38 
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. 
not be made to stand on his feet^ but when pulled out of 
the corners, would lie down^ shrinking together as much as 
possible. The woman^ a stout Irish girl, made no scruple 
of going up to him and handling him, which he did not 
attempt to resent ; but when his chain was slackened, gladly- 
rushed back to his odoriferous closet. His tail was bushy, 
much like a fox s ; his nose very sharp ; and his ears short, 
erect, pointed, and black : the general colour and appearance 
were similar to those of Sleeper's. 
C. — Does the wolf attain to a great age ? 
F. — We have very limited means of arriving at any 
satisfactory conclusion respecting the period of life of wild 
animals, especially the Carnivora. As they live by violence 
and rapine, and as the supply of their wants necessarily be- 
comes more and more precarious as the vigour of youth de- 
parts, it is probable they do not often nearly complete the 
period of life allotted to their respective species. Some in- 
stances, however, no doubt occur, in which the animal attains 
the utmost verge of existence. A few years ago, some men 
were going up Lee's Pond, a lake about six miles long, near 
Stanstead, which was frozen at the time, when they saw 
before them a party of wolves crossing the pond. One in 
the centre appeared sick, and was surrounded by the rest in 
the manner of a body-guard. One of the men, who had a gun, 
pursued them, when some of the wolves took to flight, leav- 
ing others with the supposed sick one, which, however, 
dropped off one by one as the pursuit grew hotter, leaving at 
last only two with it; the man then fired at one of these 
two, but without killing it, and they both then fled. On 
coming up to the remaining one, they found it was an old 
she-wolf, completely blind, as was supposed from age alone, 
as her teeth were almost worn down. After her last attend- 
ants had left her, she attempted to continue her course, but 
in a very uncertain manner, sometimes turning on her steps. 
