174 THE RED DOGS. 
of Beloochistan, one of two species of wild canines 
found in the woody mountains of South-eastern 
Persia, and probably extending along the high lands 
west of the Indus into Caubul. It is described as a 
red wild dog, very shy, and extremely ferocious ; 
hunting by day in packs of twenty or thirty, seizing 
a bullock or a buffalo without hesitation, and tearing 
the animal to pieces in a few moments. A British 
officer, who traversed a part of this wild region of 
alternate jungle and sandy plateau, deeply scarred 
into long and parallel furrows, barren and vertical, 
so that no quadruped can cross many without com- 
plete exhaustion, observed a group of these red dogs 
basking on the edge of the forest, yet on the watch 
for game; but they withdrew into cover before he 
could fire at or completely examine them: they 
were, however, long, and rather low on the legs, of 
a rufous colour, with a hairy tail and a powerful 
structure: their foot-marks in the sandy soil were 
very distinct, and indicated that their feet were 
exactly like those of a hound. The native peasants 
related that they keep aloof from human habitations, 
and consequently do little injury to human pro- 
perty; but that no animal, especially if it be 
entangled in the billowy ridges before mentioned, 
can escape the pertinacity of their pursuit. Having 
demanded some particulars about their structure, 
they pointed to a domestic dog then present, and 
said that the Belueh was very like it, but. larger 
and destitute of white colour, which marked the 
domestic animal; but that there existed, farther to 
