THE DINGO. 69 



They seem to worry the sheep for the mere pleasure 

 it gives them, for it is very seldom they eat any of the 

 animal after they have killed it. They are so cunning 

 that it is almost useless to set traps for them. 



Their sense of smell is so acute that persons who 

 put out poisoned meat for them are obliged to handle 

 the meat with a fork in preparing and placing it, as 

 they will not touch it if it has on it the smell of a 

 human hand, and in this you cannot deceive them, 

 especially in those districts where the white man has 

 proved himself to be their enemy. 



He does not bark. His cry is precisely that of the 

 jackal. Some maintain that the dingo and the jackal 

 are one species ; however, that is disputed. 



It is argued by some persons that he is not a native 

 of Australia, because not a marsupial, as about all of the 

 fur-bearing animals of Australia are. Those familiar 

 with the natural history of the island-continent put 

 them down as native, and so, for the present, at any 

 rate, they must be regarded. 



Sir Thomas Mitchell, speaking of the doings and 

 efforts of the natives to tame the brute, says that the 

 native women are often seen nursing them as they 

 nurse their children, and it is not an uncommon occur- 

 rence to see a woman with a child at one breast and a 

 young dog at the other. 



