THE WOLF OF MUSKOKA 153 



was easy to' follow them step by step. Standing 

 with a feeling of sickening dread," he added, 

 " my attention was drawn to a frightful moan. 



u I followed the sound, and at length dis- 

 covered a huge giant wolf lying upon his back 

 with so many gashes and wounds that it was an 

 amazement to me that he could have dragged 

 his suffering body so far. Needless to say, I 

 speedily despatched him, and, even when life had 

 become extinct, I still continued to belabour him 

 with blows as a revengeful relief to the memory 

 of my dead countrymen. His skin was utterly 

 useless when my arm could strike no more, so 

 I left him there to rot, or feed the carrion 

 birds." 



To corroborate the above statement, Thomas 

 McMurray writes : 



" In the early history of this region the first 

 settlers certainly had a hard time of it, and we 

 have heard many harrowing stories of the rigours 

 of residence in Muskoka, and of the hardships 

 of isolation bravely endured by the early pioneers, 

 which for a time greatly deterred immigration. 

 But though long the abode of solitude, save for 

 the few hardy pioneers, and the many bears and 

 wolves which used to infest the region, the 



