s one of the
strongest men of the village, with a large bag on each shoulder, who
carries the presents, and imitates the cry and yells of a wolf when the
piper is tired. It will not therefore be considered astonishing if it is
always with renewed pleasure that a peasant of Le Morvan kills a wolf;
and though one becomes tired, _blaze_ with almost everything in this
mortal world, it is not the case when a gallant fellow is seen entering
a village carrying the head of this hideous monster on his pole. This
trophy, with tongue distended and mouth kept wide open by a piece of
wood to show his long yellow teeth, frightens all the little children
that see it.

There are many other methods of taking the wolf, with a hook, a net,
with tame she-wolves _a la loge_, the poacher's method, in pits, and in
a washing-tub by the side of a pond, &c. But a description of these
several modes would occupy too much space. I cannot, however, before
taking a final leave of this subject, resist the temptation to relate
one last and most fearful incident--a frightful illustration of the
horrors to which a country infested by this animal is liable. It
happened during my sojourn at St. Hibaut, at a farm in that
neighbourhood.

It was in the month of February, the winter was exceedingly severe, and
three feet of snow still covered the mountains; all communication
between the villages had ceased, and bands of hungry wolves besieged the
farms in the heart of the woods.

The forest of La Madeleine, particularly full of ravines and dark
thickets, small hamlets, and solitary houses, was overrun with these
insatiable and remorseless brutes. Travellers had been devoured in the
passes of La Goulotte, and mangled and torn in the ravines of Lingou. No
one dared venture into the country when night approached.

The farm of which I am about to speak stands just on the borders of the
forest of La Madeleine, in the midst of pastures and patches of furze;
it was full of cattle and sheep, and by the time the stars were
brilliantly illuminating the dark arch of heaven, was frequently
surrounded by troops of wolves, scratching under the walls, and loudly
demanding the trifling alms of a horse, an ox, or a man. It so happened
that at this time one of the farmer's colts died, and he determined, if
possible, to use it as a bait, which would provide him the opportunity
of destroying some of his nocturnal visitors.

For this purpose he placed the dead body in the mi