AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 
67 
thus, this Wolf having had a hearty repast, the third 
night, his pursuers knew it would be fruitless to give him 
further chase, and therefore gave it up. 
It was not long, however, before this depredator paid us 
a visit, and destroyed, as beforementioned, seven sheep 
for the farmer that had requested us to join in the pursuit 
of him. 
We had never heard of a Wolf being run down with fatigue 
and starvation, but our acquaintance with the animal con- 
vinced us of the practicability of the thing, and knowing 
this was the only probable chance we had to exterminate 
him, we agreed to follow him until this was the case, or 
an opportunity offered during the chase of shooting him 
with our rifles. 
When the request was made to me by our neighbour, 
Capt. W who was standing near, asked me what I 
thought of it? I replied, “he must die, or our word will 
be forfeited. ” “^Vell,” says he, “let us fly to arms, but 
then, again, let us be satisfied that it is the ‘ three-legged 
Wolf.’ ” We went to the place where he had destroyed the 
sheep, and found to our satisfaction, that it was the old 
depredator we had heard so much about. We, without 
delay, prepared ourselves for the chase; our dress consisted 
of a complete suit of flannel, next to the skin, and over 
this another suit of strong linen or tow cloth (pantaloons 
and frock) to fit tight, and on our feet moccasins: this was 
our usual hunting dress, and required to be very strong, in 
consequence of briars, laurel, under-brush, and snags; in 
our frocks we had pockets sufficiently large to carry pro- 
vision for the day; thus equipped, with rifles in our hands, 
and dogs that would seize any wild animal, but a Wolf, we 
started. It was nine o’clock in the morning — there were 
fifteen ready to join us, and the ground was covered with 
a fine tracking snow,. about eight inches deep. Some of 
the company were considered very fast runners, and those 
who are acquainted with the^Catskill and Delaware moun- 
tains, are sensible that a horse cannot travel over them, 
and that every thing of the kind must be done on foot. 
We took the track, and followed it about three miles to 
the foot of a mountain; and our rule, on these occasions, 
was to keep a fast walk on the track until the animal jumped 
from his bed, and then the fleetest man was to go ahead at 
full speed. 
We found the Wolf had gone up this mountain, which 
was about three miles to the summit, and very steep in 
places, but about two-thirds of the way up, we aroused him 
from his bed, this we could tell by the snow that he had 
beaten down to repose on. We ascended the mountain as 
fast as we could, and, on arriving at the top, discovered 
that he had steered his course towards the Susquehannah. 
I then started off at full speed, and continued so for about 
two miles, when I looked behind to see what progress my 
companions were making. W — was close to me, but the 
others were just in sight — says he, “ go on, H — if he 
keeps this course, about five miles ahead he will cross a 
large field, and if we run faster than he has previously 
been chased, we may surprise, and get a shot at him.” I 
immediately recollected the field, and coincided with his 
reasoning. About one mile behind this field, we feared 
he would cross the Cooquago Creek, ascend a mountain, 
and enter a large windfall,* that was on the top of the 
mountain, as it is the case with most wild animals, when 
hard pressed, they will avail themselves of these difficult 
places to escape, and bears, wolves, or panthers, will glide 
through them with ease, when it is almost impossible for 
man. I therefore exerted myself to the uttermost, and, 
although the ground was covered with hemlock logs, &c. 
I did not heed them, but sprang over them with ease, I 
ran these five miles in a very short period, and as I ap- 
proached the field, I saw the Wolf about three hundred 
and fifty yards ahead, and finding that I could get no nigher 
to him, I levelled my rifle and fired, I saw the snow fly 
close to his side, but he went off unhurt. My rifle would 
drop her ball, in that distance, nearly three feet, conse- 
quently, I had to guess the proper range. In a moment, 
Capt. W — was by my side, and asked what I had done? I 
told him that I had not struck him. We continued our 
chase, and I loaded as I ran, and only stopped to put down 
the ball. 
It appears that this Wolf knew, by experience, (having 
been so often chased) how far exactly to keep ahead of his 
pursuers; but it was evident in these five miles we gained 
on and surprised him, for he was not fully aware of our 
nearing him until my rifle ball struck within a foot of his 
side; this put him to a greater speed, and I did not recover 
my lost ground until I had run ten miles, so equal did we 
run, and part of the distance was run through the windfall 
spoken of. He kept his course to within a few miles of 
the Susquehannah river, and then turned towards the west 
Branch of the Delaware, and ascended a mountain which 
was covered with hemlock and laurel. The last four hours 
we run him so hard, that he would lie down every oppor- 
tunity he could get, and this laurel hill afforded him means 
of rest, for it was so thick we could hardly creep through 
it. In this place he took several turns to elude our pursuit, 
and one of us went back in order to way -lay him, in hopes 
that he would give an opportunity to shoot him, but the 
thicket being so dense, that we could see but a very short 
distance in it, and the Wolf glided out on the opposite side 
* A windfall is a place in the forest, where a hurricane has passed, and 
swept the trees to the ground, in a large confused mass, and mostly occurs 
on the tops of mountains, and in the most dense thickets. 
