THE HUDSON'S BAY WOLVES. 



THE HUDSON'S BAY WOLVES, 



OR 



THE CLOUDED BLACK WOLVES, 



IN THE MENAGERY OF THE TOWER, AND INTRODUCED INTO THIS COUNTRY 



BY CAPTAIN PARRY. 



In the desert and inhospitable regions of the Polar Circle, where the foot of the hunter alone is heard, 

 and nature appears in all the solemn grandeur of everlasting sterility, the howl of the Clouded Wolf 

 reverberates amongst the rocks, startling the timid deer from its mossy lair to fall an easy victim to its 

 ferocious appetite. 



The human mind turns away with loathing and disgust from the contemplation of the natural cha- 

 racter of the wolf, than which a creature more brutal in its manners is scarcely to be exhibited in the 

 animal world. Its truly savage disposition, its ferocious propensities and insatiable rapacity, joined to 

 its sanguinary habits, have always rendered it an object of dread and hatred wherever it has domesti- 

 cated itself. The flesh of the Wolf is not eaten by any living creature whatever, which is a characteristic 

 peculiar to that animal, and its breath is so offensive, owing to the corrupted matter on which it indis- 

 criminately feeds, that it is called, in some parts of France, la bete puante. The races of wolves, which 

 are dispersed over the earth, from the common wolf to those which are now the immediate object of 

 our discussion, are exceedingly various and dissimilar; but, in establishing the distinct species of wolves, 

 some very great and almost insuperable difficulties present themselves. The anatomical structure of 

 almost all of them presents not those distinguishing marks from which the existence of a distinct species 

 can be deduced ; and in their general form, the only test of comparison is in a greater or less corporeal 

 magnitude, which may arise from causes which have no immediate reference to the establishment of a 

 distinct species, such as climate, abundance of food, and other similar incidental circumstances, which 

 might have a direct tendency to promote the developement of the physical power of the animal. In 

 the external appearance of the race of wolves, a manifest diversity is exhibited, although the shades of 

 character, by which the difference can be established, are so slight as to throw considerable obstacles 

 in the way of the zoologist in his endeavours to class them under their respective species. 



As, however, we shall have occasion to enter more diffusely into the natural history of the Wolf, 

 when treating of it under its respective head, we shall now proceed to the description of the animals 

 which form the subject of our engraving. 



The Hudson's Bay or Clouded Wolves may be considered as a distinct species, and we are indebted 

 to the enterprising Captain Parry for their introduction into this country. They were presented by 

 that celebrated navigator to Mr. Cops of the Tower Menagery, in whose possession they now re- 

 main ; the statement, therefore, which has been published, of the animals having been presented by 

 the Hudson's Bay Company, is evidently erroneous. They may be considered as the only individuals 

 of the species which have been brought alive to this country, and in form and muscular power they 

 differ essentially from the common type ; nor in the expression of their countenance do they betray that 

 sanguinary disposition and determined cruelty, which are the decided characteristics of the com- 

 mon wolf. A protracted confinement may, indeed, have softened their natural ferocity; for to those 

 whom they are accustomed to see about them daily, they exhibit all the fawning and friendly disposition 



