WOLVERINE. 
419 
wonderful sagacity, strength, and acute scent, make 
ample amends for this defect. They burrow in the 
ground ; and are said to be very fierce and savage, 
so much so as even to be a terror to the wolves and 
bears. They are also possessed of great courage 
and resolution. One of them has been known to 
seize on a deer that an Indian had killed ; and 
though the Indian advanced w ithin twenty yards, 
he still refused to abandon his capture, and even 
suffered himself to be shot on the fallen animah 
They have also been frequently seen to take a deer 
from a wolf, before the latter had time to begin his 
repast after killing it. Indeed their amazing 
strength, and the length and sharpness of their 
claws, render them capable of making a strong 
resistance against every other animal of their own 
country. 
As a proof of their surprising strength, there 
was one at Churchill, on Hudson’s Bay, some years 
since, that overset the greatest part of a pile of 
wood which measured upwards of seventy yards 
round, and contained a whole winter’s firing, to 
get at some provisions that had been hidden there 
by the company’s servants when going to the fac- 
tory to spend the Christmas holidays. This animal 
had for many weeks been lurking about the neigh- 
bourhood of their tent ; and had committed many 
depredations on the game caught in their traps and 
snares, as well as eaten many of the foxes that were 
killed by guns set for the purpose ; but he was too 
cunning to take either trap or gun himself. The 
people thought they had adopted the most effectual 
method to secure their provisions, by tying them 
up in bundles, and placing them on the top of the 
wood pile. They could not suppose the wolverine 
would even have found out where they were ; 
and much less that he could get at them if he did 
discover thpm. To their astonishment, however. 
