7776 Quadrupeds. 



voice of the Esquimaux dog in its native wilds is not a bark, but 

 a long, melancholy howl. I have had several in my possession, all of 

 which barked lustily, but they may have learnt this accomplishment 

 from the dogs of the fort. The similarity of appearance between this 

 dog and the barren ground wolf is very great. It is a hardy animal, 

 capable of enduring great extremes of cold and hunger ; but in the 

 latter case it becomes very ferocious, and instances have occurred of 

 children being devoured by it. 



There is no want of sagacity in the Esquimaux dog; its whole look 

 tells of its wisdom and cunning. It is very sociable and fond of its 

 master. When two of this breed of dogs begin fighting the whole 

 band light on one of the pair, and if not prevented will tear him in 

 pieces. 



The Hare Indian dog (var. lagopus) is the race domesticated among 

 the Indians of the Mackenzie River district. It is characterized by a 

 narrow, elongated and pointed muzzle, by erect sharp ears, and by a 

 bushy tail not carried erect, but only slightly curved upwards, as well 

 as by a fine silky hair, mixed with thick under fui". Its colour is 

 tolerably varied in the shades of brown, gray, black and white. Of 

 these tints the darkest are the most rare, a white or grayish white 

 being the most usual shade. Some writers have supposed this animal 

 to be a domesticated white fox, but the thing is highly improbable. 

 The Indian dog, though there are great differences in its size, has on 

 an average more than treble the proportions of this species of fox ; 

 moreover, it will not have connection with this or any other branch of 

 the subfamily Vulpinse, while its varied shades of colour are never 

 seen in the pure white pelt of the arctic fox ; with wolves, on the con- 

 trary, not only will they cohabit, but will also produce a hybrid off- 

 spring that will for several generations procreate one with another. 

 This fact manifests the close connection that both these varieties of 

 dogs have to the wolves, and would almost prove them identical. Thus 

 far I admit, but I do not, for reasons which I shall afterwards give, 

 consider them only domesticated wolves. They are, in my opinion, 

 specimens rather of the parent canine stock unaltered by human ex- 

 periments, and in appearance such as Adam might have named in the 

 garden of Eden. 



With foxes of any description neither these nor any other dogs 

 will copulate. At Fort Resolution I had a very fine pair of cross 

 foxes in confinement : they were kept within a roomy enclosure sur- 

 mounted with lofty stockades ; one of the windows of my dwelling- 

 house commanded this enclosure, and at it I used to spend hours 



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