THE PRAIRIE WOLF. 



73 



sources of the Saskatchewan and the Missouri. They burrow like foxes, and come out of their holes, 

 assembling round the hunter, on the first report of a gun, with evident hopes of sharing in the spoils 

 of his sport. They are exceedingly swift of foot, assemble in great numbers, hunt in large packs, 

 ami have a barking voice. 



Jn a specimen seen by Colonel Hamilton Smith, the form of the head, the muzzle, nose, and 



position of the eyes, greatly resembled the northern shepherd's dog ; the fur was entirely of an ashy 

 gray, but there was some white about the breast and on the end of the tail, which was more bushy 

 than in the common wolf. 



Washington Irving visited a large village ot this kind, placed on the level summit ot a low hill, 

 and covering about thirty acres of ground. " The dogs," he says, " were as usual, small, about the size 

 of a rabbit, of a sprightly nature, mercurial, and somewhat petulant. They seem, in fact, continually 



VOL. II. 10 



