only recently recovered from a scald on the left knee. As the father was reaping, a wolf suddenly rushed upon the boy, caught him up and made off with him toward the ravines. People ran to the aid of the parents, but soon lost sight of the wolf and his prey. About six years afterward, as two sipahees were watching for hogs on the border of the jungle, they saw three wolf-cubs and a boy come out from the jungle and go down to the stream to drink; all four then ran to a den in the ravine. The sipahees followed, but the cubs were already entered, and the boy was half-way in, when one of the men caught him by the leg and drew him back. He was very savage, bit at the men, and seizing the barrel of one of their guns in his teeth shook it fiercely. The sipahees, however, secured him, brought him home and kept him for twenty days, during which he would eat nothing but raw flesh, and was fed accordingly on hares and birds. His captors soon found it difficult to provide him with sufficient food, and took him to the bazar in the village of Koeleepoor, to be supported by the charitable till he might be recognized and claimed by his parents. "One market-day a man from the village of Chupra happened to see him in the bazar, and on his return described him to his neighbors. The cultivator, father of the boy, was dead, but the mother asking for a minute description found that he had the mark of a scald on the left knee, and the marks of the teeth of an animal on each side of his loins. Finally she went to the bazar, and found in addition to these marks a third on the thigh with which her boy had been born. She took him home to her village, where he still remains, but, as in the former case, his intellect seems entirely gone; the front of his knees and elbows have become hardened from his going on all-fours with the wolves, and although he wanders about the village all day, he always steals back to the jungle at night-fall. He is unable to speak or to articulate any sound with distinctness. In drinking, he dips his face in the water, but does not fap like a wolf. He still prefers raw flesh; and when a bullock dies, and the skin is removed, he attacks and eats the body in company of the village dogs." As to the wolf's motives for these friendly abductions but one explanation can be given, and that one, unfortunately, entirely shears the affair of its romance. She-dogs bereft of their young have been known to adopt kittens, and no less reliable an authority than Mr. Jesse relates that a cat of his acquaintance, whose kittens had been destroyed, was seen to purr and mew at a cupboard door till a sleek mouse came out, and that then the cat lay down and the mouse cuddled down to its teats in the most natural way. So it may be that the she-wolf, losing her sucking cubs by accident, and being incommoded by her gorged udders, steals a child with the instinctive knowledge that it may be made to afford her relief. After all, then, those celebrated founders of ancient Rome, Romulus and Remus, might have been nurtured by a she-wolf, and I for one should not be loth to credit the story, only that I am assured by the very best authorities that the mistake arose from the simple fact of the nurse who suckled the two little Romans being named Lupa. Le Morvan, a charming and picturesque forest district of France, is replete with resources for health and adventure. The woods abound with deer, the plains with rabbits and the timid hare. Here the sportsman may watch in the open glade for the treacherous wild cat and the bounding roebuck; or, plunging into the dark recesses of the glens, come face to face with the grizzly boar, and fight, single-handed, the ferocious wolf. The wolf is the most formidable pest of the district, and terrible stories are told of adventures in pursuit of this incarnation of ferocity, voracity, and cunning. The people of the vicinity have twice a year grand battues for the destruction of this animal. Those of the winter season are participated in by the wealthy proprietors, who make them occasions of jollity, as thus described: "Previous to the night of meeting, a number of carpenters repair to the woods, and choosing suitable ground, erect a large square hut of undressed stems, strongly braced together, and with an interval between each tree of about four inches. This hut is left for several nights untouched, that the creatures may become accustomed to it, and a duck or two, a goose or a sheep are tied up near it, as a bait for the wolves. Then the appointed evening having arrived, the huntsmen, and a long line of servants, start for the forest, taking with them four calves, a cask of cold meat, a hamper of wine, and a horse-load of pale cognac. Ensconced within their Gibraltar of wood, they eat, drink, and smoke; but not the least noise is allowed, not even a laugh, a cough, or a sneeze. Night fairly sets in, and the wolves begin to sniff the air. The calves are led out and tied to stakes outside, and then-must we relate it?-each receives an incision in the neck, which sets him bleeding and bleating, by which, most unconsciously, the poor wretches attract the wolves, by appealing to two of their keen senses. Nine-ten-half-past: dead silence reigns, broken only by the occasional cry of an owl, or the crash of a branch which the wind has severed from the trunk. Suddenly the calves break out into a fresh fit of bleating; they bellow and groan, and tug at the ropes to escape. Out goes every cigar, and the sportsmen pick up their rifles. Black spots are seen upon the snow; the wolves are on the scent; and, imagining the calves have come astray, attempt to carry them off for their own enjoyment. Four or five rush forward and plunge their ravenous jaws into the flesh of the animals; their numbers increase; and just as this demon banquet is in full swing, the sportsmen open their fire. The wolves either fall or fly; but return again, and are met with another volley. Other wolves, attracted by the smell of their bleeding comrades, press to the scene, and are met with showers of fire and death; and for several hours this slaughter of malefactors continues. The survivors slink back to their dens, and the sportsmen, leaving their hut, form a huge fire on the turf, and eat and drink and crack jokes till morning, when the peasantry assemble, and gather the dead wolves together, and form a procession to march through the villages, and add the contributions obtained in this way to the rewards given by the Government. "Other modes of taking wolves are also devised, one of which is the traquenard, a huge circular trap, with a fierce row of teeth, which is set in chosen parts of the forest, and baited with a savory slice from a sheep which has been kept till nearly green. There is a melancholy incident on record, of a young man, who, going to the forest in the evening to obtain a pair of turtle-doves, with rosy beaks, to present to his sweetheart, fell into a trap which had been set in an old footway, and while fixed in the immovable jaws of this deadly machine was devoured, piecemeal, by the wolves, not, however, till he had hacked three of them open with his hatchet, the mangled bodies of which, together with the leg, only, of the unhappy young man, were found upon the spot next morning. Another circumstance, of a similar nature, may suitably close this notice of the charms and dangers of these romantic forests: A farmer, living on the borders of the forest of La Madeleine, had determined to work a little mischief with the wolves; and the weather being intensely cold, his farm was frequently visited by them, troops appearing in the starlight, scratching under the walls, and demanding the alms of a horse, an ox, or a man. Just at this time one of the farmer's colts died; and thinking it would serve as a capital bait for the wolves, he caused it to be laid in the middle of the court-yard, with weights attached to prevent the wolves from dragging it away. The principal gate was set open, and so arranged with cords and pulleys that it could be closed on the instant when necessary. Night came, lights were extinguished, the dogs muzzled, and the gate set open. The wolves came, and hovered distrustfully around the open gate, At last one entered, tore away a portion of the colt, and set off with his booty in safety. Emboldened by example, eight wolves flew upon the carcase; the farmer whistled, and the men at the ropes closed the gate-the wolves were prisoners. Morning dawned, and ladders were raised against the wall of the yard, and the men commenced firing on the imprisoned wolves. Fear was converted into rage; and, wounded only by the unskillful firing of the men, they leaped up and tried to scale the walls and escape. Just at this juncture, a young man, finding his ladder too short to enable him to get a good shot at the wolves, sat astride the wall, with one leg dangling into the yard. A wolf flew up like a cat and almost seized. the proffered leg, and the young man, raising his leg to avoid the brute, lost his balance and fell into the yard! A scream, and the wolves flew like lightning on their victim; and a ery of horror was heard on every side. There was a pause of a moment only, and the farmer, prompted by dictates of courage and humanity, gun in hand, leaped into the yard, all the men following his heroic example. The scene which followed defies both description and imagination. The howling of the wolves, the groans of the dying youth, the imprecations of the men, and the roaring of the bulls in the stables, and the shrieks of women in the house, formed a fearful chorus-such as we hope may never be heard again. The farmer's wife-a woman of resolute daring-unmuzzled the dogs and flung them from a window into the yard, and in twenty minutes the eight wolves were dead, and half the dogs. The unfortunate lad-his throat torn open-was dead; and his courageous, though unsuccessful defenders, all more or less wounded." The hunters of the West sometimes catch wolves in steel traps; but the animals frequently run off with the traps, heavy as they are, or gnaw their legs off and leave them there. When the hunters surprise them before the amputation is performed all thought of safety is forgotten in their rage. With teeth broken and bloody headwith their legs fractured, and clinging to the trap by the sinews only -they will fly at their enemy, and even then it is well for the hunter to make sure of his aim. Some of the Indians catch wolves by the |