esumes his nature, becomes ferocious, and
sooner or later, should the occasion present itself, will return to his
native woods;--for as water always flows towards the river, so the wolf
always returns to his kind.

In the summer, the wolves, like the gypsies, have no fixed residence;
they may then be met with in the standing barley or oats, the vineyards
and fields; they sleep in the open country, and seldom seek the friendly
shelter of the forest, except during the most scorching hours of the
day. Towards the end of August I have often met them in the vineyards,
apparently half drunk, scarcely able to walk, in short, quite unsteady
on their legs, almost ploughing the ground up with their noses, and
staring stupidly about them. Every well-kept vineyard ought to be as
free from stones as possible, and therefore the peasants, when they
weed, dig a trench about the vines, or prune them, always remove at the
same time whatever stones or flints they may meet with; these are piled
at the end of the vineyard in a heap of about twenty feet square and six
feet high, called a _meurger_.

On these _meurgers_ the breezes of summer waft every description of
seed, and they are consequently soon covered with verdure, shrubs,
brambles, and wild roses, which from a distance give them the appearance
of a small copse or thicket. These elevated and shady spots are the
favourite retreats of game in the middle of the day; here they love to
repose and take their _siesta_ in the cool--here the red partridges meet
to have a gossip--hither the young rabbits scuttle to recover their
various alarms, and the trembling hare also squats and conceals herself
the moment a dog or a gun appears in the adjoining vineyard. Of course
these green mounds have a corresponding value in the eyes of the
sportsmen, who always find in them something to put up.

Often, therefore, walking gently on the soft ground, have I stolen to
one of these _meurgers_, and throwing in a stone, generally turned out
some partridges and rabbits that were there quietly ensconced; I have
also, and greatly to my surprise, heard there the growl of a wolf,
which, rising lazily amongst the bushes, stumbled and fell, and was
evidently incapable of getting further. A salute from both barrels, with
small shot, scarcely tickled his skin; but it brought him once more on
his legs, though only to fall again,--when, having reloaded, I advanced
on him and administered a double dose in his ear, w