230 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 
ing vehemence swallow bones 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 LITI. ; 
My near neighbor, a young gentleman in 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 color, 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 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 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 color, and their 
tongues blue. The female has a dew-claw on each hind leg, 
the dog has none. When taken out into a field the female 
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 have a surly, 
savage demeanor like their ancestors, which are not domesti- 
cated, 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 
