which once touched, the jaws of
the trap close with tremendous force. Each jaw, formed of a circle of
iron, four or five feet in circumference, is furnished along its whole
length with teeth shaped like those of a saw, but less sharp, which shut
one within the other. To these redoubtable engines of destruction is
attached an iron chain, six feet in length, and at the other end of it
is a bar of iron with hooks; these hooks or grapnel, which catch at
everything that comes in their way, impede the escape of the wolf when
once seized, and prevent him from going any great distance from the spot
where he has been caught. The trap should not be tied or fixed in any
way, for then the wolf would probably in his first bound, his first
frantic movement of terror, either break some part of it, or in his
violent endeavours to escape, succeed, only leaving a leg behind him.

In placing the trap and chain, a little earth is taken away, so that
both are on a level with the turf; after which, the jaws being opened,
they are covered with leaves in as natural a manner as possible. Great
care must be taken by the person who sets the trap that he does not
touch it with his naked hand; this should invariably be done with a
glove on, otherwise the wolf--always extremely difficult to catch by
reason of his delicate sense of smell--would be awakened to his danger.
The mode of taking the wolf by means of the _Traquenard_, is as
follows:--A spot having been selected in the depths of the forest, and
in a sombre pathway unfrequented by the beasts of prey, the trap is set
about an hour before the sun goes down, and a dog, young pig, a sheep,
or some other animal which has been dead a few days, is divided into
five parts; one of the portions is suspended to the lower branch of the
tree, under which the trap is set; and the other four, being each
attached to a withe or the band of a faggot,--not rope, for in that the
wolf detects the hand of man, and he hates the smell of the
material,--are drawn by men along the ground in the direction of the
four points of the compass. These men are mounted either on horseback,
or on an ass, or they put on a pair of _sabots_ and walk, each of them
dragging after him, through the wood and along the unfrequented paths,
his portion of the bait, stopping every now and then to let the soil
over which it passes be as much as possible impregnated with the smell
of the flesh on the verge of corruption.

The _traineur_ sho