464 BIG GAME OF NORTH AMERICA. 



as by that of Maklonata and the Puma. All three of these 

 interesting incidents are highly creditable to the character 

 of the brute creation. It is certain that the ancient Romans, 

 as a race, inherited none of the characteristic cowardice 

 which fine drawn physiological science might trace to the 

 source of their ancestors' early sustenance. Nevertheless, 

 the blood-thirsty and predatory instincts of the Lupine race 

 were amj)ly exemj)lified by the humane and gentle rule of 

 many of the Roman Emperors — notably, Caligula, Nero, 

 Galba, and Yitellius. 



In the history of America, the instances have been rare 

 indeed in which Wolves are authentically reported to have 

 attacked human beings. Emboldened by numbers , and 

 stimulated by hunger, the Wolves of Russia and Siberia 

 have for ages been a standing threat and terror to night 

 travelers in the inhospitable countries mentioned, in the 

 dangerous mountain fastnesses of which they are met with 

 in such multitudes. In a part of the world in which the 

 humanizing influences of a refined civilization for hundreds 

 of years found no resting-place, it was the custom in intes- 

 tine wars to leave the dead and dying on the field of battle — 

 to rot, or be devoured by beasts of prey. Is it any wonder 

 that, under such conditions, like the Bengal Tiger, the 

 Wolves of Russia became man-eaters ? 



In contradistinction to the habits of their European con- 

 geners. North American Wolves, although comparatively 

 bold under the pressure of hunger, dread the presence of 

 man, and flee from him, as do the Deer and the Black Bear. 



I remember a story current in old times, about a gigantic 

 Indian named Clouthier —a rather Gallic designation for a 

 pure Algonquin — who was well known to the late Squire 

 Wright, the founder of the ancient Village of Hull. My 

 story may be quite true in every particular, for the Indian 

 in question was of Herculean proportions and almost 

 superhuman strength. On one of his hunting excursions, 

 Clouthier was attacked and torn to pieces by a large pack 

 of Wolves. It was surmised by those who discovered his 

 remains and fragments of his clothing, that after he had 



