310 WANDERINGS OF A 



may well be conceded that the dog, of all four-footed beasts, 

 has a claim to our kindness and protection. The Himalayan 

 wild dog, when taken young, is easily tamed, and this rule 

 would seem to hold good with the wild races of other countries ; 

 indeed, although not generally acknowledged, the wolf, jackal, 

 and hyena, get much attached to man, if carefully reared and 

 treated with kindness. The semi-domesticated dogs, in com- 

 mon with the wild species, have erect ears ; and this would 

 Seem to become more ' pronounced' the nearer they assimilate 

 to the latter. This circumstance I have noted in respect to 

 domesticated sheep, goats, etc., when left more or less to shift 

 for themselves, as is apparent on the Himalayas and Alps. 



The proximity of the snow-clad ranges creates frequent 

 and sudden alterations in temperature along the sub-Hima- 

 layan valleys and adjacent plains. The cool weather sud- 

 denly sets in at Eawul Pindee about the end of September, 

 and continues up to the beginning of May, when the strong 

 heats commence. The harvest is now over, and the quails 

 that had congregated during the ripening of the grain dis- 

 perse among the scrub and wastes. Now the soil gets baked 

 and cracked, so that when rain falls the thick mass of surface 

 alluvium becomes thoroughly saturated, and at length disin- 

 tegrates and is carried to lower levels or into watercourses, 

 to be swept by the sudden freshets to the main-drainage chan- 

 nels that empty themselves into the Indus. This accounts for 

 the very uneven and broken-up aspect of the country around- 

 Eawul Pindee, more especially in the direction of the Hima- 

 layas. Although the heat of midsummer is often intense, and 

 as high as 100° Fahr. in well-built houses, and 140° in the 

 sun, it is not of long duration, being frequently broken by 

 thunder-storms, which are connected with the atmospheric 

 conditions talcing place at the same time on the high ranges. 



