850 
WILD DOGS. 
seems to be very little larger than a large 
cat. Africa has also its wild dog, which 
commits great ravages among the sheep. 
The dingo of Australia has become better 
known than any of the others. Like the 
wild dog of Africa, it is very destructive to 
sheep, and destroys many hundreds of them, 
seemingly in mere wantonness, as it always 
kills many more than it can possibly eat. 
They hunt not in such large packs as the 
dholes of India, but in pairs, or in com¬ 
panies of five or six. Probably the parents 
and their offspring keep together, as we 
have seen in the case of the wolves. Ac¬ 
counts differ as .to their courage. Mr. 
Howitt, who spent much time in Australia, 
seems to consider them cowardly animals; 
while Colonel Smith speaks of them as 
being both brave and fierce, and mentions 
one kept at Paris, in the Jardin des Plantes, 
which would always fly fiercely at a cage 
containing a panther or a bear. Mr. Oxley, 
Surveyor-General of Hew South Wales, tells 
an anecdote which seems to show that these 
poor animals possess the strongest feeling 
of mutual attachment. He says in his jour¬ 
nal, ‘About two weeks ago we killed a 
