320 



THE DINGO. 





it will submit to wounds of the most fearful description. One of these animals had 

 been overtaken by its exasperated foes, and had been " beaten so severely that it was 

 supposed that all the bones had been broken, and it was left for dead." After its 

 supposed slayer had walked away from the apparently lifeless carcass, he was surprised 

 to see the slain animal arise, shake itself, and slink away into the bush. Another 

 apparently dead Dingo had been brought into the hut for the purpose of being skinned, 

 and had actually suffered the operator to remove the skin from, one side of its face 

 before it permitted any symptoms of life or sensation to escape it. 



Mr. Bennett further remarks, that this marvellous vitality of the Dingo accounts for 

 the fact that the skeletons of these animals are not found in the places where they 

 have been reported to lie dead. For, although the carrion-devouring beasts and birds 

 will soon carry away every particle of the flesh of a dead animal, they always leave 



DINGO. Qm/s Dingo. 



its larger bones as memorials of their ghoul-like repast. There are many similar 

 accounts of the Dingo, and its fast hold of life. 



As a general fact, the Dingo is not of a pugnacious character, and would at any time 

 rather run away than fight. But when it is hard pressed by its foes, and finds that its 

 legs are of no use, it turns to bay with savage ferocity, and dashes at its opponents 

 with the furious energy of despair. It carries these uncivilized customs into domesti- 

 cated life, and even when its restless limbs are subjected to the torpefying thraldom 

 of chain and collar, and its wild, wolfish nature allayed by regular meals and restricted 

 exercise, it is ever ready to make a sudden and unprovoked attack upon man or 

 beast, provided always that its treacherous onset can be made unseen. After the 

 attack, it always retreats into the farthest recesses of its habitation, and there crouches 

 in fear and silence, whether it has failed or succeeded in its cowardly malice. 



