/ ' THE WOLF. 455 



ears erect and conical, as is the case with all true Wolves; 

 pupil of the eye circular; tail straight — the animal does 

 not carry it curled over his back, like a 'dog." 



To this excellent description, I may add that the eye of 

 the American Wolf is of a light greenish color; its expres- 

 sion is. sneaking and sinister, intermingled with an aspect 

 of cunning "similar to, although surpassing in force, the 

 yellow eye of the Fox. As stated above, the tail of the 

 Wolf is bushy; but it is neither so long nor so elegantly 

 rounded and heavy as that of a Fox. 



At one time, the Gray Wolf was found all over the Con- 

 tinent of America, as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. It 

 is still to be met with in considerable numbers on the great 

 plains of the West, on the slopes of the Rocky Mountains, 

 and in more or less abundance, according to location, 

 in all the remote and sparsely settled portions of Canada, 

 Newfoundland, and Cape Breton. In voice, form, generic 

 character, and manner of hunting their prey, all the varie- 

 ties of the large North American Wolves are essentially 

 similar. 



In the early history of Canada and the United States, 

 not less than in the valley pf the Ottawa, Wolves were 

 dangerously abundant. In those old times, in all new set- 

 tlements, sheep — when a farmer was fortunate enough to 

 own any — had to be penned up carefully every night, other- 

 wise wool would certainly be flying before morning. 



It was not alone that in one of those nocturnal raids many 

 sheep were devoured — that was not the worst feature of 

 the transaction. A couple of those blood-thirsty maraud- 

 ers, in one night would kill fifteen or twenty sheep, simply 

 tearing open their throats without otherwise mutilating 

 their carcasses. 



After such a catastrophe, cheap mutton was easily pro- 

 curable; frequently, too, at a season of the year when the 

 old pioneers were obliged to live- without meat of any kind, 

 fresh or salt, for months at a time. For the information 

 of those unacquainted with the hardships and privations of 

 the men who cut down the wilderness and cleared the land, 



