OF 8ELB0BNE. 
293 
and feathers, and all matters, indiscriminately. This falcon 
was probably driven from the mountains of North Wales or 
Scotland, where they are known to breed, by rigorous 
weather and deep snows that had lately fallen/ 
LETTER LVIII. 
TO THE HONOUKABLE DAINES BARRINGTON, 
Y near neighbour, a young gentleman ill the 
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 
backs ; sharp upright ears, and peaked heads, which give 
them a very fox-like appearance. Their hind legs are un- 
usually straight, without any bend at the hock or ham, to 
such a degree as to give them an awkward gait when they 
irot. When they are in motion their tails are curved high 
over their backs like those of some hounds, and have a bare 
place each on the outside, from the tip midway, that does 
not seem to be matter of accident, but 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 dew-claw on each hind-leg ; the dog 
has none. When taken out into a field the bitch showed 
some disposition for hunting, and dwelt on the scent of a 
covey of partridges till she sprung them, giving her tongue 
all the time. The dogs in South America are dumb ; but 
these bark much in a short thick manner, like foxes ; and 
^ Although it is possible that this bird may have been migrating 
from the north, it is not unlikely to have been a wanderer from the 
Sussex or Dorsetshire sea-cliffs. See page 291, note 2. — Ed. 
