MAMMALS AS AIDS TO SPORT 367 



It is here not so much a question of speed as of size and 

 strength, by which otherwise impracticable ground can be tra- 

 versed, while the personal risk of the sportsman is reduced. On 

 the other hand, an element of different kind is introduced by the 

 nervousness and uncertain temper of the elephant, both of which 

 are decidedly in favour of the quarry. 



The Dog (Canis familiaris). — The Dog has been the com- 

 panion of man in the chase from the remotest times, and to all 

 appearance keenly shares in the exhilarating pleasures of pursuit. 



Fig. 1260. — Pointer 



He has proved singularly susceptible to the selective influence 

 of man, practised for unnumbered centuries, the result of which 

 has been the evolution of a very large number of breeds, many 

 of which have been brought into existence for sporting pur- 

 poses. We know that the ancient Egyptians possessed several 

 breeds of dogs, one of which was a sort of white hound (see p. 

 222) used in hunting antelopes, for which sport a similar kind 

 of dog is to this day employed in North Africa. They also 

 used packs of mixed character, though the nature of the breeds 

 is doubtful. Upon the Assyrian sculptures we find hunting- 

 mastiffs and greyhounds figured, while inscriptions inform us that 

 still other breeds existed, some of which appear to have been 

 used in sport. 



Sporting Dogs {Canes venatici) of various kinds were possessed 



