112 ZOOLOGY. 



DOGS. 



The dogs of the Indians on the Pacific coast differ greatly among themselves. Some common 

 kinds are believed to be a cross of the coyote. On the Klamath is a dog of good size, with a 

 short tail. This is not more than six or sevea inches long, and is bushy, or rather broad, it 

 being as wide as a man's hand. I was assured they were not cut, and I never noticed longer 

 tails on the pups. They have the usual erect ears and sharp muzzle of Indian dogs, but are 

 (what is unusual with Indian dogs) often brmdled gray. Throughout Oregon the native dog is 

 largely intermingled with imported dogs; but the Clallams, on Puget Sound, have a white dog, 

 with very soft hair, which is sheared like the wool of sheep, and of which they make blankets. 

 The fur or hair is at present generally intermixed with the ravellings of old English blankets 

 to facilitate twisting with yarn. These are stretched over a frame and then interwoven, leaving 

 a fringe (when finished) where the ends are separated. — G. 



Note. — I sent to the Smithsonian one "dog's wool blanket," made of this material, and 

 one of dog's wool and duck feathers mixed. All the Clallam dogs that I saw vfQXQ pure white; 

 but they have the sharp nose, pointed ear, and hang-dog, thievish appearance of other Indian 

 dogs. — S. 



The question of intermixture of the dog and coyote is, I suppose, an unsettled one; at least 

 I do not know whether naturalists admit the perpetuation of the hj'brid. It is, however, a 

 matter of popular belief. 



Lewis and Clark speak of the dogs as being remarkably small. They are much smaller than 

 the Sioux dogs; ears erect and pointed like the wolf; hair short and smooth, except on the tail, 

 where it is long and straight, like that of an ordinary cur; head long; nose pointed; eyes small; 

 colors, parti-colored, black, white, brown, and brindle predominate, (I have noticed brindle 

 principally in California.) None of the Oregon Indians eat their dogs; they use them for 

 driving elk and deer. 



I met one peculiar looking dog on Eel river, in the interior of northern California, among 

 very wild Indians. It had short legs and long body, like a turnspit. — G. 



The Indian dogs about the Dalles of the Columbia are so varied in appearance that no special 

 description can be given. We might, however, make two types. The large, (yellow or brindled,) 

 about the size of a foxhound, but much more slender, and the small, resembling the ^'■turnspit 

 Mnd," of which Mr. Gibbs speaks. The latter are generally white, or spotted liver and white, 

 or black and white. This kind is kept more as a playmate for the children and a pet for the 

 women. There are besides all sizes and colo^-s, the result of crossing with each other and with 

 imported animals. 



The native dogs of Oregon subsist well upon fish, which they even do not hesitate to eat raw. 

 Salmon, which is their common food, will make any blooded dog from the States very ill ; 

 scarcely one dog out of ten recovers. This "salmon sickness," as it is called, attacks the dog 

 but once. It may, after all, be nothing more than the common dog distemper. — S. 



VULPES MACROURUS, Baird. 



Western Fox. 



Vulpes macrourm, Baird, in Stanebury's Rep. June, 1S52, 309. 

 Ib., Gen. Kep. Mammals, 1857, 130. 



[For synonymy anrl sp. cli. see chap. 2, p. 91.] 



Poxes are very numerous near Fort Dalles, Oregon, and are apparently all of the long-tailed 

 species. Good specimens are contained in my collection, marked 25, 33, 34. In examining a 



