ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN VARIETIES OF THE DoG. 869 
Another variety of Indian Dog is Richardson’s Canis 
familiaris var. novecaledonie, Carrier Indian Dog. The Attuah, 
or Carrier Indians of New Caledonia, possess a variety of Dog 
which differs from the northern races,—‘‘ It was the size of a 
large Turnspit dog, and had somewhat the same form of body ; 
but it had straight legs, and its erect ears gave it a different 
physiognomy.” 
The Spitz Dog, Mr. J. A. Allen informs us, is, with little 
doubt, a domesticated subarctic variety of the Prairie Wolf. 
Sir John Richardson, in the Appendix to Back’s ‘ Narrative, 
1836 (p. 256), remarks :—‘*‘ Indeed the wolves and the domesticated 
dogs of the fur countries are so like each other that it is not easy 
to distinguish them at a small distance; the want of strength and 
courage of the former being the principal difference. The 
offspring of the wolf and Indian dog are prolific, and are prized 
by the voyagers as beasts of draught, being stronger than the 
ordinary dog.” 
The origin of the ordinary Indian Dog of North America is 
obscure; but Richardson, who names it Canis familiaris var. 
Canadensis, North American Dog, throws much light on its 
origin :—‘“‘ By the above title I wish to designate the kind of dog 
which is most generally cultivated by the native tribes of Canada 
and the Hudson Bay countries. It is intermediate in size and 
form between the two preceding varieties; and by those who 
consider the domestic races of the dog to be derived from wild 
animals, this might be termed the offspring of a cross between 
the prairie and gray wolves..... The fur of the North 
American dog is similar to that of the Esquimo dog breed, and 
of the wolves. The prevailing colours are black and gray, mixed 
with white. Some of them are entirely black. . . .” He quotes 
from Theodat’s ‘Canada,’ written in 1680, to show that at the 
early period, and “perhaps even before the arrival of the 
Europeans, they formed an esteemed article of food of the 
natives.” Confirmatory of the theory of the Re-Columbian origin 
of the Indian Dog may be cited the following extract, from 
Hakluyt’s ‘ Voyages,’ regarding the Indian dogs seen on Cape 
Breton Island, 1598:—‘‘ Here divers of our men went on land 
upon the very Cape, where at their arrival they found the spittes 
of oke of the savages which had roasted meate a little before. 
And as they viewed the countrey, they sawe divers beastes and 
