THE DOG FAMILY— GREYHOUND. 



217 



the whole concourse left the village in an orderly 

 jnanner, presenting a magnificent sight. They sel- 

 dom went very far, for the nearest woods furnished 

 plentiful game, and, owing to the zeal and skill of 

 the Dogs, the hunt was an easy one for the Men. 

 Arrived at a forest of bushes, the hunters formed a 

 wide circle and let the Dogs loose. The latter en- 

 tered the thicket and caught nearly every animal it 

 contained. Bustards, Guinea-fowls, and many other 

 birds which the Dogs had captured, were brought to 

 tne. An Antelope never escaped them, for from four 

 to six Dogs always united in pursuing it. 

 Daumas' Account of General Daumas tells us about the 



the Greyhound of Greyhounds of the western part 

 the Desert. of the desert: " In the Sahara, as 

 well as in all other, Arabian countries, the Dog is 

 only a neglected, importunate servant whom one 

 repels, in spite of his great usefulness both in watch- 

 ing the house and guarding the Cattle ; and the 

 Greyhound alone enjoys the affection, the esteem 

 and the tender consideration of his master. Rich 

 and poor consider him their inseparable cdmpanidn 

 in all chivalrous sports, which the Bedouins' ,foUow 

 with such zest. The Dog is carejEuUy tendp'd; spe^ 

 cially fed, being, as it were, allowed to eat out of the 

 master's dish, and the breed is kept strictly pure. 



"When the Greyhound is about three or four 

 months old, his education is begun. , The 

 boys let Mice run before him, and pit the 

 young racer against this game. In a. short 

 time the noble animal shows great pleasure 

 in such a chase and in a few weeks it can be 

 used against larger rodents. At the age of 

 five or six months it is taught to course the 

 Hare, the teaching of which presents much 

 greater difificulties. Then comes the turn of 

 the young Gazelles. They are approached 

 with great caution when resting by the side 

 of their mother. The Dog's attention is 

 directed to them, they are excited urttil they 

 grow restless and then are let loose. After 

 :Some practice the Greyhound becomes pas- 

 .sionately fond of hunting, even without much 

 encouragement. 



"Such practice continues until the noble 

 animal is a year old and has almost reached 

 his mature development. Still the 'Slugui' 

 is not employed in the chase until he is about 

 fifteen or sixteen rnonths old. From that 

 moment he is expected to do nearly the im- 

 possible: and he meets every expectation. 

 When such a Dog catches sight of a herd of 

 thirty or forty Antelope^, he trembles with 

 excitement and pleadingly looks up to his 

 master, who takes his water-pouch and moist- 

 ens the Dog's back and flanks, knowing that 

 the Dog will be more fortified by this than 

 by anything else. Finally the Greyhound is 

 :set free, and with a yelp of joy darts for the 

 prey like an arrow, always selecting the finest, state- 

 liest animal of the herd. As soon as he has caught 

 his Antelope, he immediately receives his rightful 

 part of the game, namely, the flesh of the ribs; for 

 he would turn with disdain from the intestines. 



" The noble Greyhound hunts only with his mas- 

 ter, for whom he displays great affection. When 

 the master has been absent for a few days the Grey- 

 hound rushes joyously out of the tent upon his 

 return and jumps into the saddle with one bound 

 to caress the Man whom he has missed so much. 

 Then the Arab says to him, ' My dear friend, excuse 



rne, it was necessary for me to leave you; but I will 

 go with you now, for I need meat; I am tired of 

 eating dates, and you will be kind enough to pro- 

 cure me some flesh.' The Dog, listening to all these 

 kind words, acts as if he understood every syllable. 

 The price of a Slugui, trained to catch the larger 

 kinds of Gazelles, is equal to that of a Camel; a 

 Greyhound which kills the larger Antelopes easily 

 brings a price equal to that of a fine Horse." 



The Italian The most graceful of the whole 



Greyhound, a Grace- Greyhound family is the Italian 



ful Dog. Greyhound ( Cams familiaris gra- 



jus italicus), a mere dwarf compared with the others, 



but a very well-formed dwarf, whose limbs and body 



display the greatest symmetry. His weight seldom 



exceeds six or seven pounds and the most valuable 



Italian Greyhound does not weigh over four pounds, 



in spite of his height, which reaches sixteen inches. 



In shape and color he corresponds closely to the 



Greyhound proper. 



The Scotch Grey- The smooth, thin fur and the con- 

 hound a Rough- sequent sensitiveness to cold, as 

 Coated Variety. Y^,g|l a.s their frequent occurrence 

 in Africa and Asia, indicate that the Greyhounds 

 originally came from hot countries. For the greater 

 part -these breeds retained all their peculiarities, even 

 after having been transplanted to the north but some 



TH£ PUG DOG. This very familiar little animal is a sort of a minialuio Bull- 

 dog, which he resembles in shape, and oil a small scale, in disposition. Landseer once 

 chose this Dog to represent "Impudence" in one of his paintings, and the selection 

 was not inapt. Pug-Dogs are easily spoiled by too much petting, and then make them- 

 selves very disagreeable. {Canis familiaris molossus fricator.) 



adapted themselves to the rougher climate. To 

 these latter belongs the Scotch Greyhound {Cants 

 familiaris grajus hibemicus) whose fur is about three 

 times as long as that of the common Greyhound, 

 and is so thick as to effectually protect it from cold. 

 The color is black or brown and white, sometimes 

 reddish brown brindled with gray. The pure breed 

 is now perhaps extinct, or at least is rarely met with. 

 Yet even those now commonly known are among the 

 stateliest of Dogs; they are more affectionate and 

 faithful than other Greyhounds, but have a quick 

 temper and may become dangerous to other Dogs. 



