THE MASTIFF TYPE. 21 



Mr. Bennet stated that the Thibet mastiff is bred on the 

 Himalaya mountains, on the borders of Thibet, for the 

 purpose of guarding the flocks and the women who attend 

 them. They are the watch dogs of the plateau, and guard 

 the women and homesteads while the Bhotans are away on 

 their trading excursions. 



Mr. Bennet stated that these dogs are the defenders of 

 almost every considerable mansion in Thibet and that he had 

 to pass by a row of wooden cages containing a number of 

 them, when on an embassy to the court of Tesloo Llama in 

 Thibet, and that they were so savage that it was unsafe to 

 approach them. 



Some years ago I met with a gentlemen who had seen many 

 of these dogs brought down to Calcutta for sale by the 

 Bhotans, and he said that they resembled Newfoundlands far 

 more than English mastiffs, and that the heads of all the 

 specimens that he saw were pointed and wolfish. In colour 

 they were generally of a dusky black, with light tan paws, 

 that some were a kind of dun approaching to fawn, and that 

 they stood not above 27 or 28 inches at shoulder, and in his 

 opinion, had little claim to be considered mastiffs. Subse- 

 quently to this I corresponded with Mr. Robert Shaw, chief 

 commissioner at Ladak, and I found that he had seen them 

 around Ladak, and his description was very similar to that 

 given me by the gentlemen whose opinion and statement I 

 have quoted. 



Dogs of a more distinct mastiff type are found in Mongolia, 

 some of a silver-grey colour with long hair and fine brush-like 

 stern. 



Some years ago now I met with two Asiatic mastiffs that 

 had been brought over from Russia, the one said to be a 



