40 ANIMALS OF THE 



he has his senses in great perfection j 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 distance ; he also 

 perceives living animals a great way off, and fol- 

 lows them a long time upon the scent. When- 

 ever 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 

 distinguishes. 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 human flesh ; 

 and perhaps, if he was sufficiently powerful, he 

 would eat no other. Wolves have been seen fol- 

 lowing 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 accus- 

 tomed to human flesh, ever after seek particularly 

 to attack 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 province, for more than a month, in a con- 

 tinual alarm. 



It sometimes happens that a whole country is 

 called out to extirpate these most dangerous in- 

 vaders. The hunting the wolf is a favourite di- 

 version 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 



