IN THE FAR WEST. 12-; 



have seen others run down in a sharp spin of five or six miles, 

 although they had a good start. On a fine day, and with hard 

 ground under foot, a wolf will lead the fastest pack in the 

 world a merry gallop ; but during wet weather it shows to bad 

 advantage, as its brush is so heavy that it is a regular mud- 

 carrier, and this drags it down so much that it may be over- 

 taken with a fast pack of fox-hounds in a run of a few miles 

 over soft ground. 



If the bar see or Siberian wolf-hound is all it is said to be, it 

 would prove a capital dog for the West, as the climate ought 

 to be well suited to it, and wolves are abundant enough to 

 furnish it with all the exercise it wants, and to bring out its 

 highest qualities. 



One of the most intelligent dogs for still-hunting the wolf 

 I saw anywhere, was a combination of the wire-haired fox- 

 terrier and the rough-coated colley, with, perhaps, a dash of the 

 fox-hound or harrier. This creature would run mute and very 

 slowly, and was as much under control as a well-broken sheep 

 dog. When a wolf was found in the woods, and its quarters 

 were known, the hunter placed a piece of poisoned meat there, 

 and the next morning, as a rule, he had another robe to add 

 to his collection of peltries. This dog was owned by a stock- 

 raiser and hunter, and nothing could induce him to part with it. 



Several keen sportsmen keep a few hounds for the special 

 purpose of wolf-hunting ; but as they are, generally speaking, 

 no match in speed for their long-legged cousin, one or two grey- 

 hounds have to be used as auxiliaries, and when the quarry 

 is getting too far ahead these are slipped, and they soon over- 

 take it and keep it at bay, despite all its rushing and snarling, 

 until the hounds and mounted huntsmen arrive. 



If the wolf is young the hounds are allowed to kill it them- 

 selves in order to encourage them, but should it be an old one it 

 can inflict too much injury on light, weak dogs in adeath struggle 

 to make the contest anything but interesting to their owner. 



One of the most stirring hunting scenes imaginable is to 

 follow a large pack of hounds in pursuit of a wolf over the 

 level prairie on a fine morning in spring or autumn, and then 

 to be in at the death. It has all the elements of the liia-hesl 



