WOLF DAYS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 131 



denly he beheld a pack of twenty wolves staring at 

 ■him. He opened his mouth to shout at the inquisitive 

 brutes, but found himself speechless. He complained 

 of hoarseness for several days afterwards. This inci- 

 dent recalls the old French superstition that the sight 

 of a wolf produces dumbness, the saying being when 

 persons suddenly become hoarse that "II a vu le.Ioup." 

 (He has seen the wolf.) 



* * * * 



The early scarcity of wolves in Western Pennsylva- 

 nia is attested to by the statement in the "History of 

 Mercer County" that in 1807 bounties were paid on 

 the scalps of only thirty-one wolves in that county. 



^ ^ ^ ^ 

 Former Governor Pennypacker, in his "History of 

 Phoenixville," published in 1872, stated that the last 

 wolf discovered and killed in the dense woods at Val- 

 ley Forge, Chester County, met its death in 1780. 

 Further on in the book he says : "In March, 1731, 

 Moses Coates purchased 150 acres of land along the 

 Northern Bank of the French Creek, where North 

 Phoenixville now is, and erected a dwelling. At this 

 time the only inhabitants upon the Manavon Tract 

 were himself, Francis Buckwalter, and an Indian 

 named Skye. The wolves were so numerous that the 

 sheepfold for security, was placed against the house, 

 and for many years afterwards, in the Winter morn- 

 ings, the snow would be found beaten down by the 

 struggles of these animals in their efforts to effect an 



