184 The RrUuleer. 



A Level of deer thus surrounded by the wolves, who were too 

 great cowards to rush, in upon their prey, Avould be startled every 

 now and then by the long-drawn unearthly howl of the hungry 

 brutes : sometimes a frightened deer, horror-stricken at the 

 abominable chaunt, dashes madly away from the herd, — away all, 

 or a portion of the wolfish fraternity go after it. In many cases, 

 the scene may be briefly summed up with the old three-volume 

 denouement of — a rush — a shriek — a cruncliing of bones, and 

 snarling of beasts of prey — and all is over ! for the wonderful pow- 

 ers of swallow and horrid voracity of an arctic wolf must be seen 

 to be understood ; no writer would peril his reputation for veracity 

 by repeating Avhat has been seen on that head. But sometimes 

 the frightened deer gains the o]3en country, and goes wonderful 

 distances dogged by the persevering wolf, who assuredly has it, 

 unless another herd is met which admits the hunted deer into its 

 ranks. 



Occasionally, whilst a herd of deer are grazing, one of them 

 may happen to hit upon a spot where the food is plentiful ; it na- 

 turally lingers there, whilst the herd is moving slowly on against 

 the wind. The wolves immediately mark the straggler, and 

 stealthily crawl on, their object being to cut him off from the 

 herd : that effected, there is a howl and rush, which if the deer do 

 not evade by extraordinary exertions, his fate is instantly sealed. 



All through the winter these scenes go on, scent serving the 

 creatures when sight is useless ; and many a sportsman, in the 

 December darkness of the Bay of God's Mercy, has often wished 

 his olfactory nerves were as sensitive as those of the wolf, for 

 although he could hear the deer, it was then impossible to see 

 them, unless they moved over the daik yet snowy landscape ; and 

 many a bad shot was made by a hungry man at a large pair of 

 sorrowful eyes which loomed out of the mist around, because he 

 did not know whether the deer was two or twenty yards from 

 him. 



During the depth of the severe winter of 1852-53, the deer ap- 

 proached close to the '• Investigator :" of course in doing so they 

 quitted the land. Whether this was done with a view of seeking 

 the warmth which instinct, if not scent, told them was being given 

 out by the ships, which were like perfect volcanoes of heat, com- 

 pared to the bitter temperature everywhere prevailing — 95 '' below 

 the freezing point of water — or whether it was for security against 

 the wolves, it is difficult to say, but most probably from the former 



