The natural history of dogs, including also the genera hyaena and …, Volume 2
THE FERAL DOGS.
Canes feri.
Under the above designation, we mean to notice
domestic dogs which have regained their Uberty, and
subsisting entirely upon their OAvn inteUigence for
many generations, have resumed the greater part,
if not all the characteristics, which it may be sup-
posed they possessed before their former subjuga-
tion. Having already described species aborigine
wild, those fairly amenable to the present group are
reduced to but few varieties. The first we have to
mention is the
Feral Dog of Natolia. Ictinus of the ancients ?
This race is nearly equal to the local wolf in size,
and resembles the shepherds-dog of the country, but
has a tail more like a brush, the muzzle more
pointed, and the colours of the fur rufous-grey, not
unlike both the former, yet easily distinguishable.
Unlike the wolf, they hunt in open day, running
in packs of ten or twelve ; they do not molest man,
but, when attacked, they show an audacity which
wolves never manifest. In 1810, the son of a lady
of om- acquaintance, in company with a brother
Midshipman of H. 31. ship Spartan, went on shore
to the plain of Troy, attended by guides of the
THE FERAL DOGS. 119
country, and several seamen. A troop of these
dogs came down, and were recognised by the
country people, who Avarned the young officers not
to fire at them ; but midshipmen are not so easily
baulked, one fired and missed his object, when
the whole pack immediately came bounding down
towards them, and the party found it necessary to
run for the shore, whither the feral dogs, being
satisfied with their victory, pm-sued them no fur-
ther.
Feral Dog of Russia. — This race may be of the
same stock as the first mentioned. They are very
wolf-Hke in appearance and colours, but smaller,
and far less audacious than the Turkish. How they
maintain themselves in the open country we have
not leamt ; but, subsisting like the street-dogs of
Turkish cities, they make burrows in the ramparts,
on the glacis, and other banks of earth on the skirts
of towns, and even at St. Petersburgh, are prowl-
ing about in the night for carrion, and, in winter,
inclined to molest the defenceless. We were told
by a friend, long resident in the Imperial capital,
that one evening he, and another British merchant,
were obliged to go out to the rescue of a boy, sent
with a message across the ice of the Neva, who was
observed by the gentlemen to be beset by these
animals. More recently, the government ordered
the police to extirpate them about the city ; but
with what success is not known. It is possible that
the dog-wolves of the Canopian Gulph, on the
Palus Mseotis, which molested the fishermen, before
]20 THE FERAL DOGS.
noticed, were of the same race; and, therefore,
that they are really of a wild species, which has,
of its own accord, approximated mankind. Hence,
also, may be derived the true street-dogs of all the
cities of Western Asia.
Among the feral dogs of the New “World, men-
tion has already been made of the Aguara of the
Woods, But there is a race whose origin is not
doubtful, and which, although it is said to exist
also in South America, v/e denominate the
FERAL DOG OF ST. DOMINGO.
Canis Haitensis, H. Smith.
PLATE L
The specimen from which the figure and the fol-
lowing description were taken, was brought to
Spanish-Town, Jamaica, by a French officer taken
prisoner when General le Clerc’s army endeavoured
to escape from the victorious progress of the negroes.
The o^vner described it to be a wild hound, of the
race formerly used by the Spaniards for their con-
quests in the western hemisphere, when they Avere
trained like blood- hounds; and a breed of them
having been lost in the woods of Haiti, had there
I
FERAL DOG OF ST. DOMINGO. 121
resumed its original wild state, continuing for se-
veral ages to live independent, and occasionally
committing great depredations upon the stock of the
graziers. The individual Avas obtained from the
vicinity of San^ana Bay, among others purchased
from the Spanish colonists, for the odious purpose
of hunting the French negro people, which at that
time refused to return to slavery, after, by a na-
tional decree of France, their liberty had been by
law established. The dog was of such an aspect,
as at first sight to strike the attention. In stature,
he was at least equal to the largest Scottish or Rus-
sian greyhound, or about twenty-eight inches high
at the shoulder, with the head shaped like the wire-
haired terrier ; large light brown eyes ; small ears,
pointed, and only slightly bent down at the tips ;
the neck long and full ; the chest very deep ; the
croup slightly arched; the limbs muscular, but
light, and the tail not reaching to the tarsus, scan-
tily furnished with long dark hair ; the muzzle was
black, as well as the eyelids, lips, and the whole
hide ; but his colour was an uniform pale blue-ash,
the hair being short, scanty, coarse, and apparently
without a woolly fur beneath. On the lips, inside
of the ears, and above the eyes, there was some
whitish-grey ; and the back of the ears was dark
slate colour. The look and motions of this animal
at once told consciousness of superiority. As he
passed down the streets all the house curs slimk
away; when within our lodging, the family dog
had disappeared, although he had neither growled
122 FERAL DOG OF ST. DOMINGO.
or barked. His master said lie was inoffensive,
but requested he might not be touched. The hair,
from the ridge of the nose, feathered to the right
and left over the eyes, forming two ciliated arches,
and the brows appeared very prominent. We were
assured, that he followed a human track, or any
scent he was laid on, Avith silence and great rapi-
dity ; but, unlike the common blood-hound, when
he came upon his quarry, it was impossible to pre-
vent his attacking and seizing his victim. Accord-
ing to the OAvner, who, it seemed, was the person
the government had employed to purchase these
dogs, the Spanish graziers were equally anxious to
destroy all the old dogs of the breed they could find
in the country, and to secure all the young for do-
mestication ; beciuse, when bred up on the farms,
they were excellent guardians of the live stock, de-
fending them equally against their own breed, and
human thieves ; and, as they attacked with little
warning, strangers could not easily conciliate them
by any manoeuvres.
We think this to be the race of St. Domingo
greyhounds indistinctly mentioned by Buffon. We
saw another specimen, evidently of the same race,
but belonging to the northern states of South Ame-
rica, brought by a Spanish cattle-dealer to the port
of Kingston ; the animal was of inferior stature,
though still a large dog. The head appeared
broader at the muzzle, the back flatter, and the
hair was longer, coarser, more shaggy, and of a
dark blackish ash, without any spot. A third.
FERAL DOG OF ST. DOMINGO. 123
likewise blackish ash, came from Cuba ; but nei-
ther of the last had the greyhound lurcher aspect,
but seemed to have a cross of the Spanish common
cattle-dog.* Portraits of these kind of dogs occur
in some of the Spanish old masters ; and, consider-
ing the evident resemblance they bear to the old
northern Danish dog, it may be conjectured that
the race was originally brought to Spain by the
Suevi and Alans, and afterwards carried to the
New World for the purposes of war.
There is also in Mexico a small feral dog ; but
the accounts hitherto received are so obscure, that
we shall defer to notice it until we describe the
Alco. But, on the Pampas of South America, there
are numerous troops of Perros zimarrones, or feral
dogs, having the undetermined form of the mixture
of all the breeds that have been imported from
Europe, and thus assuming the shape of cur-dogs,
or of a primitive species. They have the ears erect,
or the tips but slightly bent forward. They are
bold, sagacious; not hostile to man, but destruc-
tive to the calves and foals of the wild herds. When
taken very young, they may be tamed ; but, when
old, they are totally irreclaimable. They hunt
singly, or in troops ; bun-ow in the open country ;
and, when redomesticated, they are distinguished
for their superior courage and acuter senses.
* These races of dogs were more anciently known in Europe
by the name of Buccaneer dogs (Chiens des Fhbustiers), be-
cause several were brought home by them. We have lately
seen one brought from the Falkland Islands.
124
THE FAMILIAR DOGS.
Canes familmres.
We now come to the true domesticated races ; and,
beginning with those placed nearest the Arctic Circle
in both hemispheres, we find a group of large dogs,
all assuming a wolfish aspect, having a tapering
nose, pointed ears, long hair, and, almost without
exception, a black and w^hite livery.
In the group of Arctic dogs of both continents,
there is an uniformity of structure and appearance,
showing but a small intermixture of the blood of
other races in some of those in the west, who have
the anterior part of the head very sharp. They are,
in general, dogs of large size and height, only par-
tially reclaimed, and, consequently, exceedingly
fierce. The body is short and deep; the limbs
strong and elevated; the feet rather broad, often
webbed, and, in some instances, furred; the hair
thick, close, and undulating. They swim -with
great facility ; burrow in the snow ; and, during
the period when they are turned out to seek their
own sustenance, hunt in packs, or singly, and fish
with considerable dexterity. Their courage and
perseverance is equal to that of a bull-dog, never
THE FAMILIAR DOGS. 125
giving up a contest while life lasts ; hence they
often destroy each other in combat. In their native
regions they are not liable to canine madness ; al-
though, in Sweden and Norway, wolves are occa-
sionally attacked with that di-eadful scourge in the
middle of winter.
THE WOLF-DOGS.
THE SIBERIAN DOG.
Cards Siherieus.
Koshaof the Natives.
This variety of the Arctic group differs in stature
very considerably. One exhibited some years ago,
by a M. Chabert, at Bath, was above three feet
in height. The ears resembled those of a bear ; the
head, that of a wolf; and the tail was like a fox’s
brush ; in fur and colour it looked like a greyish
wolf. There may have been a cross of the great
Russian watch-dog in this individual ; for the dogs
of Kamtschatka are smaller, though similarly formed.
Their colour is mixed black and white, the tips of
the ears slightly drooping ; and their attachment to
home, only a. kind of periodical instinct which
brings them to their masters’ doors, after they have
roamed wild for many Avecks to provide for them-
126 THE SIBERIAN DOG.
selves, and the time is come again when they are
to resume their labours at the sleigh. From this
period, they are only fed with a very small propor-
tion of the offals of putrid fish ; being treated with
absolute unkindness, they return the masters’ beha-
viour by a cunning and a rooted ill will. When
about to be yoked to a sleigh they send forth a
most dismal howling ; but when once yoked in file,
they become silent, and move off at a rapid pace,
not without occasional attempts to upset the
driver.
The two dogs figured by Buffon differ from the
Kamtschatka race, by having the hair much longer,
and particularly by that upon the forehead over-
hanging the eyes ; the tail being curled close over
the back ; and the colour on that part of the body
a dull ashy -brown. The second is figured much
lower on the legs, nearly entirely white ; and the
face still more marked with a profusion of hair.
These two were evidently inland varieties, probably
not further north or east than Tobolsk.
127
THE ESQUIMAUX DOG.
Cards Borealis.
PLATE II.
This is the race of the Arctic Circle in America,
most extensively spread, and clearly of the same
origin as that of North-eastern Asia. These dogs
are powerful in their structure, equalling the mastiff
in size, covered with long, rather curling hair, and
with a bushy tail, very much curled over the back ;
the ears are short and pointed, and the face clothed
with short haii’s, as well as the lower part of the
extremities. They are remarkably intelligent, pa-
tient, and endm-ing; dragging sleighs Avith great
rapidity, hunting with courage and skill, and carry-
ing burdens without repining. Their temper is
good, although in aspect they greatly resemble a
wolf. Several have been brought to England by
the members of the late Arctic expedition. Many
are black and white ; others of a dingy white ; and
those on the coast of Labrador are often broAvn ‘and
white.
The drawing for our plate of this dog was taken
from a specimen kept in the Prince’s Street Gardens,
in Edinburo’h. It had more the character of a wolf
128 THE ESQUIMAUX DOG.
than of a dog. The following account has been
kindly communicated to us by Mr. Cleghorn, nur-
seryman and seed-merchant, in whose possession
the dog was when the drawing was made : —
The Esquimaux dog Avas possessed of very great
sagacity in some respects, more than any dog I
have ever seen. I may mention one instance. In
coming along a country road, a hare started, and, in
place of running after the hare in the usual way,
the dog pushed himself through the hedge, crossed
the field, and, when past the hare, through the
hedge again, as if to meet her direct. It is needless
to remark, that the hare doubled through the
hedge ; but had it been in an open country, there
would have been a noble chase. One particular
characteristic of the dog was, that he forms a parti-
cular attachment to his master ; and however kind
others may be, they never can gain his affection,
even from coaxing with food, or otherwise ; and,
whenever set at liberty, rushes to the spot where
the individual of his attachment was. I may give
one or two instances, among many. One morning
he was let loose by some of the men on the ground,
he instantly bounded from them to my house, and
the kitchen-door being open, found his way tlirough
it, when, to the great amazement of all, he leaped
into the bed where I was sleeping, and fawned in
the most affectionate manner upon me. Another
instance was, when the dog was with me going up
the steep bank of the Prince’s Street Garden, I
slipped my foot and came down, Avhen he imme- •
THE ESQUIMAUX DOG. 129
diately seized me by the coat, as if to render assist-
ance in raising me. Notwithstanding this parti-
cular affection to some, he was in the habit of
biting others, without giving the least warning or
indication of anger. He never barked, but at times
had a sort of whine. He was remarkably cunning,
and much resembled the fox; for he was in the
practice of strewing his meat round him, to induce
fowls or rats to come within his reach, Avhile he lay
watching, as if asleep, when he instantly pounced
upon them, and always with success. He was swift,
and had a noble appearance when running, and
carried his fine bushy tail inclining downwards,
with the body nearly one-third more extended in
appearance than while standing, as shown in the
illustration.
I returned him to his owner some years ago, but
do not know whether he be still alive.
130
THE ICELAND DOG.
Canis Islandicus.
Fiaar-hund.
The Norwegian emigi’ants to Iceland seem to have
carried a race of dogs to its shores, which at pre-
sent is not found in the parent country. The head is
rounder, and the snout more pointed, than the pre-
ceding. In stature, it is not larger than that of
Kamtschatka, and in fur like the Esquimaux ; the
ears are upright, and the lips flaccid ; the colours
white and black, or white and brown. This race is
somewhat allied to the following, and therefore may
have been obtained from the Skrelings or Esqui-
maux, by the adventurers who first visited Green-
land.
131
THE HARE-INDIAN DOG,
Canis lagopus, Richardson.
This kind is clearly of American origin, and be-
longs exclusively to the race of man of the western
continent. At the first glance, we recognise in the
aspect an affinity with the Dusicyon group, before
described ; and, in particular, with those Canidce,
■which may hereafter form a more distinct section,
under the name of Cynalopecides. A specimen of
this race was found by Dr. Richardson on the Mac-
kenzie River ; and he describes it as small in size,
with a slender make ; having a large foot ; a nar-
row, elongated, and pointed muzzle ; ears broad at
the base, shaqj at the tip, and perfectly erect ; the
legs rather long and slender; and the tail, thick
and bushy, is slightly curved upwards ; the body is
covered with long straight hair, in colour white, with
clouds of blackish ash and brown intermixed ; the
ears outside brown, white within; the feet are
clothed with fur, and spreading the toes to some
breadth. These animals run upon the snow when
heavier game sink in. A pair is now in the Zoolo-
gical Gardens, where they are gentle and confident.
In their native land they never baik.
KING CHARLES’S SPANIEL,
PLATE VL
A BEAUTIFUL breed, in general black and Avhite.
and presumed to be the parent of
THE COCKER,
PLATE XV.
Who is usually black and shorter in the back than
the spaniel. This appears to be the Gredin of
Buffon.
The Blenheim, Marlborough, or Pyrame of Buf-
fon, is very similar to the above, but the black colour
is relieved by fire-colour spots above the eyes, and
the same on the breast and feet; the muzzle is
fuller, and the back rather short.
The Maltese Dog (Canis Melitfeus), the Bichon,
or Chien Bouffe of Buffon, is the most ancient of the
small spaniel races, being figured on Roman monu-
ments and noticed by Strabo ; the muzzle is rounder,
the hair very long, silky, and usually v^^hite, the
stature very small, and only fit for ladies’ lap-dogs.
201
THE WATER-DOG.
Canis aquaticus.
PLATE XX.
Barbet of the Continent.
/This race of dogs has the head rather large and
round, the cerebral space more developed than in
^j\y other canine, the frontal sinus expanded, the
ears long, the legs rather short, and the body com-
pact ; the hair over every part of the animal long,
curly, black, or white and black, sometimes rufous ;
leight at the shoulder from eighteen to twenty
inches. The water-dog, or poodle of the Germans,
is in its most perfect state not a British race, but
rose into favour first in Germany, and during the
revolutionary wars was carried by the troops into
France, and only in the latter campaigns became
familiar to the British iji Spain and the Netherlands. •
TTie coarser crisped-haired water-dog was indeed
long knovni to the middle classes of England, and to
fishermen on the north-eastern coast and profes-
sioaal water-fowl shooters ; he was occasionally
also brought to the environs of London, in order
to afibrd the brutal sport of hunting and worrying
to death domestic ducks placed in ponds for that
202 THE CUR DOGS.
purpose. No dog is more intelligent or attached to
his master ; none like the poodle can trace out and
find lost property with more certainty and perse-
verance. Several instances are on record of their
remaining on the field of battle by the dead bodies
of their masters, and Mr. Bell relates an anecdote of
one who perceived his owner had dropped a gold
coin, and watched it so carefully that he even
refused food until the money was recovered.
The Little Barhet is a diminutive breed, with
smooth and long silky hair on the head, ears, and
tail, while the rest is more curly ; and
The Griffon Dog is said to be a cross of the
water-dog and sheep-dog. It resembles the former,
but the ears are slightly raised ; the hair is long,
not curled, but gathers in pencils ; the colour ‘m
usually black, with tan spots on the eyes and feet ;
the lips are clad with long hair.
Tha Lion Dog is a small variety, with the head,
ears, and shoulders covered by long, curly, and soft
hair, and a floccose tail ; the rest of the body, lite
the lion, being proportionably clad in smooth fur.
This variety is extremely rare.
THE CUR DOGS.
Canes domesficii.
We have already shown, that in the western conti-
nent there were several races of indigenous small
dogs before the arrival of the Spaniards, but whether
THE CUR DOGS. 203
ihey came from the Thoan and Sacalian groups, or
sprung from a lost species now entirely absorbed in
domestication, is a question : we have in part pointed
out the presence of similar small species over the
whole surface of the old world, which in Greece, un-
der the name of Alopecides appear to have modified
and influenced the characters of the large breeds by
introducing their own individual capacities and
propensities. It is credible, in^fact, that in the first
attempts at the subjugation of canines to the pur-
poses of man, he would begin by the smaller and
less powerful individuals of the genus, and accord-
ingly we see most generally, where the savage stats
still obtains, that the dogs accompanying it are small
and resemble some wild species of the country, and
that universally through the world, when no care
happens to be taken in selecting the breeds and
preserving them more or less in the purity of given
qualities, the small cur blood predominates in their
character.
In Southern Africa we have a race of small Saca-
lian dogs ; in Arabia, one of Thoan form ; in India,
the parent Pariah breed, apparently captured in the
woods of the country ; Southern China, all Persia,
Natolia, and Russia have a similar predominant
race of curs, and in Europe there is every where
evidence of an originally indigenous species of small
dimensions, or at least of one, brought in by the
earliest colonists of the AYest, extending from Lap-
land to Spain; and if we search for that which
now seems to be the most typical ; that possessing
204 THE CUR DOGS.
innate courage, sagacity, and prolific power, without
training or care in breeding : we find these qualities
most unquestionably united in the terrier, and no-
where so fully marked with all the tokens of ancient
originality as in the rough-haired or Scottish species.
In the terrier we still see all the alacrity of innate con-
fidence, all resources of spirit, all the willingness to
remain familiar with subterraneous habitations, and
all the daring and combination which makes him
fearless in the presence of the most formidable ani-
mals ; for it is often noticed in India, that when the
bull-dog pauses, British terriers never hesitate to
surround and grapple with the hyasna, the wolf, or
even the panther. Nor is the arrangement of placing
the terrier race at the head of the cur dogs to be re-
jected, because we are habituated to consider that
appellation as applicable only to mongrels ; the name
Cur is only a mutation of the Celtic Gu^ the Greek
Kt;s(v, and even the Latin Canis^ all emphatically
pointing to the most ancient and general name of
the dog in Europe. Among them there are con-
stantly found individuals endowed with the keenest
faculties and discernment. One of the$e, as related
we believe by Michel Montaigne, who witnessed
the fact, was the guide of a blind man, who, when
his road lay along a brook, would draw his master
to the farther side from the water’s edge, although
it was there much more rugged and unfit to walk
205
THE TERRIER.
Cants ierrarius, Flem.
VIGNETTE, AND PLATES XVII., XVIII., XVIII.*
If there be an original and indigenous dog of Britain,
it is surely the species we have now under review ;
for if the Irish wolf-dog or a questionable gaze-hound
were derived from the British wolf, such a conquest
over a powerful and ferocious animal could scarcely
have been achieved without the aid and intelligence
of a previously domesticated and smaller species.
But it is more likely the terrier of antiquity was of
the same race with the hard-footed dogs of the
206 THE TERRIER.
Cymbers, and that the first were brought over from
the north-west of Europe with the primitive inha-
bitants. Certain it is, that the intermixture of
terrier blood with other and later races has in no
instance tended to diminish their courage, hardi-
liood, and fidelity, and in no part of Europe has the
rough-haired breed retained so completely as in
Britain all the traits which constitute a typical
species. No dog carries the head so high and
boldly, or expresses more lively energy than this
breed; the distinctions marking its purity of race
are equally discernible, although we have from
fancy or accident two very evident varieties. The
first is smooth, rounded, and rather elegant in make,
with colours usually black, and tan spots over the
eyes, a.nd the same tint spread over the extremities
and belly ; sometimes also white (PI. XVII) ; the
muzzle sharp, the eye bright and lively, the ears
pointed or slightly turned down, and the tail carried
high and somewhat bowed ; but the second, repre-
sented on the Vignette and on Plates XVII. and
XVIII., is the more ancient and genuine breed, usu-
ally called the wire-haired or Scottish terrier; the
muzzle is shorter and fuller, the limbs more stout, the
fur hard and shaggy, and the colour a pale sandy or
ochry, and sometimes white. Neither of these are
crooked-legged, nor long-backed, like turnspits, these
qualities being proofs of degeneracy or of crosses of
ill-assorted varieties of larger dogs, such as hound,
water-dog, or shepherd’s dog females, and then per-
petuated to serve as terriers. This is the case on
THE TERRIER. 207
the continent, where they use the turnspit mongrels
for the purposes to which our terriers, though
smaller in bulk, are far better adapted.
In Germany, the Saufinder, or Boarsearcher, is
a large rough terrier dog, employed to rouse the
fiercest beasts of the forest from their lair in the
thickest underwood, and they never fail to effect the
purpose by their active audacity and noisy clamour.
They are usually of a wolfish grey-brown, with
more or less white about the neck and breast, and a
well fringed tail curled over the back; having in
all probability in them a cross of the Pomeranian
dog, w^hich may have increased their stature and
their caution.
In England the cross of terriers is perceptible in
sheep and cattle dogs, but most of all in the breed
called bull-terriers, because it is formed of these two
varieties, and constitutes the most determined and
savage race known. It is reared in general for pur-
poses little honourable to human nature, and most
disgraceful to the lower orders of England, where,
for the sake of betting, the true wild game qualities
of the animals are exhibited in mutual combats, in
which neither will give up while life remains, and
the last struggle is borne without a groan ! Yet
they might be exported to, or bred with great ad-
vantage for the use of colonists in South Africa,
and contribute mainly to the security of persons
and property against the depredation of the lion and
the hyaena.
The Russian, Finland, and Siberian dogs of the
208 THE LAPLAND CUR.
cur races are so intermixed as to bear but little of
purity of their type about them. Yet there is a
breed in the first mentioned country, rugged and
low on the legs, with many good qualities ; but the
Siberian, usually black, are not larger than a hare,
with ears half erect, slightly folded in the middle,
the body round, and the tail obtuse at the end, where
it is white; this variety is exceedingly voracious,
familiar, and filthy.
The Lapland Cur is probably of the same race, —
black, or liver-coloured and rugged. It is a kind of
watch-dog, and used also in hunting ; but a people
depending entirely for subsistence on the produce of
reindeer, has not food to spare for large dogs, and
are unwilling to trust them in the vicinity of their
flocks.
Although the race of cur origin may be traced
eastwards through Turkey, Persia, and slightly in
Egypt, where the outcasts are an intermixture
of all the forms of dogs, we find in their squalid
exterior only a predominant tendency to the more
original race of each country, having universally
long tails, erect ears, lank bodies, and sharp muzzles,
with yellowish, yellow-grey, and yellow and white
colours; but it cannot be said with absolute pro-
priety that they are of the cur races of Europe, tlieir
aspect becoming more and more like that of tlie
Indian Pariahs, in proportion as we advance east-
ward ; and if we consider that Central Asia, India,
and Syria have for more than thirty centuries been
traversed by nations, by great armies, and still more
THE PARIAH DOG. 209
constantly by innumerable caravans, always attended
by canines both wild and domestic, it is to be ex-
pected that the whole area in question should be
tenanted by mongrels of interminable crossings, and
that at the extremities of the caravan movements
we should again begin to find decided marks of
purer breeds. This we have shown is the case in
some respects in Egypt, and we find it still more
clearly beyond the Indus, always excluding the
breeds watched by man. We find in those regions
The Pariah Dog, or native cur of India, a race
we have already shown exists to the north-east of
those regions in a vidld state, where we are assured
they occupy the woods in considerable troops, and
keep the jackal at a distance. The external appear-
ance of the animal has been noticed, and of the do-
mesticated we need only add, that they bear the
marks of degradation and mixture in various forms,
but still the rufous colours and their direct sign of
domesticity shown by the admixture of white pre-
dominates ; that they all have lengthened backs,
pointed ears, a sharp nose, and the tail more or less
fringed. They are sagacious, noisy, and cowardly ;
trained by the Sheckarees to their mode of sporting,
and used by the villagers in occasional hunts. Many
are in a state of wretchedness even greater than the
Turkish or Egyptian, but fondness for human so-
ciety is marked in all ; nay, they will sometimes fix
upon a stranger, and leave no art or exertion un-
tried to be admitted into his service. Thus, one
determined at first sight to follow a gentleman tra-
210 THE POE DOG.
veiling through the country in haste; he was as
usual carried in a palanquin, and the poor beast fol-
lowed by his side, stage after stage, until at length,
exhausted with exertion in a lonely part of the
route, he dropped, but kept looking wistfuUy after
the object of his choice till out of sight.
In the great Asiatic islands, the cur dogs still
retain the general characters of the Pariahs, although
about insular situations and great straits, where
navigation more necessarily congregates, a greater
variety of dogs must be looked for. This, for in-
stance, is already the case in the South Sea Islands,
vvhere the influx of European dogs brought from
different countries, and of different breeds, are
rapidly extinguishing the native race, known by
the name of
The Poe Dog (Canis Pacificus, Nob.), Uri-Mahoi
of Tahiti and Ilio of the Sandwich Islands, from
Uri a dog, and Mahoi indigenous. In form this
variety bears marks of decrepitude; the head is
sharpened at the muzzle, the ears erect, the back
long, the limbs crooked ; the hair is smooth, but re-
tains its primitive livery of tan or rusty ochre-colour.
It is a silent lazy animal, feeding on vegetable diet,
such as taro, bread-fruit, &c., and entirely reserved
for the table. Since the dogs of Europe have mul-
tiplied, the Poe dog is becoming daily more scarce,
and the practice of eating the flesh begins to be
abandoned, although it is considered a real delicacy
by the natives, and said by Europeans to be not un-
palateable ; but for this purpose vegetable food, with
NEW ZEALAND DOGS. 211
perhaps a little fish, must be given the dog, and as
the breeds from Europe are fed on animal substances,
they are never eaten.
To Mr. Frederick Bennet we are indebted for a
note on these dogs, which we here insert. ” Amongst
the Society Islands, the aboriginal dog, which was
formerly eaten as a delicacy by the natives, is now
extinct, or merged into mongrel breeds by proj^aga-
tion with many exotic varieties. At the Sandwich
group, where the inhabitants have been more re-
markable for the use of this animal as food, and
where that custom is yet pertinaciously retained
(owing probably to the scarcity of swine and spon-
taneous fruits of the earth), the pure breed of the
Poe dog has been better protected; and although
becoming yearly more scarce, examples of it are yet
to be met with in all the islands, but principally as
a delicacy for the use of the chiefs. As late as
October 1835, I noticed, in the populous and well
civilized town of Honoruru at Oahu, a skinned dog
suspended at the door of a house of entertainment
for natives, to denote what sumptuous fare might be
obtained within.” That gentleman then proceeds to
give a similar description of the appearance of the
dog as above indicated, making it equal in size to a
terrier, with a dull expression of countenance; tail
straight or slightly curled, a brown livery, and
having a feeble but shrill bark ; it is gentle, indo-
lent, and in aspect presents the mixed forms of a
fox-dog, turnspit, and terrier.
Those of New Zealand, according to Forster, are
212 DOG OF THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS.
a long-haired breed, resembling the sheep-dog ; they
are of divers colours, variously spotted, entirely
black, or w^hoUy vv^hite. Their food is fish, and the
remains of what the natives eat themselves; the
mode of attaching them is by the middle of the
belly, not as we practise by the neck ; they are in
favour with that people, who nevertheless kill them
for food, for their skins, or to make fringes to their
dresses with the hair. These animals are stupid,
having little more sagacity than sheep. The same
author declares the dogs of the South Sea Islands to
liave very large heads and small eyes, with pointed
ears and short tufted tails.
What has been stated regarding the variety of
races of the canine family to be met with in great
islands and the shores of straits, we find confirmed
in the western hemisphere, about the Magellanic
Strait and the Fuegian Islands; for although the
native dogs of America north of the equator have
been already noticed, there remains still some ac-
count to be given of those to the south of it. On
the coasts, and wherever Europeans have pene-
trated, dogs introduced by them have multiplied,
and the wild aborigines have adopted them in pre-
ference to their own. Those of European origin,
carried to the west for the purposes of war, of
coursing, and of guarding cattle or plantations,
were, it may be assumed, numerically few in pro-
portion to the mongrels of all kinds which the
fancies of individual adventurers took in tlieir com-
pany; and all, it appears, on the continent, were
THE PATAGONIAN DOG. 213
with little or no care allowed to breed at random ;
hence in Paraguay, for instance, a true greyhound,
spaniel, or a bull-dog is very rare; the dogs in
general form a mixed breed, assuming, however,
characters distinct from the eur breeds of Europe,
and emphatically deserving the name of moHgrels ;
larger in proportion, more sagacious, more bold,
with acuter senses, with more personal enterprise,
but also with less attachment to mankind, and al-
most entirely destitute of education. Hence, in a
climate where they find food sufficiently abundant,
and they suffisr no rigour of cold, we cannot wonder
there should be feral dogs in numbers ; nevertheless,
the nations of the interior are still in part attended
by the same species as we have already described
under the name of Aguara dogs, and towards the
farthest south, where the resources of life are mucli
fewer. The resident Fuegian and Nomad Patago-
nians value dogs beyond measure, being only scan-
tily possessed of an indigenous breed, but from all
appearances having among them several mixed races,
acquired no doubt by means of the annual migra-
tions of the riding tribes towards the Pampas, and
by shipwrecks on the coast. Such at least, it would
appear, are the inferences to be drawn from the let-
ters on the subject Captain Fitzroy favoured us
with. We will here subjoin an abstract of their
contents, as much as possible in his ovm words.
” The dog of Patagonia is strong, about the size
of a large fox-hound ; his coat is usually short but
wiry, though in some instances it is soft and long
like that of a Newfoundland dog ; indeed I should
214 DOGS OF TIERRA DEL EUEGO.
say, in general terms, that the dogs seen by us in
the southern part of Patagonia resembled lurchers
or shepherds’ dogs, with a wild wolfish appearance,
not at all prepossessing ; one of this kind I obtained
near the Otway water; his habits were savage
rather than domestic. These dogs hunt by sight,
and do not then give tongue ; but they growl and
bark loudly when attacked or attacking. Their
colour is usually dark and nearly uniform, spotted
dogs being rare. The dogs of the Fuegian Indians,
Avho have no horses but move about in canoes, are
much smaller than those of Patagonia or the eastern
part of Tierra del Fuego ; they resemble terriers, or
rather a mixture of fox, shepherd’s dog, and terrier.
All that I examined had black roofs to their mouths,
but there was much variety in the colours and de-
g-rees of coarseness of their coats. Not one dog, out
of the number which were brought to England,
could easily be prevented from indulging in the
most indiscriminate attacks upon poultry, young
pigs, &c. Many Fuegian dogs are spotted, and not
a few have fine short hair, but all resemble a fox
about the head, although there are among them
many varieties of size and colour, as .well as of form
and hairy coat. One brought from Tierra del Fuego
was white, with one black spot, and very hand-
some ; his size was about that of a terrier, his coat
short but fine, and his ears extremely delicate and
long, although erect ; this is the case with all the
other breeds likewise, their muzzle also is long, and
they have the tail rough and drooping ; they keep
most vigilant watch, and bark furiously at a stran-
SOUTH AMERICAN DOGS. 215
ger ; with them the natives guard their habitations,
hunt otters, and catch sleeping or wounded birds.
As they are never or seldom fed, they provide for
themselves at low water, by cunningly detaching
limpets from the rocks, or breaking muscle-shells
and eating the fish.
” In the eastern portion of Tierra del Fuego, where
the natives have neither horses nor canoes, the dog
is invaluable; no temptation would induce some
Indians, seen near the Strait of Le Maire, to part
with a fine dog of the size of a large setter, which
had, except about the head, an appearance like that
of a lion ; behind the shoulders it was quite smooth
and short-haired, but from the shoulders forward it
had thick rough hair of a dark grey colour, lio-hter
beneath, and white on the belly and breast; the
ears were short but pointed, the tail smooth and
tapering, the fore quarters were very strong, but
the hinder appeared weaker. It had a wolfish
appearance about the head, and looked extremely
” None of the dogs in the southern part of South
America are mute ; there are none in a wild state,
and there is a scarcity rather than an abundance of
those which live with the aboriginal natives. In
times of famine, so valuable are dogs to them, it is
well ascertained that the oldest women of the tribe
are sacrificed to the cannibal appetites of their coun-
trymen rather than destroy a single dog. ‘ Dogs,’
say they, ‘ catch otters ; old women are good for
nothing.’ “
fynm 