AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 
33 
so obliging as to explain the nature and purport of every 
thing. 
On this occasion, I was in company with Count Charles 
Frederic Piper, a Swedish nobleman of high rank. The 
Count held the appointment of Forste Hofjagmastare, 
which may be rendered in French, (for in English I know 
of no equivalent,) Grand* Veneur de la cour. As this is 
the second office in the gift of the Swedish Crown, in re- 
gard to the forests, I was of course at head quarters for 
sporting information. To this accomplished nobleman I 
am under the greatest obligations, as well for his attentions 
whilst I remained at Stockholm, as at an after period, 
when I partook of the hospitalities of his princely resi- 
dence at Lofstad. 
At this time, the ground was covered with snow to the 
depth of six or eight inches: there were then, as we saw 
by their tracks, one, if not two Wolves feeding upon the 
carrion. As there were more of those animals, however, 
known to be in the vicinity, which, it was daily expected, 
might follow the example of their comrades, — and as it 
was contrary to rule to call out the people, unless a greater 
number were within the skall-plats, Mr. Arenius did not 
feel himself justified in taking this step, which he much 
regretted as he was very anxious to gratify my curiosity, 
in witnessing the destruction of some of these pernicious 
beasts. Though no chasse took place whilst I remained 
in the capital, in the commencement of the following 
April, five wolves were one day slaughtered in this very 
skall-plats. 
Very considerable numbers of those animals are some- 
times killed in the winter-skalls: I have heard of as many 
as fifteen being shot in a day. On these occasions, wolves 
never, I believe, turn upon their assailants; but, when 
they find escape impossible, they generally skulk, and en- 
deavour to hide themselves. Mr. GreifF says, they do not 
attempt to leap over the nets, but always endeavour to 
creep under them. 
No one is allowed to use balls at a Wolf-skall, for fear 
of accidents; these animals are therefore destroyed with 
large shot. 
Anecdotes of Wolves. — As usually happens when 
the weather is severe, the Wolves now became rather trou- 
blesome. Indeed, I heard of their committing many de- 
predations in different parts of the surrounding country: 
for this reason, I went on one or two little expeditions, un- 
der the idea that I might be enabled to destroy some of 
those voracious animals. 
Wolves are very partial to a pig. My plan of proceed- 
ing, therefore, was this: I caused one of these animals, of 
a small size, to be sewed up in a sack, with the exception 
of his snout; and I then placed him in my sledge. To the 
I 
back of this vehicle I fastened a rope of about fifty feet in 
length, to the extreme end of which was attached a small 
bundle of straw, covered with a black sheepskin ; this, 
when the sledge was in motion, dangled about in such a 
manner as to be a good representation of the pig. Thus 
prepared, I drove in the night time through such districts 
as were known to be frequented by Wolves. To attract 
these animals towards us we kept occasionally pinching 
the poor pig, who, not liking this treatment, made the 
forest ring again with his squeaks. 
This plan of shooting Wolves with the assistance of a 
pig is not very unfrequently resorted to in Scandinavia, 
when the weather is severe. If those dangerous animals 
happen to hear the cries of the pig, it is said they almost 
always approach immediately near to the sledge, when it 
is not, of course, difficult to kill them. 
All my expeditions, however, proved unsuccessful ; for, 
owing to the wandering habits of the Wolves, I was never 
able to fall in with them. On some of these occasions I 
have suffered a good deal from cold; as, from the necessity 
that existed of being always ready for action, it did not 
answer to be hampered with too much clothing. My poor 
pig, I remember, had once his ears so hard frozen, that 
they might have almost been broken off in the same man- 
ner as so much glass. 
About a week prior to this time, a peasant on his return 
home from Amal, one evening tied his horse up to his 
door, whilst he carried the harness within the house. At 
this moment, a number of Wolves made their appearance, 
when the frightened animal broke his bridle, and ran off at 
the top of his speed. The Wolves, however, gave chase 
to the horse, and soon succeeded in coming up with him in 
the forest, when they quickly destroyed him. 
During my excursion, I visited the spot where the poor 
animal met his doom, but, with the exception of a bone or 
two that were strewed about, not a vestige of the carcase 
was to be seen; the Wolves having, by this time, devoured 
the whole of it. There was some blood on the snow, 
which was trodden down in the vicinity, in the same man- 
ner as if it had been gone over by a flock of sheep. 
Though I was generally quite alone, with the exception 
of my driver, during these expeditions, I do not apprehend 
I ran much personal risk; the greatest danger was from 
the horse proving unsteady, in the event of the Wolves 
making their appearance. In that case, the sledge would 
not improbably have been overturned, when I, in conse- 
quence, might have been left to my fate. From the 
Wolves themselves, under other circumstances, I enter- 
tained little apprehension, as I was usually armed with a 
good cutlass, and more than one gun. 
It is said, that people have incurred some jeopardy when 
