THE NEW HOLLAND DINGO. 189 



emit a strong odour, and in fighting domestic dogs 

 snap very severely. The number of their pups is 

 equal to that of domestic dogs, littering in some 

 hollow log, deserted ant-hill, hole in the ground, or 

 dense brush cover. 



If we may generalise a fact related by Mr Oxley, 

 Surveyor-General of New South Wales, and re- 

 corded in his Journal, the Dingos possess the quality 

 of mutual attachment in a degree far exceeding all 

 other brute animals. His words are, " About a 

 week ago we killed a native dog and threw his body 

 on a small bush ; in returning past the same spot 

 to-day, we found the body removed three or four 

 yards from the bush and the female in a dying state 

 lying close beside it ; she had apparently been there 

 from the day the dog was killed, being so weakened 

 and emaciated as to be unable to move on our ap- 

 proach ; it was deemed mercy to dispatch her."* 



Domestic dogs falling in their power are imme- 

 diately devoured. t They hunt in pairs or in small 

 families of ^Ye or six, and their fierceness and acti- 

 vity is equal to, if not more than a match for, the 

 most powerful dogs of Europe. They possess the 

 daring courage of the present group far superior to 

 that of wolves, having been known to chase sport- 

 ing dogs to the feet of their masters. One brought 

 to England attacked and would have destroyed an 

 ass, if he had not been prevented : another in the 

 menagerie of Paris would fly at the bars of cages 

 where he saw a panther, a jaguar, or a bear. Do- 



* Oxley's Journal, &c. p. 110. ^ 



t P. Cumiingham. Two Years in New South Wales. 



