HEK DEATH. 377 



"you will soon know that." Before long, however, the 

 man contrived to get hold of his hunting knife, and stabbed 

 the wolf in the most vital parts he could reach. The 

 enraged animal now attempted to turn and face her foe, 

 but the hole was too narrow to allow of this; and when 

 Poison saw his danger he squeezed her forward, keeping 

 her jammed in, whilst he repeated his stabs as rapidly as 

 he could, until the animal, being mortally wounded, was 

 easily dragged back and finished.* 



These were the last wolves killed in Sutherland, and 

 the den was between Craig-lihadich and Craig- Voakie, by 

 the narrow Glen of Loth, a place replete with objects con- 

 nected with traditionary legends. The conflict of Drum- 

 derg was fought in it. Cairn-Bran stands there, the place 

 wlit'iv Fingjil's dog, Bran, was buried, and the holy waters 

 of Tobcr Mas>an rise from its mosses, which are supposed 

 to have cured many diseases. The upright stones of 

 Carrikcn-Chligh also stand there, which, as the name 



* Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, has a story somewhat similar to 

 this, which probably he got from the Sutherland drovers; but, in his 

 desire to change the circumstances, and make the tale his own, he has 

 fallen into an error which lessens its probability. He introduces a 

 wild boar as the animal held back by the tail, and not a wolf, although 

 the tail of that animal is proverbially short, and of slender dimensions, 

 and could hardly be grasped firmly by the hand: a sow or boar also 

 invariably roars out most lustily when seized or obstructed, and hence 

 the person in Hogg's cavern must have known from such sounds the 

 cause of obstruction of the light without further inquiry. In Poison's 

 exploit, which was a true one, he had the advantage of grasping the 

 long and rough tail of the wolf; and he wounded an animal that dies 

 without complaining as a sow does, and which, according to Buffon, 

 " never howls under correction like a dog, but defends himself in 

 silence, and dies as hard as he lived." 



