norH] ANIMALS UNDER DOMESTICATION 553 
as maikang to the Makusi and as carasisi or savanna dog to the 
colonists; in external appearance it approaches in many ways the 
Guiana fox, Canis azarae, but differs, ete... . The Indians assured 
Schomburgk that they even hunt deer and the stragglers from the 
bush-hog troops. ... The maikang has an especial value for the 
Indians in that it makes an excellent cross with their dogs, the cross 
being especially good hunters. ... A tamed maikang is one of the 
most treasured possessions of an Indian, who will feed it on cooked 
flesh, fish, and fruit, especially ripe plantains. ... One animal 
measured 2 feet 2 inches from tip of snout to root of tail, the tail 
102 inches (SR, m1, 196). 
718. Mention of the habit of such wild dogs hunting in packs is 
not wanting. On the upper Berbice, while some of the Indians were 
hunting, they met a pack of wild dogs. “Our own dogs,” says 
Schomburgk, “secured one, and as Indians are generally fond of 
crossing their breed, Acouritch (the Carib) tied it to a tree, to take 
it with him when he returned from the chase. ... Hendrick... 
told me that the pack might have amounted to 30 or more. In 
figure he likened them to the bull terrier—the ears rounded and 
hanging, the color reddish brown” (ScA, 325). So, again, Wallace 
speaks of a wild dog or fox of the forests. It hunts in small packs. 
It is easily domesticated, but is very scarce (ARW, 316). Barrington 
Brown describes how, on the Cartoonie branch of the Puruni, he 
passed a red cliff and hill on one side of the river, where he was 
informed there was a colony of wild dogs. He was told that they 
were of small size, with drooping ears like a lap dog’s, and of a 
brown color; that they lived in burrows in the ground and barked 
like dogs. But as he did not see them he could not speak positively 
as to their identity, but believed them to be the South American 
wild dog, Canis azarae (BB, 44). Bates makes record of the ra- 
posa, a kind of wild dog, with very long tapering muzzle and black 
and white speckled hair. ... The one mentioned was taken from 
a burrow in the earth in the forests bordering the Teffé, near Ega, 
upper Amazon (HWB, 304). It seems to me quite possible that the 
mythical “ Warracabba tiger” has taken its origin from these 
indigenous wild dogs hunting in packs. 
719. The best hunting dogs, those apparently crossbred from the 
indigenous ones, have a long time spent upon their training and are 
fed regularly, each dog, as a rule, being only trained to hunt one 
particular kind of game. The superstitions relative to the training 
and education of dogs are recorded elsewhere (WER, vt, sec. 234). 
A high value is set upon good hunting dogs, which constitute an 
important item of trade and barter. Brett speaks of visiting an 
60160°—24——36 + 
