470 



SECTION V. 

 THE LESS FAMILIAR AND FOREIGN DOGS.* 



CHAPTER LV. 



THE DOGS OF AUSTRALASIA. 



" They bring 

 Mastiffs ami mongrels, all that in a string 

 Could be got out, or could but lug a hog, 

 Ball, Eatall, Cnttail, Blackfoot — bitch and dog." 



Michael Drayton. 



The Warrigal, or Dingo. — Apart from the 

 marsupials, Australia is not rich in indi- 

 genous fauna, but it has the distinction of 

 possessing in the Dingo one of the very few 

 existing wild dogs of the world — possibly the 

 only true wild dog that is comparable in type 

 and character with our domesticated breeds. 

 Fossil remains of this animal have been 

 found in the cavern deposits of Australia 



MR. H. C. BROOKES DINGO MYALL. 



indicating that it was known to the aborigines 

 long before the arri^•al of the European 

 colonists. But Dr. Wallace, Prof. 'SVCoy, 

 Mr. Afialo, and other zoologists who have 

 studied the question of its origin, are of 



opinion that it owes its introduction to 

 early Malay settlers from Asia. It is found 

 nowhere else than in Australia- — not even 

 in the island of Tasmania. 



Warrigal was the name applied to it by 

 the natives, whose word " Dingo " was used 

 onlv in reference to the domestic dogs of 

 the settlers. Like its aboriginal master, 

 the Warrigal has been dispersed almost to 

 extinction ; and although some stray couples 

 may slink like thieves in the train of cara- 

 vans journeying towards the interior, yet 

 c\-en in the parts unfrequented by travellers 

 it is becoming rare ; while in the inhabited 

 districts baits impregnated with strychnine 

 have done their work, for the stock farmers 

 (quickly discovered that the wild dog was 

 an inveterate despoiler of the sheepfold, and 

 that a crusade against it, supported by a 

 Government grant of five shillings for every 

 tail, was imperative. 



So rare now is this larrikin among Aus- 

 tralian animals, that it is seldom to be seen 

 excepting in the zoological gardens of Mel- 

 bourne and Sydney, where specimens are 

 usually preserved in close confinement. The 

 photograph of one such has been kindly 

 sent to me by the Director of the Gardens 

 in Melbourne. I am told that this is a 

 typical and pure example of the original 

 Warrigal, but his white feet and white tail 



* With the exception of the Hon. Florence Amherst's erudite chapter on the Oriental Greyhounds, the Editor 

 alone is responsible for this section en the dogs of other countries ; but he desires to acknowledge indebtedness to 

 Mr. H. C. Brooke for special information, and for the loan of several interesting photographs. 



