222 GENERAL CHARACTER. 
the legs and ham-strings till they disable him, 
and then he is killed by the gang. Be this 
as it may, certain it is that they overcome 
many of the largest buffaloes, employing per- 
haps different means of subduing them, and 
among these is doubtless the Jast mentioned , 
for I have myself seen them with the muscles 
of the thighs cruelly mangled—a consequence 
no doubt of some of these attacks. Calves 
are constantly falling victims to the rapacity 
ese wolves; yet, when herds of buffalo 
are together, they defend their offspring with 
great bravery. 
Though the color of this wolf is generally a 
dirty gray, they are sometimes met with nearly 
white. J am of opinion, however, that the 
diversity of color originates chiefly from the 
different ages of the hair, and partially from 
the age of the animal itself. The few white 
wolves I have seen, have been lean, long- 
haired, and apparently very old. There are 
immense numbers of them upon the Prairies. 
Droves are frequently to be seen following in 
the wake of caravans, hunting companies, 
and itinerant Indian bands, for weeks together 
—not, like the jackal, so much to disinter the 
dead (though this they sometimes do), as to 
ast upon the abandoned carcasses of the 
buffalo which are so often wantonly killed 
and wasted. Unless in these cases, they are 
rarely seen, except in the neighborhood of 
buffalo ; therefo: n 
