494 THE IMPROVED ART OF FARRIERY. 



To what particular race these street-dogs belong it 

 would be difficult to say. They appear to be a mix- 

 ture of a great many mongrel breeds, but comparatively 

 few of them are what is called the pure Turkish dog. 

 Among the street- dogs there are, no doubt, many of 

 Vv^hat is called the Turkish dog; an animal, though unde- 

 scribed by naturalists, yet undoubtedly deserving of some 

 attention. But the Turkish dog must be looked for 

 in all its purity in the burial-grounds, where they 

 bear a proportion of nine to one of the mixed breeds ; 

 while in the streets their proportion is not more than 

 one in ten. 



The street-dogs, or mixed breed, are of all shapes, 

 sizes, and colours ; some of them can only bark, others 

 only howl, while there are again some who can both 

 bark and howl. The pure Turkish dogs, on the con- 

 trary, are of one uniforni shape, and generally at ma- 

 turity of nearly one size. In form they are all 

 like the strong thick-set Scottish sheep-dogs, remark- 

 ably strong in the legs, and very broad from ear to 

 ear ; in size they are rather larger than the shepherd's 

 dog, and generally of a black, or brown and black co- 

 lour ; they cannot bark, but howl like a wolf; and, 

 like the street-dogs, can only be put to flight by a 

 smart hard blow — a sUght rap is of no use ; the blow 

 must be struck with such force as to make the re- 

 ceiver eloquent; when he and his companions will 

 take the hint, and make themselves scarce as soon as 

 possible. 



It would be a matter of great difficulty to arrive at 

 any thing like an accurate calculation of the number 

 of these street and burial-ground dogs in Constanti- 

 nople. I have sometimes counted them in one street, 

 and sometimes in quarters or divisions, at several diffe- 

 rent parts of the city and suburbs, and from these data 



