WOLF DOGS. 



23 



The journey generally takes them a fortnight, 

 or sometimes more, before they return to the 

 settlement with provisions ; and this rambling 

 and uncertain mode of obtaining subsistence 

 in their necessity, (the locusts having then 

 destroyed their crops,) has given the settlers a 

 fondness for tripping, to the neglect of im- 

 proving their dwellings and their farms. The 

 dogs used on these occasions, and for travel- 

 ling in carioles over the snow, strongly 

 resemble the wolf in size, and frequently in 

 colour. They have pointed noses, small sharp 

 ears, long bushy tails, and a savage aspect. 

 They never bark, but set up a fierce growl, 

 and when numerous about a Fort, their howl- 

 ing is truly melancholy. A doubt can no 

 longer exist, that the dogs brought to the 

 interior of these wilds by Europeans, engen- 

 dered with the wolf, and produced these dogs 

 in common use. They have no attachment, 

 and destroy all domestic animals. They are 

 lashed to a sledge, and are often brutally 

 driven to travel thirty or forty miles a day, 

 dragging after them a load of three and four 

 hundred pounds weight. When fat, they are 

 eaten by the Canadians as a great delicacy; 

 and are generally presented by the Indians at 

 their feasts. 



