TIIK COMMON \VOI.K 07 



all tin; caution of a cat, nor will you hear him, hut tin- ,/<>,/ will, and positively give liiin tin- lir-l I..1I , 

 il', therefore, you are not active when he i.s down to rivet his neck to tin- ground willi thin s|x-ar, h.- 

 will rise up and kill both yon and the dog. So, good night !" 



"I'll do what I can," said the little boy, as ho took the spear from ( 'nrragh'.s hand. Immediately 



lie threw open the gate of the fold and took his seat in the inner part, near to the cntra , his faithful 



companion crouching close to his side, and seeming conscious of the dangerous business in which he 

 was engaged. The night was very dark and cold, and the poor boy, bring benumbed by the chilly air, 

 was beginning to sleep, when the dog in an instant, with a roar, leaped across him, and laid his mortal 

 enemy, who had just arrived, on the earth. Housed to the utmost energy by the voice of his com- 

 panion, the boy drove the spear through the wolfs neck, by which time Curragh stood at Inside, 

 bearing the head of the other wolf. 



The death of the last Irish wolf cannot be precisely determined. There was however, a present- 

 ment for killing wolves granted in Cork in the year 1710; and it is asserted by man\ |"i,.,ns of 

 veracity that a wolf was killed in the Wicklow mountains as recently as 1770. 



The engraving of " The Wolf in a Fix" (page 09) is from a celebrated painting by Oini 



In almost every department of France infested by the wolf there was, and mav In- still, a & 

 de Louveterie, the object of which is to keep the animal down, premiums, varying in amount according 

 to the sex and age of the slain animals, being paid. 



It is thought that only the common gray wolf is to be found in Scandinavia, White wolves have 

 sometimes been met with in the northern parts of the peninsula, but these, it is imagined, were but 

 accidental varieties of the same species. Black wolves have also occasionally been killed. Ki\e were 

 destroyed, in 1801, in the province of Wermeland. With the exception of a white streak on the breast, 

 these were of a jet-black colour; and, though somewhat smaller, they exactly resembled the common 

 wolf in appearance. Their skins were very handsome, and sold for three or four times as much a~ 

 they would have done had they been of the ordinary description. 



The wolf feasts on all kinds of animals common to the Scandinavian forests the rat, the hare, 

 the fox, the badger, the roebuck, the stag, the reindeer, the elk, and even the bear, occasional! v 

 becomes his victim. He devours birds, such as the ripa, the black cock, and the capeivali. )! 

 destroys every kind of domestic animal. Horses, at times, successfully repel his attacks : but, in 

 Scandinavia, horses have often been seen scarred in consequence of the wounds they ha\e received 

 from ferocious wolves; and, when in the last extremity of hunger, it is said they will eat moss, wood, 

 clay, and other unnatural food. 



A servant, driving his master in his sledge, not far from St. Petersburg!], discovered that they 

 were pursued by eleven wolves. Only about two miles from home, he urged his horse onwards at the- 

 very top of his speed. A gate at the entrance happened to be closed at the time, but the horse da.-hed 

 this open, and all found refuge in the court-yard. They were followed, however, by nine out of tin- 

 eleven wolves, but, at the instant they entered, the gate swung back on its hinges, and thus they wen- 

 caught as in a trap. Finding escape impossible, their ferocity suddenly disappeared ; so far, indeed, 

 from offering to molest any one, they slunk into holes and corners, and were slaughtered, scarcely 

 making any resistance. Many dreadful tales are recorded, in which men, women, and children have 

 become their prey. 



Wolves are destroyed in a variety of ways in Sweden, such as traps, pit-falls, and jwisons ; great 

 numbers are also killed in skalls,* which, in summer, are conducted much in the same manner as th.-e 

 for bears. Captain Eurenius was present, at one that took place near to Wem-rshorg. in which ab..ut 

 1./50II people were engaged. It lasted two days; thirty-six wolves were killed, and numU-rs rnora 

 were driven into their fastnesses among the rocks, where, being blocked up with stones, (hey must 

 arily have perished from hunger. 



At a later period, the wolves committed very great ravages in tl>e more southern parts of the 

 province of Wermeland. A skall in consequence took place, in which nearly L'.oon people mm 

 engaged. It was judiciously planned; for the people, forming a vast semicircle, "drove," sa v s Mr. 

 Lloyd, "the country before them to a peninsula stretching into the Wen. .>.." As a number of 



Sec vol. i., page :i.".l. 



