THE DOG KIND. 



325 



as many varieties in this kind almost as in any 

 of the domestic animals/ The generality of 

 foxes, as is well known, are red ; but there are 

 some, though not in England, of a grayish 

 cast ; and Mr. Buffon asserts, that the tip of 

 the tail in all foxes is white ; which, however, 

 is not so in those of this country. There are 

 only three varieties of this animal in Great 

 Britain, and these are rather established upon 

 a difference of size than of colour or form. 

 The grayhound fox is the largest, tallest, and 

 boldest ; and will attack a grown sheep The 

 mastiff fox is less, but more strongly built. The 

 cur fox is the least and most common ; he 

 lurks about hedges and out-houses, and is the 

 most pernicious of the three to the peasant and 

 the farmer. 



In the colder countries round the pole, the 

 foxes are of all colours ; black, blue, gray, iron 

 gray, silver gray, white, white with red legs, 

 white with black heads, white with the tip of 

 the tail black, red with the throat and belly 

 entirely white, and lastly, with a stripe of black 

 running along the back, and another crossing 

 it at the shoulders. b The common kind, how- 

 ever, is more universally diffused than any of 

 the former, being found in Europe, in the tem- 

 perate climates of Asia, and also in America ; 

 they are very rare in Africa, and in the coun- 

 tries lying under the torrid zone. Those tra- 

 vellers who talk of having seen them at Cali- 

 cut, and other parts of southern India, have 

 mistaken the jackal for the fox. The fur of 

 the white fox is held in no great estimation, 

 because the hair falls off. The blue fox skins 

 are bought up with great avidity, from their 

 scarceness ; but the black fox skin is of all 

 others the most esteemed, a single skin often 

 selling for forty or fifty crowns. The hair of 

 these is so disposed, that it is impossible to tell 

 which way the grain lies ; for if we hold the 

 skin by the head, the hair hangs to the tail ; 

 and if we hold it by the tail, it hangs do\vn 

 equally smooth and even to the head. These 

 are often made into men's muffs, and are at 

 once very beautiful and warm. In our tem- 

 perate climate, however, furs are of very little 

 service, there being scarce any weather so se- 

 vere in England from which our ordinary 

 clothes may not very well defend us. 



Buffon. Renard. 

 b Ibid. 



THE JACKAL. 



THE jackal is one of the most common wild 

 animals in the East ; and yet there is scarce' 

 any less known in Europe, or more confused- 

 ly described by natural historians. In gene- 

 ral, we are assured that it resembles the ibx in 

 figure and disposition, but we are still ignorant 

 of those nice distinctions by which it is known 

 to be of a different species. It is said to be of 

 the size of a middling dog, resembling the fox 

 in the hinder parts, particularly the tail ; and 

 the wolf in the foreparts, especially the nose. 

 Its legs are shorter than those of the fox, and 

 its colour is of a bright yellow, or sorrel, as we 

 express it in horses. This is the reason it has 

 been called in Latin the golden wolf; a name, 

 however, which is entirely unknown in the 

 countries where they are most common. 



The species of the jackal is diffused all over 

 Asia, and is found also in most parts of Africa, 

 seeming to take up the place of the wolf, which 

 in those countries is not so common. There 

 seem to be many varieties among them ; those 

 of the Warmest climates appear to be the 

 largest, and their colour is rather of a reddish 

 brown, than of that beautiful yellow by which 

 the smallerjackals are chiefly distinguished. 



Although the species of the wolf approaches 

 very near to that of the dog, yet the jackal 

 seems to be placed between them ; to the sa- 

 vage fierceness of the wolf, it adds the impu- 

 dent familiarity of the dog. c Its cry is a howl, 

 mixed with barking, and a lamentation resem- 

 bling that of human distress. It is more noisy 

 in its pursuits even than the dog, and more 

 voracious than the wolf. The jackal never 

 goes alone, but always in a pack of forty or 

 fifty together. These unite regularly every day 

 to form a combination against the rest of the 

 forest. Nothing then can escape them ; they 

 are content to take up with the smallest ani- 

 mals ; and yet, when thus united, they have, 

 courage to face the largest. They seem very 

 little afraid of mankind, but pursue their game 

 to the very doors, without testifying either at- 

 tachment or apprehension. They enter inso- 

 lently into the sheep folds, the yards, and the 

 stables, and, when they can find nothing else, 

 devour the leather harness, boots, and shoes, 



c Buffon, vol. xxvii. p. 52. 



3 E* 



