220 A PUZZLE FOR A NATURALIST. 



so on until the darkness, in which nothing is 

 visible save bright luminous specs, like spheres 

 of fire, seems crowded with cayotes. A child 

 could frighten away the entire assembly of lurk- 

 ing thieves ; they lack the courage to face man, 

 even when in hungry packs ; if disagreeably im- 

 portunate and noisy, it is only necessary to take 

 a burning stick, rush at the glittering eyes, and, 

 helter-skelter, off they scamper for the thicket. 



This most peculiar double voice begins with a 

 deep-toned kind of howl, that, rapidly running 

 up into higher barking sounds, trends off at last 

 into a kind of scream or prolonged yell, issued in 

 jerks. Every dog that the Indians have un- 

 crossed by an imported breed in British Columbia 

 has this voice, and I have often and often been 

 deceived, mistaking the bay of an Indian dog 

 for the cry of the cayote. Even now it would 

 be puzzling to a naturalist, if visiting the interior 

 of British Columbia, to trace the origin of the 

 indigenous dog. As an instance of what I mean, 

 my own dogs consisted of a Russian setter, ob- 

 tained at Fort Rupert, originally from Sitka; a 

 thorough-bred pointer, and a spaniel; beside 

 these the men of the Commission had a bull- dog 

 and a legion of nondescript curs. To my certain 

 knowledge these dogs interbred in numerous in- 



