86 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 
apparently sound sleep, they open their eyes at the slightest noise which is made 
near them, although they pay no attention to sounds when ata short distance. 
The general time of rest is during the daylight, in which they appear listless and 
inactive ; but the night no sooner sets in than all their faculties are awakened ; 
they commence their gambols, and continue in unceasing and rapid motion until 
the morning. While hunting for food, they are mute, but when in captivity or 
irritated, they utter a short growl like that of a young puppy. It is a singular 
fact, that their bark is so undulated as to give an idea that the animal is at a 
distance, although at the very moment he lies at your feet. Although the rage 
of a newly-caught fox is quite ungovernable, yet it very rarely happened that on 
two being put together they quarrelled. A confinement of a few hours often 
sufficed to quiet these creatures ; and some instances occurred of their being 
perfectly tame, although timid, from the first moment of their captivity. On 
the other hand, there were some which, after months of coaxing, never became 
more tractable. These we supposed were old ones. 
“‘ Their first impulse on receiving food is to hide it as soon as possible, even 
though suffering from hunger, and having no fellow-prisoners of whose honesty 
they are doubtful. In this case snow is of great assistance, as being easily piled 
over their stores, and then forcibly pressed down by the nose. I frequently 
observed my dog-fox, when no snow was attainable, gather his chain into his 
mouth, and in that manner carefully coil it so as to hide the meat. On moving away, 
satisfied with his operations, he of course had drawn it after him again, and some- 
times with great patience repeated his labours five or six times, until in a passion, 
he has been constrained to eat his food without its having been rendered luscious 
by previous concealment. Snow is the substitute for water to these creatures, 
and on a large lump being given to them, they break it in pieces with their 
feet, and roll on it with great delight. When the snow was slightly scattered on 
the decks, they did not lick it up as dogs are accustomed to do, but by repeatedly 
pressing with their nose, collected small lumps at its extremity, and then drew 
it into the mouth with the assistance of the tongue.” In another passage, 
Captain Lyon, alluding to the above mentioned dog-fox, says, “ He was small 
and not perfectly white ; but his tameness was so remarkable, that I could not 
afford to kill him, but confined him on deck in a small hutch, with a scope of chain. 
The little animal astonished us very much by his extraordinary sagacity: for, 
during the first day, finding himself much tormented by being drawn out repeatedly 
by his chain, he at length, whenever he retreated to his hut, took this carefully up 
