who was concealed on the borders of the lake, 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,' with its tongue lolling out of its mouth, gradually came up. After each hasty look, the poor deer redoubled its efforts to escape; but, either exhausted by fatigue, or enervated by fear, it became, just before it was overtaken, scarcely able to keep its feet."* A wolf seldom fails to attack, and can easily run down a fox, if it perceives it at any considerable distance from its cover, and it bears it off in its mouth without any apparent diminution of its speed, if it be at that time perceived and pursued by the hunters. Though cruel and bloodthirsty, and even at times bold in search of food when severely pressed by famine, the wolf is on the whole a timid and fearful animal. A handkerchief tied to a tree, or a distended bladder dangling in the air, is sufficient to keep a whole herd at a respectful distance. However, during Dr Richardson's residence at Cumberland House in 1820, a wolf which had been for some time prowling about the fort, and was supposed to have been driven off by a wound of a musket-ball, returned after nightfall and carried off a dog from among about fifty of his companions, all of whom howled most lamentably, but wanted courage to rescue their unfortunate comrade. In the northern countries of America many wolves suffer dreadfully from famine, and not unfrequently perish of hunger during severe seasons.

The individual here figured from the fine specimen in the Edinburgh Museum, was found lying dead on the snow near Fort Franklin. It had been observed prowling about the Indian huts in the vicinity of the fort a few days preceding; and its extreme emaciation and the emptiness of its interior showed clearly that it had died from hunger. Captain Lyon describes the wolves of Melville Peninsula as comparatively fearless. One afternoon a fine dog strayed a short way ahead of its master, when five wolves made a sudden and unexpected rush, and devoured it in so incredibly short a time, that before

* Fauna Boreali-Americana, vol. i. p. 63.

Mr Elder, who witnessed the attack, could reach the scene of action, the dog had disappeared, with the exception of the lower part of a leg. They frequently came alongside the frost-bound ship, and one night broke into a snow-hut, and carried away a brace of Esquimaux dogs, which appeared to have made considerable resistance, as the ceiling was sprinkled with blood and hair. The alarm was not given till the mortal strife had terminated, and when they were fired at, one of the wolves was observed to take up a dead dog in his mouth, and to set off with it at an easy canter, although its weight was supposed to be equal to his own.*

The dusky wolf described in Godman's Natural History is regarded as a distinct species by Mr Say ;t and the black variety is also considered by some authors as entitled to specific separation. The not unfrequent occurrence of black individuals in the litter of the gray and brown wolves, seems, however, rather to point out the probability of this difference of colour being merely an accidental variation.

But the prairie wolf (Canis latrans) is undoubtedly a distinct and well-defined species. It hunts in packs, and is an animal of great swiftness. It occurs on both sides of the Rocky Mountains; but is less numerous on the banks of the Columbia than in the plains of the Missouri and Saskatchawan. When the hunters on the banks of the latter river discharge their muskets at any kind of game, great numbers of the prairie wolf are sometimes seen to start from holes in the earth, and keep a look-out with a view to secure the offals of the slaughtered animal. With the exception of the prong-horned antelope there is probably no swifter quadruped in America than the prairie wolf.

These fierce and unreclaimed animals conduct us naturally to the domesticated tribes of the canine race, of which there are several remarkable varieties in the northern regions of America. We can here afford space only for a few lines regarding the Hare Indian, or Mackenzie River dog (Canis familiaris, var. lagopus). The front figure of the annexed cut represents his external aspect. This domestic variety, as far as Dr Richardson could

* Lyon's Private Journal.

+ Long's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains.

learn, appeared to be cultivated only by the Hare Indians, and other tribes frequenting the borders of the Great Slave Lake, and the banks of the Mackenzie. It is too small and slight to serve as a beast of draught or other burden, and is consequently used solely in the chase. It is an animal of a playful and affectionate disposition, easily conciliated by kindness. It has a mild countenance, a demure expression, a small head, slender muzzle, erect ears, and eyes somewhat oblique. Its legs are rather slender, the feet broad and hairy, the tail bushy, and for the most part curled over the right hip. It may be characterized as bearing the same near relation to the prairie wolf as the Esquimaux dog does to the great gray wolf of America. Indeed the whole of the canine republic in these parts of America are of very wolfish habits. For example, the larger dogs which our expedition purchased at Fort Franklin for the purposes of draught, were in the habit of pursuing the Hare Indian dogs in order to devour them; but the latter fortunately far outstripped the others in speed. A young puppy, which Dr Richardson purchased from the Hare Indians, became greatly attached to him, and when about seven months old, ran on the snow, by the side of his sledge, for 900 miles, without suffering from fatigue. "During this march it frequently, of its own accord, carried a small twig or one of my mittens for a mile or two; but although very gentle in manners, it showed little aptitude in learning any of the arts which the Newfoundland dogs so speedily acquire of fetching and carrying when ordered. This dog was killed and eaten by an Indian on the Saskatchawan, who pretended that he mistook it for a fox."

The flesh of dogs is much esteemed by the Canadian voyagers, and by several of the Indian tribes. The Chipewyans, however, who deem themselves descended from a dog, hold the practice of using it as an article of food in great abhorrence.

There are many species of fox in North America. The American red fox (Canis fulvus) inhabits the woody districts of the fur-countries, and from thence about 8000 of the skins are annually imported into England. Pennant, and many other authors of last century, regarded the species as identical with the common European kind; from which, however, it was shown by M. Palisot de Beauvois