32 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE DOG. 



for the dead or wounded are hardly missed ere others hava 

 rushed into their places. 



Colonel Baber says, (Trans. Asiat. Soc.) " As often as I 

 have met with them, they have been invariably in packs of 

 from thirty to perhaps sixty. They must be very formidable, 

 as all animals aie very much afraid of them. Frequently 

 remains of hogs and deer have been brought to me which 

 have been taken overnight by these wild dogs. The natives as- 

 sert that they kill tigers and cheetahs, and there is no doubt of the 

 fact." It would appear that the Dhole is susceptible of being 

 tamed, if taken young; adults are not to be made any thing 

 of, (Hodgson.) In Ceylon, there is a variety of Dhole of a 

 bay color, very fierce, but more solitary in its habits. In 

 Sumatra, there is a wild dog of smaller size, very like a fox, 

 of an ashy gray color, with sharp muzzle and black whiskers. 

 In Java there exists a wild dog about the size of a wolf, of a 

 brownish color. Colonel Sykes brought a Dhole to England 

 some years ago, and presented him to the Zoological Society 

 of London the first specimen, I believe, ever brought living 

 to Europe. 



THE WILD DOG OP CHINA. 



This dog is very like the Dhole, but is usually less in size, 

 and its ears are smaller and more pointed ; its color is a 

 bright bay. Of its habits in its native country we know little, 

 further than that they are, like those of its Indian congener, 

 at once predatory and gregarious. I saw one that had been 

 brought over to this country, and which appeared exceedingly 

 tame and playful. I found, however, that it was very 

 treacherous, for although it had suffered me to caress it with 

 my hand, and had even taken bread from me, the moment I 

 turned to depart, it plunged after me and snapped at my legs ; 

 fortunately, however, nothing suffered but the cloth of my 

 trousers. I have been told that this wild dog is identical with 

 that of Ceylon, but I want data on whioh to found an opinion. 



THE AGUARA OP SOUTH AMERICA. 



When the new world was first discovered, the natives were 

 found in possession of domesticated dogs, very different in ap- 

 pearance from any of the European races ;* and besides 

 these were found several wild canines, called Aguaras. The 



la this fact to be lost sight of? 



