 



