292 THE GLUTTON. 



for the beaver has a covert way bored under the ice, and 

 the Glutton has only the trouble and disappointment of 

 sacking an empty town. 



A life of necessity generally produces a good fertile in- 

 vention. The Glutton, continually pressed by the call of 

 appetite, and having neither swiftness nor activity to satis- 

 fy it, is obliged to make up by stratagem the defects of 

 nature. It is often seen to examine the traps and the 

 snares laid for other animals, in order to anticipate the fow- 

 lers. It is said to practice a thousand arts to procure its 

 prey, to steal upon the retreats of the reindeer, the flesh of 

 which animal it loves in preference to all others ; to lie in 

 wait for s.uch animals as have been maimed by the hun- 

 ters ; to pursue the isatis while it is hunting for itself; and 

 when the animal has run down its prey, to come in and 

 seize upon the whole, and sometimes to devour even its 

 poor provider ; when these pursuits fail, even to dig up the 

 graves, and fall upon the bodies interred there, devouring 

 them, bones and all. For these reasons, the natives of the 

 countries where the Glutton inhabits, hold it in utter de- 

 testation, and usually term it the vulture of quadrupeds. 

 And yet, it is extraordinary enough, that, being so very 

 obnoxious to man, it does not seem to fear him. We are 

 told by Gemelin of one of these coming up boldly and 

 calmly where there were several persons at work, without 

 testifying the smallest apprehension, or attempting to run 

 until it had received several blows, that at last totally dis- 

 abled it. In all probability it came among them seeking 

 its prey; and, having been used to attack animals of infe- 

 rior strength, it had no idea of a force superior to its own. 

 The Glutton, like all the rest of its kind, is a solitary ani- 

 mal ; and is never seen in company except with its female, 

 with which it couples in the midst of winter. The latter 

 goes with >oung about four months, and brings forth two 

 or three at. a time. They burrow in holes as the weasel ; 

 and the male and femnle are generally found together, 



