Our fathers dig deep pits, which are covered with light brushwood, in
such portions of the forest as the wolves are most plenty, and many a
one has fallen therein, being held prisoner until some of the people
can kill him by means of axes fastened to long poles. Father has built
many traps of logs; but I cannot describe how because of never having
seen one.
[Illustration: Wolf Head Decoration on the Meeting-House]
Thomas Williams killed seven wolves in four days by tying four or
five mackerel hooks together, covering them with fat, and leaving them
exposed where the ravening creatures could get at them.
Twice before the snow was melted, the men of the village had what they
called a "wolf-drive," when all made a ring around a certain portion
of the forest where the animals lurked, and, by walking toward a given
center, drove the creatures together where they could be shot or killed
with axes.
Sarah and I do not dare venture very far from the village because
of the ferocious animals, and if the time ever comes when we are no
longer in deadly fear of being carried away and eaten by the dreadful
creatures, this new world of ours will seem more like a real home.
I wish it might be possible for you to see the flocks and flocks of
pigeons which come here when the weather grows warm. It is as if they
shut out the light of the sun, so great are the numbers, and father
says that again and again do they break down the branches of the trees,
when so many try to roost in one place. Any person who so chooses may
go out in the night after the pigeons have gone to sleep, and gather as
many bags full as he can carry, so stupid are the birds in the dark,
and even when they are not the most plentiful, we can buy them at the
rate of one penny for twelve.