THE NEW HOLLAND DINGO. 189 
emit a strong odour, and in fighting domestic dogs 
snap very severely. The number of their pups is 
equal to that of domestic dogs, littering in some 
hollow log, deserted ant-hill, hole in the ground, or 
dense brush cover. 
If we may generalise a fact related by Mr Oxley, 
Surveyor-General of New South Wales, and re- 
corded in his Journal, the Dingos possess the quality 
of mutual attachment in a degree far exceeding all 
other brute animals. His words are, “ About a 
week ago we killed a native dog and threw his body 
on a small bush; in returning past the same spot 
to-day, we found the body removed three or four 
yards from the bush and the female in a dying state 
lying close beside it ; she had apparently been there 
from the day the dog was killed, being so weakened 
and emaciated as to be unable to move on our ap- 
proach ; it was deemed mercy to dispatch her.” * 
_ Domestic dogs falling in their power are imme- 
diately devoured.t They hunt in pairs or in small 
families of five or six, and their fierceness and acti- 
vity is equal to, if not more than a match for, the 
most powerful dogs of Europe. They possess the 
daring courage of the present group far superior to 
that of wolves, having been known to chase sport- 
ing dogs to the fect of their masters. One brought 
to England attacked and-would have destroyed an 
ass, if he had not been prevented: another in the 
menagerie of Paris would fiy at the bars of cages 
where he saw a panther, a jaguar, or a bear. Do- 
* Oxley’s Journal, &c. p. 110. 
+ P. Cunningham. Two Years in New South Wales, 
