THE DOGS OF AUSTRALASIA. 



47i 



tips are faults, and he suffers in compari- 

 son with Mr. Brooke's Myall. 



Specimens have occasionally been brought 

 home to England. Mr. W. K. Taunton, 

 who has had so much experience in the 

 acclimatising of foreign breeds of the dog, 

 was, I believe, among the first to import 

 the Dingo, concerning which he writes : 



DINGO. 



FROM THE MELBOURNE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. 



" Like most wild dogs, the Dingo bears 

 a considerable resemblance to the wolf, 

 especially in head, which is wide between 

 the ears. The body is rather long, with a 

 moderately short and thick coat and bushy 

 tail, which, when the dog is in motion, is 

 generally carried high and slightly curled, 

 but not over the hip. The colour is al- 

 most invariably a reddish brown ; white 

 feet and a white tip to the tail are looked 

 upon as indicating sheep-dog cross. The 

 Dingo stands about 22 inches .at the 

 shoulder, and is a strongly made, very 

 active dog, with powerful jaws, and teeth 

 unusually large in proportion to the animal's 

 size. I see no reason why the Dingo should 

 not become as domesticated as any other dog 

 within a short space of time. Possibly it 

 might take a generation or two to breed out 

 their innate wildness, but much would depend 

 upon the conditions under which the puppies are 

 reared. There is a general impression that these 

 dogs are treacherous and not to be trusted. I 

 have owned two of this breed, and cannot say 

 as far as my experience goes that I have found 

 them so. My best specimen 1 gave to a 



friend in Paris, to be located in the Jardin 

 des Plantes. These dogs do not bark, but 

 make a peculiar noise which can scarcely be 

 called howling." 



Mr. H. C. Brooke, who has kept in all 

 seventeen specimens in England, and has 

 successfully bred from them, informs me 

 that they learn to bark, after a fashion, 

 if kept continually with domestic 

 dogs. Two of his breeding are 

 now in the Zoological Gardens, 

 Regent's Park, and he has recently 

 succeeded in breeding one entirely 

 white puppy, which is a rarity, 

 although his Chelsworth Myall 

 was white. Mr. Brooke's experi- 

 ence has been that the Dingo may 

 certainly be trained to docility. 



PURE WHITE DINGO PUPPY. 

 BRED BY MR. H. C. BROOKE. 



His Myall, undoubtedly the best ever 

 brought to England, and a great prize 

 winner, made a companion of a pet chicken. 

 This same dog, although caught wild, was 

 of high intelligence, and was broken to 

 ferrets in half an hour. He was often shut 

 up alone in a barn with ferrets, and would 

 kill the rats as they were bolted, but 

 would never attempt to injure a ferret. 



Kangaroo Hound. In a country in 

 which kangaroo, wallaroo, and wallaby are 



