122 FERAL DOG OF ST. DOMINGO. 



nor barked. His master said he 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, with 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 owner, 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 ; because, 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, 



