TOY DOCJS. 291 



and Tcchichi, a melancholy clog; the former is the Peruvian or Mexican 

 lajjclos^, the latter tlic forest dog of Guiana. The best known variety 

 is the much-prized Mexican Moi'SEY, which has fine woolly — net silky 

 — hair. This is the tiniest of the dog family, and is precisely like the 

 woollen dogs of the toy-shops. 



The Chinese Dog is remarkable only for the entire absence of hair 

 on all parts of its body. In form it seems a modification of the grey- 

 hound, the body being long and narrow, the neck moderately long but 

 thin, the head and muzzle pretty long, the legs thin without dew-claws 

 on tiie hinder pair. 



It is called Chinese because it does not come from China, but is prob- 

 ably a native of Africa, where it is said to be used to hunt tlic antelope. 

 It is very light, swift, and persevering, and is reported to be indefatigable 

 in tracking its game. These exploits of the hairless dog, however, 

 require confirmation, and dates and places. With us the unfortunate 

 creature is a mere monster, kept as a curiosity to gratify a perverted 

 taste, and it must suffer severely from the changes of our climate. One 

 possessed by the writer was good-natured and playful, and was a good 

 watch-dog, but was excessively afraid of other dogs. 



THE DINGO. 



The Dingo, Canis dingo (Plate XIV), is not a noble savage who has 

 never known civilization, but a civilized dog run wild. It is the only 

 carnivorous animal found in Australia, consequently is not a marsupial, 

 and therefore is not indigenous to the island. It has all the look of a 

 domestic dog. It is about as large as a sheep-dog, and is of a reddish- 

 brown color, sprinkled with jjlack. It crosses freely with the tame dog. 



Large packs of these wild dogs ravage the localities in which they 

 have taken up their residence, and have attained to so high a degree of 

 organization that each pack will only hunt over its own district, and will 

 neither intrude upon the territory which has been allotted to a neighbor- 

 ing pack oi Dingoes, nor permit any intrusion upon its own soil. For 

 this reason their raids upon the flocks and herds are so dangerous that 

 the colonists have been obliged to call meetings in order to arrange pro- 

 ceedings against the common foe. Before the sheep-owners had learned 

 to take effectual measures to check the inroads of these marauders, they 

 lost their flocks in such numbers that they counted their missing sheep 



