0(3 DIVISION I. VEKTEBIiAL AXIMALS. — CLASS 1. JIAMMALIA. 



TiiEiu Audacity and Cowardick. — These animals oxliibit a stranTc 



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admixture of these oppot^ite qualities, and in this is seen their vast inferiority 

 to the true dogs. In the face of success, or driven by hunger, they seem en- 

 dowed with all the lioldness of the lion : but, defeated in their purjioses, or 

 captured, tiiey exhibit all the trepidation of the hare, and appear to be par- 

 alyzed with fear. An instance of their atidaeity is recorded by a Frcncli 

 writer. In the eonimeneement of the reign of Louis XI\'. of France, in 

 the dcj)th of winter, a Jiarty of dragoons was attacked, at tiic ioot of the 

 mountains of Jurat, by a multitude of wohes. The dragoons fought their 

 sa\age assailants bravely, and killed many hundreds of tlieni ; but at last, 

 overpowered liy numbers, tiiey and their iiorscs were all devoured. A cross 

 is erected on the place wliero this extraordinary battle took place, with an 

 insei'i|ition in conmiemoration of it, which continues standing to this day. 



The following is still more remarkable. iSome time during the winter of 

 I'Slid-T a pack of wol\ es actually attacked a railway train in the south of 

 France ! It was loaded with freight, some of the cars containing sheep and 

 cattle of various kinds, the scent of which attracted the wolves. The train 

 was moving slowlv on account of tiic snow, and finally stopped entirely. 

 The men defended themselves with axes, and whatever weapons they could 

 command, and killed se\eral of tiic animals ; but the marauders, neverthe- 

 less, obtained some liooty. and kept the train in a state of siege till the 

 dawn, when, with a terrific, howl, they rushed into the forest. 



During winter, when food is scarce, wolves often suffer tiie extremes of 

 famine. Foiled in catching their prey, tlicy are reduced to peel olFtlie liark 

 of some trees, and e\en to load their stomachs with clay. It is then they 

 will rush upon danger. The French newspapers of January, 1838, con- 

 tained an account (jf an old wolf attacking a group of seventeen persons, 

 wounding and disalding several, till he was struck dead with an axe. It is- 

 at that period they assemble in troops of from ten to twenty-fi\'e, and Ijoldly 

 enter the streets of hamlets to attack the dogs that may I)e out of doors ; 

 ;ind if one of tlieir own troop be wounded severely, tlie others immediately 

 devour him. At the close of tiic appalling famine which desolated India, 

 now more than a quarter of a century ago, the wolves, always numerous 

 and but little molested, had become so daring, that-in open day they prowled 

 throngii the villages, and became exclusively fond of luunan flesh. It was 

 necessary to hunt them down, and to take tlicm in traps and pitfalls. jNIany 

 contri\anees fn* this purpose exist in India, and a vast number were taken. 

 It had often Iiecn oliser^ed in Europe that wolves, when t;iken in a trap, 

 lost all their courage ; and the same fact was likewise established in India, 

 where single men went down into pitfalls and bound several of them with- 

 out the least resistance. After a foray these animals separate again, accord- 



