7 lie Dog Tribe. 95 



glad to huddle in their little huts of snow, which are 

 hardly large enough to hold them and their families. So 

 he is supplied with a mat of long and dense fur, which 

 enables him to live where the smooth-haired dog would 

 be frozen to death. 



Should he belong to a pastoral race, he becomes 

 the faithful guardian of the flocks. Should he belong 

 to a race that lives by hunting, and has to contend 

 for food with the wild beasts, he becomes the fierce 

 and tireless hound. And should he belong to those 

 who only want him to make a pet of him, he becomes 

 a pet accordingly, useless, silly, and selfish. 



All the varieties of the domestic dog are purely 

 artificial, and as in these pages we treat of Nature, 

 and not of art, we make no mention of them. 



These, therefore, will be altogether omitted, and the 

 wild animals of the tribe alone taken into considera- 

 tion. 



The first to be mentioned is the well-known Dhole, 

 or Kholsun (Cuon DitkJniensis\ which is found in the 

 more western parts of British India 



The colour of the animal is a dark bay, the muzzle, 

 ears, and tip of the tail being darker than the rest of 

 the body. In size, it about equals a rather small grey- 

 hound. 



Common though the dhole is in the country which 

 it inhabits, it is seldom or never seen by the residents, 

 owing to its timid and retired mode of life By many 

 travellers, indeed, it has been considered as merely a 

 myth of the natives. In the dense jungles, however, 

 it is abundant enough. 



The most noticeable point concerning the dhole is its 

 fondness for the chase. For the purpose of procuring 

 prey it combines in large packs of some fifty or sixty 

 individuals, and by sheer force of numbers contrives 

 to overcome such large and powerful game as the wild 



