Early History of the Dog ii 



in confinement for several months in order to study them. Some of these 

 produced young while in his possession. From the "Proceedings" of the 

 Zoological Society for 1833 we extract as follows: "The Buansu preys at 

 night as well as by day and hunts in packs of six to ten individuals, main- 

 taining the chase rather by powers of smell than by the eye, and generally 

 overcoming its quarry by force and perseverance. In hunting it barks like 

 a hound, but its bark is peculiar and unlike that of the cultivated breeds of 

 dogs and the strains of the jackal and the fox. Adults in captivity made 

 no approach toward domestication, but a young one, which Mr.Hodgson 

 obtained when it was not more than a month old, became sensible of caresses, 

 distinguished the dogs of its own kennel from others, as well as its keepers 

 from strangers, and in its whole conduct manifested to the full as much 

 intelligence as any of his sporting dogs of the same age." Following the 

 account of this dog the following note appears: A letter was read, ad- 

 dressed to the Secretary, by W. A. Wooler, Esq., giving an account of a 

 wild dog in the Presidency of Bombay, locally known as "Dhale," which 

 was probably a misspelling of the more usual word, " Dhole." The habits 

 of this dog were described by Mr. Wooler and were similar to those of the 

 Buansu. 



Colonel Sykes, an extensive traveller and keen sportsman, writing in 

 1831, described the variety named by him Canis Duckhunensis, which he 

 said was the wild dog of Dukhun, or Deccan. "Its head is compressed 

 and elongated, its nose not very sharp. The eyes are oblique, the pupils 

 round, the irides light-brown. The expression is that of a coarse, ill- 

 natured Persian greyhound, without any resemblance to the jackal, the 

 fox, or the wolf; and in consequence essentially distinct from the Canis 

 Quao, or Sumatrensis of General Hardwicke. Ears long, erect, and some- 

 what rounded at the top, without any replication of the tragus. Limbs 

 remarkably large and strong in relation to the bulk of the animal, its size 

 being intermediate between the wolf and the jackal." This dog was called 

 Kolsun by the natives, and some two years later Colonel Sykes had an oppor- 

 tunity to compare some of them with the Buansu. The report thereon 

 appears in the "Transactions" of the Asiatic Society for 1834: "And showed 

 that the two dogs are perfectly similar in their general form and in the 

 form of the cranium, and that in his specimen, as well as that of Mr. Hodg- 

 son, the hinder tubercular tooth of the lower jaw was wanting." There 

 was a difference in their coats, that of the Buansu being darker and denser. 



