DOGS OF CHINA AND JAPAN 



evidently chows, from Canton. He says they were " such as 

 are fattened in that country for the purpose of being eaten ; 

 they are about the size of a moderate spaniel ; of a pale yellow 

 colour, with coarse bristling hairs on their backs ; sharp 

 upright ears and peaked heads, which give them a very fox- 

 like appearance. Their hind-legs are unusually straight, 

 without any bend at the hock or ham, to such a degree as to 

 give them an awkward gait when they trot. When they are 

 in motion their tails are curved high over their backs like 

 those of some hounds, and have a bare place on the outside 

 from the tip midway, that does not seem to be matter of acci- 

 dent but somewhat singular. Their eyes are jet-black, small 

 and piercing ; the insides of their lips and mouths of the same 

 colour, and their tongue blue. When taken out into a field 

 the bitch showed some disposition for hunting, and dwelt 

 on the scent of a covey of partridges till she sprung them, 

 giving her tongue all the time. These dogs bark much, in 

 a short, thick manner, like foxes, and have a surly, savage 

 demeanour, like their ancestors, which are not domesticated 

 but tied up in sties, where they are fed for the table with 

 rice-meal and other farinaceous food. These dogs did not 

 relish flesh when they came to England." * 



This is a good description, except for colour, which varies 

 almost infinitely between jet-black and snowy white, for the 

 breed as it exists in China to-day. Native hunters insist 

 that his tongue shall be black. 



Similar dogs are used for drawing sledges in Mongolia 

 and the Ninguta and Sanhsing districts of Northern Man- 

 churia. " The Tartar dogs are much valued, and deservedly ; 

 they harness them to sledges which they draw over the snow 

 and frozen rivers. ' We met/ says one of the missionaries, 

 to whom we owe the map of Tartary, ' a lady of Ussuri who 



* White's " Natural History of Selborne," vol. ii, p. 77, 1802. 

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