ZOOLOGY. 
clxxxv 
occurrence. Mr. Brookes’s specimen agrees very well with the description in 
Pennant's History of Quadrupeds ; but in the plate the face is scarcely suffi- 
ciently sharp, or pointed. 
3. Mustela Erminea. Ermine. 
This species was shot at Possession Bay on the former Expedition, and 
was seen in the present voyage, on the continuation of the same coast, 
further to the southward. It probably does not inhabit the opposite side 
of Davis’ Strait, as it is not noticed among the Greenland quadrupeds by 
Fabricius. 
4. Canis Lupus, Wolf. 
Inhabit the North Georgian Islands, and were seen almost daily during the 
winter, but would not suffer themselves to be approached within gunshot ; 
they were of a very light colour, and of the full size of a setter dog. 
Those naturalists^ who believe that no animal, in a perfectly natural and 
wild state, will connect itself with one of a different species, will consider 
the long-agitated question, of the specific identity of the wolf and dog, as 
determined by a circumstance of frequent occurrence at Melville Island ; in 
December and January, which are the months in which wolves are in season, 
a female paid almost daily visits to the neighbourhood of the ships, and 
remained until she was joined by a setter dog belonging to one of the 
officers ; they were usually together from two to three hours, and as they 
did not go far away unless an endeavour was made to approach them, 
repeated and decided evidence was obtained of the purpose for which they 
were thus associated ; as they became more familiar, the absences of the dog 
were of longer continuance, until at length he did not return, having pro- 
bably fallen a sacrifice in an encounter with a male wolf ; the female, 
however, continued fo visit the ships as before, and enticed a second dog in 
the same manner, which, after several meetings, returned so severely bitten, 
as to be disabled for many days. 
It is believed, that this is the first authenticated instance of an undomes- 
