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CHAPTER LXI. 



THE ESQUIMAUX DOG. 



THE various uses to which different foreign nations put their dogs altogether prohibit any 

 attempts at classification of the breeds by us. We therefore purpose commencing with the 

 canine inhabitants of the Northern latitudes, and select the Esquimaux Dog for consideration 

 in this chapter. 



It is an indisputable fact that this dog has been, almost from time immemorial, more 

 intimately associated with the daily life of his master, during the greater portion of the year, 

 than any other breed has been. It is therefore not surprising that, when specimens of the 

 Esquimaux dog have appeared in this country they have attracted considerable attention. 

 About 1876, Mr. Howard 'Mapplebeck, of Knowle, near Birmingham, was in the possession of 

 a very good specimen in Zouave, but since that period other dogs of the variety have 

 appeared who have put Zouave into the shade. 



Considerable attention seems to have been directed to the Esquimaux dog early in this 

 century, for Taplin, writing in 1803, in the ''Sportsman's Cabinet," devotes a considerable 

 portion of his space to his remarks upon this breed. We reproduce some portion of his 

 article, as it will be found to be of considerable interest when read in conjunction with the 

 views of Mr. Walter K. Taunton, who is now considered one of the highest modern authorities 

 on uncommon varieties of foreign dogs. 



Taplin writes thus of the " Greenland Dog ": 



"The animal passing under this denomination is but little known in this country, and 

 the only authentic particulars respecting their origin and ability seem to center in the pro- 

 ductions of Captain Cooke and King, collaterally corroborated by various writers of somewhat 

 less celebrity. This, and the Kamtschadale dog are said to vary but lightly in figure, strength, 

 and appearance, though they differ a little upon the score of pliability and education. The 

 Greenland dog has greatly the predominance of a wolfish aspect, and, at the first view, seems 

 admirably calculated to excite the emotions of alarm. They are mostly much beyond the 

 line of mediocrity in size, are usually white, with a black face, not unfrequently pyebald, rarely 

 all brown, or black, but sometimes entirely white ; they have sharp noses, hair thick and 

 wavy, inclining to a twisty curl, short ears, and an oblique curvature in the tail ; a discordant 

 hoarseness in vociferating, which is more of a disquieted howl than an attempt to bark. 

 These dogs sleep abroad, forming an excavated bed in the snow, from whence but merely the 

 nose appears above it. They swim most admirably, and will hunt individually, or in a body, 

 the Arctic fox, seals on the ice, and the Polar bear : in the latter of which they are 

 used by the natives ; they are universally admitted to be excessively fierce, and, in the 

 manner of wolves, fly upon any of the few domestic animals which have been carried 

 into that country. They are so instinctively courageous, and so invincibly persevering, 

 that they will fight, even to death, among themselves ; and it may be seriously 



