'lue nog Tribe. 103 



adversary. If one animal is killed, another at once 

 takes its place, and before very long the issue of the 

 struggle is decided. 



When the victim is once slain, the wolves seem to 

 lose all control over themselves, fighting fiercely for 

 every morsel of the coveted flesh, and attacking each 

 other with the most ungovernable fury. If one should 

 be overcome, he is instantly devoured by the survivors, 

 and it is even reported that any animal who is unfor- 

 tunate enough to dabble himself with the blood of the 

 victim is certain to share the same fate. A weak and 

 sickly wolf, also, is sure to fall a prey to the ravenous 

 hunger of its comrades. 



The wolf is not very particular as to the nature of 

 his prey, animals of all kinds, even to frogs, toads, 

 and insects, supplying him with food. 



It seems strange that so bold an animal as is the 

 wolf as a general rule, should at other times 

 exhibit the most utter cowardice. If a wolf is caught 

 in a trap, for instance, its courage seems at once to 

 leave it, and it cowers down in a corner of its 

 prison, and allows itself to be slaughtered without 

 offering the slightest resistance. 



As is the case with the lion, too, its suspicious nature 

 sometimes offers a chance of escape to its intended 

 victims. Travellers, when chased by wolves, have more 

 than once escaped by trailing a piece of rope, or some 

 other object from the carriage, and changing it for 

 another as soon as the wolves began to lose their 

 suspicions. 



The hunters also take advantage of this excessive 

 caution, and protect their slaughtered game from the 

 wolf as they do from the lion viz., by planting a stick 

 by the side of the carcase, and attaching to it a streamer 

 of white cloth, which flutters in the wind, and deters 

 the fierce animals from approaching. 



