NOTES ON WILD DOGS, &c. 499 



wild dog " stands considerably higher than the common jackal ; he 

 is also much longer in the body and more wolfish-looking. The 

 colour is a reddish-yellow ; the hair is soft and woolly, and about 

 two inches in length. The tail is long and bushy, and carried like 

 a fox's, but it is not so full as the brush of the latter animal." 



Colonel Kinloch is speaking of the wild dog as it is modified to 

 suit the rigorous climate of the Tibetan table-land, and you will see 

 that the same animal puts on a much shorter and thinner and darker 

 coat in the hot jungles of the Vindhyan region. Kinloch says that 

 he has often been in their vicinity but has very seldom seen them. 



Captain Forsyth (p. 357) relates that he fell in Avith a tribe of 

 Gond wood-cutters who had a breed of ''fine large red-coloured 

 dogs, with the aid of which they were able to run down and spear 

 many deer and wild pigs. This red breed of pariahs is certainly " 

 (he continues) " the indigenous one of these parts [Pachmarh 

 country] whether or not," as he suspects, " descended from the wild 

 species that frequent these jungles." 



Darwin {Animals and Plants under Domestication, Vol. I., p. 23 

 states that " the natives of Guiana have partially domesticated tAvo 

 aboriginal species, and still cross their dogs with them ; these two 

 species belong to a quite different type from the North American 

 and European wolves." This suggests that we should make ;m 

 examination of the Gond dogs, to see whether they possess tlie 

 dental and other characteristics of Cyon. Professor Duncan, quot- 

 ing Captain Williamson from Youatt, also states (Cassell's Natural 

 History) that the wild dogs in some parts of India are '^half-domes- 

 ticated, and used in the noble sport of pig-sticking." Darwin (op. 

 cit. II., p. 144) says that Indian wild dogs breed in captivity. Thi 

 might lead to partial domestication in the second or third generation 

 perhaps sufficient to admit of crossing for purposes of sport. But the 

 whole subject of the semi-domesticated dogs of the wild tribes of India 

 requires looking into. Perhaps some member of our Society residing 

 in the Central Provinces will kindly favour ns v/ith notes on theye 

 Gond dogs. It does not seem impossible that the pariah dog and 

 the wild dog should inter-breed occasionally, as jackals and pariahs 

 do ; and the uniformity of colour in those red dogs mentioned by 

 Forsyth is indicative of a feral origin, as variation of colour on the 



