130 NATURAL HISTORY. 



running is far from exemplary. Captain Lyon says " they are constantly fighting, and I do not 

 recollect to have seen one receive a flogging without instantly wreaking his passion on the ears of 

 his neighbour." So that it is always best to trust to a good leader than to any amount of whipping, 

 as the latter may only involve the whole concern team, sledge, driver, and all in hopeless and 

 inextricable confusion. "Among the Eskimo on the western shores of Davis Straits, a loose Dog 

 usually precedes the sledge, and, by carefully avoiding broken places in the ice, acts as a guide to the 

 sledge-team, which carefully follows his lead." 



Besides their use as draught animals, these Dogs are employed in Bear and Seal hunting. Their 

 skin is also valuable, and the natives are extremely fond of their flesh, although, as the Dog is 

 getting gradually scarcer, they can seldom indulge in the dainty. 



THE DOMESTIC DOGS OF OTHER SAVAGE TEIBES. 



The Antarctic savages occasionally domesticate the Dingo. Of this Dog we shall give an account 

 later on. Many of the African savages such, for instance, as the Damaras, Namaquas, and Kaffirs 

 also keep Dogs. The first-named of these tribes take great care of the Dogs, and value them highly. 

 Mr. Andersson says he has " known them pay as much as two fine Oxen for a Dog." The Kaffir Dogs, 

 on the contrary, are thought very little of. Mr. Baldwin speaks of them as " a set of noisy curs, which 

 invariably, at the sight of a white man, tumble head-over-heels in all directions, upsetting everything, 

 as frightened as if they had seen an apparition. After the first alarm, they bait you unmercifully, and 

 for many minutes it is impossible to hear yourself speak. I don't know that I ever succeeded in 

 making friends with a real Kaffir cur in my life, not even a puppy ; and I scarcely ever saw, or knew, 

 or heard of one good for anything they do, indeed, lead the life of a Dog. They are well fed when 

 quite young, but afterwards they are expected to provide for themselves, and are consequently 

 wretchedly lean and mangy, but they continue to exist." 



Dogs are also half-tamed by the natives of South America, where there are, according to 

 Humboldt, two very distinct breeds, one " totally hairless with the exception of a small tuft of white 

 hair on the forehead and at the tip of the tail of a slate-grey colour, and without voice. This variety 

 was found by Columbus in the Antilles, by Cortes in Mexico, and by Pizarro in Peru (where it suffers 

 from the cold of the Cordilleras) ; and it is still very frequently met with in the warmer districts of 

 Peru, under the name of Peiros Chinos.'" 



The second kind, sometimes called Canis ingce, " belongs to the barking species, and has a pointed 

 nose and pointed ears. It is now used for watching sheep and cattle. It exhibits many varieties of 

 colour, induced by being crossed with European breeds. The Canis ingce follows man up the heights 

 of the Cordilleras. In the old Peruvian graves, the skeleton of this Dog is sometimes found resting at 

 the feet of the human mummy, presenting an emblem of fidelity frequently employed by the mediaeval 

 sculptors." 



This breed is also distinguished by great ferocity, and will bite strangers upon the slightest 

 provocation, or even without any provocation at all. With their masters, too, they are often very 

 surly. 



We now come to 



THE DOGS OF CIVILISED NATIONS, 



and we commence with the Greyhound and its near allies Dogs of swift flight, poor sense of smell, and 

 of a comparatively low order of intelligence, the brain-case being proportionally smaller than in any 

 other breed. 



THE DALMATIAN DOG. 



This is a comparatively unimportant breed ; it is employed in England solely for the purpose of 

 attending on carriages, from which circumstance it is often called the Carriage-dog. It is about the size 

 of a Greyhound, usually of a white colour spotted with black, and its hair is quite short. The 

 Danish Dog is a large sub- variety of the same breed. 



THE GREYHOUND. 



The various breeds of this Dog (see figure on p. 117) are the most elegant in the whole species. 

 The expression " a line of beauty is perpetual motion," hackneyed though it be, occurs to every one in. 



