niSTORY.] 



PO-R AmUNTAIN. FIRLD, AND FAinr, 



IIISTOTIT. 



appear, iiuleod, that soino kiuJs wore rcpardi'd 

 with reliLjious veiienitioii, mul i'inl)ahiu'(l alti'i' 

 death. Miuiimica of tliem arc still iound. j 

 There would seoin to Imvo been in tiiia country | 

 of natural and artitlcial physical wonders, dilVer- j 

 ent kinds of doj^s. There nro ropresontations i 

 of hounds resembling our greyhound; of 

 pet-domestic dogs, with sharp ears, and curly j 

 tails ; of short-legged turnspits ; of watch-dogs ; ! 

 of hunting-dogs, and other descriptions of tho 

 canine race. Indeed, what, physically spealuiig, 

 were this people without, from the Pyramid of i 

 Cheops down to the smallest representations | 

 of humanity, in black marble statuary ? — from 

 innumerable colossal figures of kings that might 

 rival the proportions of Jupiter in our limited 

 conceptions, down to the minutest representa- 

 tion of the species — scarihaes — that human in- 

 genuity and tingers could fashion ? They had, 

 also, of '• live-stock," the crocodile, "the great 

 dragon of the river," the emblem of the Nile, 

 and the symbol of Egypt; they had the beau- 

 tiful ibis and the pelican, emblem of maternal 

 love ; in short, what had they not ? and, as 

 they represented these things in sculpture, so 

 did they represent their dogs, from which re- 

 presentations we are, at this day, enabled to 

 decide, in some measure, the nature of the 

 various breeds of the animals of which they 

 were possessed. The modern greyhound of 

 Arabia so closely resembles the delineations of 

 the ancient greyhound, that we cannot doubt 

 their affinity. The Egyptians, in the chase^ 

 used the bow and spear, and intercepted the 

 game as it fled before the hounds, discharging 

 their arrows whenever it came within range. 

 "When a fierce antelope, as the Lcucoryx, was 

 brought to bay, the hunter gallantly used his 

 spear, as the boar-hunter of the middle ages did 

 in Europe. On the level plains of Egypt the 

 chasseur often followed in his chariot, urging 

 his horses to the full speed, and endeavouring 

 to meet the game, or place himself in the direc- 

 tion the dogs were forcing it to take, with his 

 bow and arrows ready. It was, perhaps, the 

 partiality evinced by the Egyptians for the 

 dog, that led the Israelites to regard it with 

 abhorrence, as an unclean animal; in which 

 feeling they have been followed by the Mo- 

 hammedans. Be this as it may, Palestine " is 

 the country in which this animal has the long- 

 est been refused that entire domestication with 



man which ho has enjoyed in most other land^; 

 in oilier words, the treatment of tho dog has 

 almost always, in Palestine, been such as it has 

 only in other countries been subject to, since 

 tho propagation of the Moslem faith. And 

 since the ideas concerning dogs have been much 

 tho eaino with tho ancient Jews and modern 

 Moslems, there is no doubt that the existiti"; 

 practices of tho latter, illustrate tho ancient 

 practices of the former. Atnong both, wo traro 

 the despised, but not maltreated dog of tho 

 streets ; and among both wo discover that, with 

 every predisposition to do without them, cer- 

 tain breeds of dogs have forced their services 

 upon man, from the indispensable nature of 

 their help in hunting and in guarding the 

 flocks." 



The street dogs, called Pariah dogs in 

 India, have excited the attention of all travel- 

 lers in that country, as well as in Turkey, and 

 the whole of the Levant. They roam the 

 streets of towns, cities, and villages, owned by 

 no one ; but, for their services in clearing away 

 carrion and offal, are universally tolerated. Al- 

 lusions are made to them in the earliest records 

 of antiquity. Homer describes them in con- 

 junction with vultures, as feeding upon the 

 slain : — 



" Whose limbs, unburied on the naked shore, 

 Devouring dogs and hungry vultures tore." 



These dogs herd together in troops, and 

 keep to their respective districts ; they display 

 all the qualities and propensities of their race, 

 and if they are tierce and ravenous, it is 

 because they are left to their own resources ; 

 since, to become at once domestic, they require 

 only to be owned and noticed. Colonel Sykes, 

 speaking of the Pariah dog of Dukhun, ob- 

 serves that it is there very numerous, and not 

 individual property, but breeds in the towns 

 and villages unmolested. He remarks that 

 the Turnspit dog, long-backed, with short 

 crooked legs, is frequently found among the 

 Pariahs. Tliere is also a petted minute variety 

 of the Pariah dog, usually of a white colour, 

 with long silky hair, corresponding to a com- 

 mon lap-dog of Europe, which is taught to 

 carry flambeaux and lanterns The last variety 

 noticed, is the dog with hair so short as to 

 appear nuked, like the Barbary or Egyptian 

 dog. It is known to Europeans by the iiamo 

 of the Polygar dog. Of the Domesticated 



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