Native American, or Indian Dogs. 15 



Thus, Mr. Lawson seems to suppose, that the dogs 

 which he saw, among the Indians of North- Carolina, 

 were merely wolves, " made tame with starving and 

 beating*." This is easy natural history. Mr. Pen- 

 nant, as we have already seen, supposed that the dog 

 of North- America was derived from the wolf, tamed 

 and domesticatedf . This opinion has been main- 

 tained by other writers. But it is an opinion which 

 must be admitted with some limitation. I am, in- 

 deed, much inclined to believe, that the Indian dog, 

 in many parts of North- America, was derived from 

 the wolf; but it remains to be proved, that it is, in 

 any part of the continent, the pure or unmixed wolf, 

 in a state of domestication. It is, more probably, a 

 hybrid animal, begotten between the wolf and some 

 other animal, perhaps the fox. Mr. Josselyn, a long 

 time ago, considered the dog of the New-England 

 Indians as the produce of the wolf and fox|. This 

 is also the opinion of many well-informed persons, 

 who have resided among, or visited, the Indians. I 

 believe it is the opinion which many of the Indians 

 themselves entertain concerning the origin of their 

 dog. 



I have already observed, that the Indian dog is 

 sometimes called " the half- wolf- breed." This 

 plainly shows, that those who have imposed this name 



* A New Voyage, &c. p. 38. 



t See page 4. 



\ " The Indian Dog is a creature begotten 'twixt a wolf and a 

 fox, which the Indians lighting upon, bring up to hunt the deer 

 with." Jossclyn's New-England's Rarities, &c. p. 15, 



