CHAP. VI. WOLVES IN INDIA. 183 



breathing quick, but much harsher : he kept his 

 ground, however,, without attempting to molest them ; 

 and they, on their part, after attentively regarding him 

 for some time, generally wheeled about, and galloped 

 off; though, from their known disposition, there Is little 

 doubt but he would have been torn in pieces, had he 

 lost his presence of mind, and attempted to fly."* 

 This opinion fully confirms what we have already ex- 

 pressed on this subject. The polar or sea bear is 

 another of those species which may be ranked among 

 our most deadly enemies. It lives almost entirely upon 

 flesh, and many distressing accounts are upon record 

 of its attacking parties of seamen, and others, when on 

 the shore. The crews of the whale vessels are very 

 much exposed to this animal. Its scent is peculiarly 

 keen, and it is consequently attracted to the vessels 

 by the smell of the whale blubber, which it is usual to 

 burn on board, in the process of extracting the oil. Nor 

 are these ferocious enemies o our race extirpated from 

 the more civilised parts of Europe ; for, although the 

 bears have greatly diminished, the wolves of the Alps 

 and Apennines are still in sufficient numbers to create 

 terror among the country population, who frequently, 

 in winter, lose some of their neighbours by these 

 animals. When under the suffering of excessive 

 hunger, at this inclement season of the year, the wolf is 

 ravenous to the highest degree, and nothing will deter 

 him from making the most desperate efforts to allay his 

 craving appetite. 



(199-) During the dreadful famine which prevailed 

 over all the North of India, in 1783, so great was the 

 mortality, that the wretched inhabitants died in heaps 

 in the fields and highways, and became an unresisting 

 prey to the wolves of the country. " These animals, 

 finding their customary sources of subsistence cut off by 

 the universal famine, betook themselves to the carcases 

 that lay thickly strewed around ; and were to be seen in 

 aJl directions, committing havoc among the expiring 



* North. Zool. vol. i. p. 27. 

 N 4 



