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SECTION V. 
THE LESS FAMILIAR 
AND FOREIGN DOGS.* 
CHAPTER LV. 
THE DOGS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
“ They bring 
Mastiffs and monerels, all that in a string 
Could be got out, or could but lug a hog, 
Ball, Eatall, Cuttail, Blackfoot—bitch and dog.” 
The Warrigal, or Dingo.—Apart from the 
marsupials, Australia is not rich in indi- 
genous fauna, but it has the distinction of 
possessing in the Dingo one of the very few 
existing wild dogs of the world—possibly the 
only true wild dog that is comparable in type 
and character with our domesticated breeds. 
Fossil remains of this animal have been 
found in the cavern deposits of Australia 
MR. H. C. BROOKE'S DINGO MYALL. 
indicating that it was known to the aborigines 
long before the arrival of the European 
colonists. But Dr. Wallace, Prof. M’Coy, 
Mr. Aflalo, and other zoologists who have 
studied the question of its origin, are of 
* With the exception of the Hon. Florence Amherst’s 
alone is responsible for this section cn the dogs of other co 
untries ; 
MICHAEL DRAYTON. 
opinion that it owes its introduction to 
early Malay settlers from Asia.. It is found 
nowhere else than in Australia—not even 
in the island of Tasmania. 
Warrigal was the name applied to it by 
the natives, whose word “‘ Dingo”’ was used 
only in reference to the domestic dogs of 
the settlers. Like its aboriginal master, 
the Warrigal has been dispersed almost to 
extinction ; and although some stray couples 
may slink like thieves in the train of cara- 
vans journeying towards the interior, yet 
even in the parts unfrequented by travellers 
it is becoming rare; while in the inhabited 
districts baits impregnated with strychnine 
have done their work, for the stock farmers 
quickly discovered that the wild dog was 
an inveterate despoiler of the sheepfold, and 
that a crusade against it, supported by a 
Government grant of five shillings for every 
tail, was imperative. 
So rare now is this larrikin among Aus- 
tralian animals, that it is seldom to be seen 
excepting in the zoological gardens of Mel- 
bourne and Sydney, where specimens are 
usually preserved in close confinement. The 
photograph of one such has been kindly 
sent to me by the Director of the Gardens 
in Melbourne. I am told that this is a 
typical and pure example of the original 
Warrigal, but his white feet and white tail 
erudite chapter on the Oriental Greyhounds, the Editor 
but he desires to acknowledge indebtedness to 
Mr. H. C, Brooke for special information, and for the loan of several interesting photographs. 
