2 5 8 



ZOOLOGICAL SKETCHES. 



belonged, his brother Cerberus could apply for a fur- 

 lough. 



The " Aragon hounds" of Northern Mexico are sup- 

 posed to be the descendants of this breed. Their 

 wild life in the Sierra has added something wolfish and 

 outlandish to the savageness of their appearance, but 

 they lack the stubborn courage of their ancestors, and 

 I have seen one of them beaten by a common tramp- 

 dog. Among the Mexican sportsmen the excitement 

 of a dog-fight is enhanced by a subjective interest. 

 They all bet. Bets, moreover, have to be paid on the 

 spot, and the backers of a losing brute often revenge 

 themselves after the manner of true savages, though 

 they would probably call it the old Roman fashion. In 

 a Puebla museum I was once looking at a panorama of 

 the famous circus-scene, where the spectators, pollice 

 verso, are clamoring for the death of a fallen gladiator ; 

 but a Mexican caballero, after listening to the com- 

 ments of my companion, suggested that these clamors 

 might be justified by the disappointment of the heavy 

 betters, for the prostrate hero looked really twice as 

 large as his victor. Two months after, I realized the 

 meaning of the caballero's remark. The burghers of 

 Medellin had got up a gran funcion between a young 

 bear and a butcher-dog. The bear, being more than 

 half grown, was largely the favorite, but, after an obstrep- 

 erous scuffle of ten or twelve minutes, skill prevailed 

 over brutal strength, and the backers of the vanquished 



