THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY 
and was off again. In this way he got considerable rest, 
and would gain on us, but when he crossed from one moun- 
tain to another, we always pushed him hard, and would 
gain on him, as the mountain sides were generally more 
open, and even then he would occasionally rest, but would 
always choose some point or hillock, where he, being ele- 
vated, could see us without our seeing him. A Wolf, like 
a dog, always turns round once or twice before he lies 
down, but this fellow had become so fatigued that he would 
just drop himself every now and then, and again be off. 
He next made a bold push in order to reach another wind- 
fall and thicket about ten miles ahead, which, it appeared, 
he was well acquainted with, and which was close to the 
road that run from the town of Bainbridge to Deposit. — 
The sun now was but one hour high, and as he laid his 
course towards that place, through a clear open wood, on 
a regular descent, we pressed him hard for about live miles, 
when we again saw him about four hundred yards from us, 
he saw us at the same time, and then he attempted to turn 
back again, so that he might reach the thicket which he 
had just left. I, however, cut him off, and he, seeing my 
manoeuvre, kept his former course — we began to think that 
he must be our’s very soon, for we gained on him so fast, 
that I concluded it time to give him another ball, but un- 
fortunately he entered a thicket of beech brush of about 
two acres, which completely shielded him from my view. 
On coming up we found he had slipped out on the opposite 
side, and then made off for the beforemention ed windfall. 
It was now getting dark, and we made for the public road, 
which we soon reached, and to our joy heard bells, which 
we at once recognized as coming from a sleigh owned by 
Capt. Edicks; we fired off our rifles, in order that this gen- 
tleman might know our direction. He was one of the 
company who started with us in the morning, but gave out, 
and knowing the direction the Wolf had taken, went home, 
procured his sleigh, and came out very seasonably to meet 
us, as we were then fifteen miles from home. Our dogs 
were of the best kind, and would follow us while they had 
life, but we had outrun them so much, that we had to wait 
a long time before they came up to us. It is remarkable, 
that these dogs would never touch the Wolf, they would 
join in and run with, but never injure him. We arrived at 
home about 9 o’clock, and found that W — and myself had 
been forsaken by all of the hunters, about the time when I 
fired at the Wolf crossing the field; they being so far be- 
hind us as scarcely to hear the rifle, gave up the idea of 
overtaking us, and returned home. By this time the report 
had gone abroad that we were in pursuit of the “ three- 
legged Wolf,” and old and young appeared full of anima- 
tion to join us in the hunt next day. We took great care 
in preparing ourselves for the next day’s chase, in dress, 
victuals, and drink; we ate but lightly, and drank nothing 
but a little wine, and bathed our limbs well with brandy, 
previous to retiring to bed, and thus removed all stiffness 
and bruises which we had received through the day. 
Before the dawn of the next day, a company had assem- 
bled to the number of forty persons, fifteen of whom had 
agreed to enter the chase; the rest took horses and went in 
all directions, with a view to cut the Wolf off. In this 
county there were but few public roads, but a great num- 
ber called log roads, cut through the forest in order to carry 
logs to the river for rafting; into these roads were stationed 
many persons on horseback and in sleighs, while the party 
on chase went immediately to the spot where the Wolf was 
left the night previous. On arriving here, we found that 
he had lied down and remained the greater part of the 
night within four hundred yards of the place where we left 
him, then it appears he walked off about two miles and fell 
in with a herd of Wolves, and kept with them about three 
miles further; then tacked about and steered his course back 
to within two miles of the village (Deposit) from which we 
had just set out, and near to the very place where he had 
killed the seven sheep the night before. It was a remark- 
able circumstance with this Wolf that he was never known 
to associate with other Wolves, and when he committed 
depredations it was always when alone; for Wolves seldom 
ever attack singly, but most generally in pairs, and it never 
could be satisfactorily accounted for why this depredator 
had no companions, unless it was, that it had been by such 
that he was led into a trap, which had cost him his toes, 
and nearly his life; hence the reason of his quitting the 
herd above spoken of. It was now late in the day, and we 
had gone out fifteen miles, and returned thirteen, before we 
jumped him from his bed, and as soon as this was the case, 
the swiftest hunter took the lead, but it was some time be- 
fore we got into regular Indian file, and the woods seemed 
alive with men; but, after running about five miles, the 
fresh hands began to fall back, and by the time we reached 
ten miles, I looked behind, and seen only W — , who was 
within ten steps of me. As this was the first time that we 
had an opportunity of competing with some neighbouring 
crack hunters, and these having relinquished the chase, we 
plainly saw that the destruction of the Wolf depended 
solely on our own exertions; this circumstance, instead of 
discouraging, only animated us to persevere. The Wolf 
next steered his course for the upper part of the county, 
and we pressed him at a rapid pace ; one tried to excel the 
other, and I could generally take the lead of my companion 
in the morning, but his exceeding perseverance and good 
bottom, generally brought him ahead of me before night, 
and as a passing tribute to his prowess, I must say, that I 
never saw his equal, as a huntsman; there was no difficulty 
