854 DEFEAT OF THE WOLVES,

aim so sure, that indeed they killed several of the wolves at the
first volley ; but there was a necessity to keep a continual firing,
for they came on like devils, those behind pushing on those
before.

When we had fired our second volley of our fusees, we thought
they stopped a little, and I hoped they would have gone off; but
it was but a moment, for others came forward again : so we fired
two volleys of our pistols, and I believe in these four firings we
had killed seventeen or eighteen of them, and lamed twice as
many; yet they came on again.

I was loath to spend our last shot too hastily; so I called my
servant—not my man Friday, for he was better employed ; for,
with the greatest dexterity imaginable, he had charged my fusee
and his own while we were engaged; but, as I said, I called my
other man, and giving him a horn of powder, I bade him lay a
train all along the piece of timber, and let it be a large train. He
did so, and had just time to get away when the wolves came up
to it, and some were got up upon it; when I, snapping an un-
charged pistol, close to the powder, set it on fire. Those that were
upon the timber were scorched with it, and six or seven of them fell,
or rather jumped in among us, with the force and fright of the
fire. We despatched these in an instant, and the rest were so
frighted with the light, which the night, for it was now very near
dark, made more terrible, that they drew back a little.

Upon which I ordered our last pistol to be fired off in one
volley, and after that we gave a shout. Upon this the wolves .
turned tail, and we sallied immediately upon near twenty lame
ones, which we found struggling on the ground, and fell a cutting
them with our swords; which answered our expectation, for the
crying and howling they made was better understood by their
fellows, so that they all fled and left us.

We had, first and last, killed about threescore of them; and
had it been daylight, we had killed many more. The field of
battle being thus cleared, we made forward again; for we had still
near a league to go. We heard the ravenous creatures howl and
yell in the woods, as we went, several times, and sometimes we
fancied we saw some of them; but the snow dazzling our eyes, we