CII.] 
OF SELBORNE. 
271 
LETTER CII. 
TO THE HONOURABLE DAINES BARRING TON. 
My near neighbour, a young gentleman in tlie service of the 
East India Company, has brought home a dog and a bitch of the 
Chinese breed from Canton ; such as are fattened in that country 
for the purpose of being eaten : they are about the size of a 
moderate spaniel ; of a pale yellow colour, with coarse bristling- 
hairs on their baclvs ; sharp upright ears, and peaked heads, 
which give them a very fux-like appearance. Their hind legs 
are unusually straight, without any bend at the hock or ham, to 
such a degree as to give them an awkward gait when they trot. 
When they are in motion, their tails are curved high over their 
hacks like those of some hounds ; they have a bare place each on 
the outside from the tip midway, that does not seem to be matter 
of accident, but is somewhat singular. Their eyes are jet black, 
small, and piercing ; the insides of their lips and mouths of the 
same colour, and their tongues blue. The bitch has a devr-claw 
on each hind leg ; the dog has none. A¥hen taken out into a 
field, the bitch shoAved some disposition for liunting, and dwelt 
on the scent of a covey of partridges, till she sprung them, giving 
tongue all the time. The dogs in South America aie dumb ; 
but these bark much in a short thick manner, like foxes ; and 
have a surly, savage demeanor like their ancestors, which are not 
domesticated, but bred up in sties, where they are fed for the 
table, with rice-meal, and other farinaceous food. These dogs 
having been taken on board as soon as weaned, could not learn 
much from their dam ; yet they did not relish flesh wdieii they 
came to England. In the islands of the Pacific Ocean the dogs 
are bred up on vegetables, and would not eat flesh when offered 
them by our circumnavigators. 
We believe that all dogs, in a state of nature, have sharp, 
upright, fox-like ears ; and that hanging ears, which are esteemed 
so graceful, are the effect of choice breeding and cultivation. 
