meant mischief, but, scared by the click of the rifle, he
turned and made his escape, though a bullet whistled after him; at the
close of the hunt seven were found slain, and so large were they that
this gentleman, though of uncommon strength, could not lift one entirely
from the ground.

The wolf of America is at times remarkable for cowardice, though bold
enough when pressed by hunger, or with other wolves. Mr. R. C. Taylor,
of Philadelphia, states that this animal, when trapped, is silent,
subdued, and unresisting. He was present when a fine young wolf, about
fifteen months old, was taken by surprise, and suddenly attacked with a
club. The animal offered no resistance, but, crouching down in the
supplicating manner of a dog, suffered himself to be knocked on the
head. An old hunter told Mr. Taylor that he had frequently taken a wolf
out of the trap, and compelled it by a few blows to lie down by his
side, while he reset his trap.

The Esquimaux wolf-trap is made of strong slabs of ice, long and so
narrow, that a fox can with difficulty turn himself in it, and a wolf
must actually remain in the position in which he is taken. The door is a
heavy portcullis of ice, sliding in two well-secured grooves of the same
substance, and is kept up by a line which, passing over the top of the
trap, is carried through a hole at the farthest extremity. To the end of
the line is fastened a small hoop of whale-bone, and to this any kind of
flesh bait is attached. From the slab which terminates the trap, a
projection of ice, or a peg of bone or wood, points inward near the
bottom, and under this the hoop is slightly hooked; the slightest pull
at the bait liberates it, the door falls in an instant, and the wolf is
speared where he lies.

Sir John Richardson states that, when near the Copper Mines River in
North America, he had more than once an opportunity of seeing a single
wolf in pursuit of a reindeer, and especially on Point Lake, when
covered with ice, when a fine buck reindeer was overtaken by a large
white wolf, and disabled by a bite in the flank. An Indian, who was
concealed, ran in and cut the deer's throat with his knife, the wolf at
once relinquishing his prey and sneaking off. In the chase the poor deer
urged its flight by great bounds, which for a time exceeded the speed of
the wolf; but it stopped so frequently to gaze on its relentless enemy,
that the latter, toiling on at a long gallop (so admirably described by
Byro