ORDER V. THE CAIiNIVORA. Go 



Tlic Spanisli Iberian is cquivi)C:i]ly prai.-^cd by Xeincsianus. 



Tt is tlicnce, however, ^yc h;ne ubtuiiied dogs of a very fine scent; and 

 ()|)[ii;ui likewise mentions tiie Iberes ; but tlic question remains, whether 

 .\siatic Iberia is not meant by both? It was from that vicinity that they 

 olitaincd tlicir Phasiania, sujijiosed to be used in fowHng'. The I\/ro- 

 1/1(1 II — so called on account of their hard feet — were a breed introduced 

 iVoui tiio tSicambri, beyond the Illiine, and also believed to have been adapted 

 to the same purpose ; but the AUh<im<iiii(in, from the vicinity of I'indus, in 

 ^Macedonia, are only praised for a circumventing sagacity, as mentioned by 

 Gratius Faliscus. 



In Ital)' proper, the Etruscan and Umbrian breeds alone seem to have 

 been valued; the first, according to Nemcsianus, was a shaggy Harrier, 

 and may have been introduced from Spain by the Iberian colony which 

 forced its way into Liguria ; the second, a dog nearly allied to our Iilood- 

 liound, since it was held by a linune, or thong, and, guided by the nose, 

 led the hunter on to the game. 



In Persia, the ruling dynasties were in general descended from con(pier- 

 ing tribes from Central Asia, and the princes possessed vast hunting packs, 

 as is attested by Xenophon. We find ]Megasthencs first noticing true j\Ias- 

 tiffs with drooping ears ; these were most likely known among the Greeks 

 by the name of Candarides and Seri. The East had .also, as we have seen, 

 jiouerful Cattle Dogs and true Greyhounds. A race of this kind is like- 

 wise represented in the hunting scenes depicted in the catacombs of the 

 Egyptian Pharaohs, attesting the remote antiquity of the breed ; and wc 

 find them again in the Persian scidpturcs at Takhti I'oustan, whicli belong 

 to the Parthian era. But with regard to La[)di)gs, none are noticed in 

 Asia, nor does it appear they attracted nuich attention among the (irccks, 

 though, at a later period, the lionian ladies were very partial to the Mcli- 

 tertn, or Maltese breed. 



Thus we find the early Greeks acquainted, at first, with only two races 

 of foreign origin, clearly made out — the Greyhound, and a Shepherd or 

 rather Drover's Dog, which answered also for hunting and watching prop- 

 erty. They had, besides, one or two of indigenous derivation, which were 

 intermixed with those hunting by scent, and believed to be of vulpine 

 extraction. At a later period, the true jNIastifis became known, and the 

 Lapdog of Malta was imported. In proof that neither they nor the 

 Romans had any notion of such packs of hounds as are at present known, 

 we have only to refer to Ovid's description of the death of Act;eon, to be 

 satisfied that his hounds (no doubt the picture of a complete set in the age 

 of Augustus) were, nevertheless, a mixture of dogs, with very difierent 

 qualities and characters in scent, sight, velocity, voice, size, colors, and 



