The Dog

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There is also in every inhabited part of the country the poor desolate
pariah,--unowned by any one,--daring to enter into no house, but
wandering about, and picking up a living in any way that he can. He is,
however, of a superior race to the wild dog, and belongs to the second
class of the dog, although mentioned here in order that we may
altogether quit the dog of India. They are neglected by the Hindoos; but
the Mohammedans of India, and other strangers, consider it an act of
charity to throw out occasionally a morsel of food to them. They are
most of them mongrels; but the benevolent Bishop Heber does them no more
than justice when he says that he

"was forcibly struck at finding the same dog-like and amiable
qualities in these neglected animals as in their more fortunate
brethren in Europe."

Colonel Sykes says of these outcasts that among the pariahs is
frequently found the turnspit-dog. There is also a small petted variety
of the pariah, usually of a white colour, and with long silky hair. This
animal is taught to carry flambeaux and lanterns.

According to Captain Williamson, in some of the ditches of the Carnatic
forts, alligators are purposely kept, and all the pariah dogs found in
the forts are thrown into the ditches as provision for these monsters.
Some persons who have kept tigers in cages have adopted the same means
of supply for their royal captives, putting the poor pariah through an
aperture made for the purpose in the cage; and they justify themselves
by asserting that they thus get rid of a troublesome breed of curs, most
of which are unappropriated, and which being numerous are very
troublesome to passengers, often wantonly biting them, and raising a
yelling noise at night, that sets all attempts to rest at defiance.

It did not always happen that the tiger killed the pariah put into his
cage.

"I knew an instance," says Captain Williamson, "of one that was
destined for the tiger's daily meal, standing on the defensive in a
manner that completely astonished both the tiger and the spectator. He
crept into a corner, and whenever the tiger approached seized him by
the lip or the neck, making him roar most piteously. The tiger,
however, impelled by hunger,--for all supply of food was purposely
withheld,--would renew the attack. The result was ever the same. At
length the tiger began to treat the dog with more deference, and not
only allowed him to partake of the mess of rice and milk furnished
daily for his subsistence, but even refrained from any attempt lo
disturb him. The two animals at length became reconciled to each
other, and a strong attachment was formed between them. The dog was
then allowed ingress and egress through the aperture; and, considering
the cage as his own, he left it and returned to it just as he thought
proper. When the tiger died he moaned the loss of his companion for a
considerable period."

A wild variety exists in Sumatra. It is described by Cuvier as

"possessing the countenance of a fox, the eyes oblique, the ears
rounded and hairy, the muzzle of a foxy-brown colour, the tail bushy
and pendulous, very lively, running with the head lifted high, and the
ears straight."

This animal can scarcely be rendered tractable, and even when he is
apparently tamed can rarely be depended upon.

As we proceed through the Indian Archipelago, towards Australasia, we
skirt the coast of Java. Every Javanese of rank has large packs of dogs
with which he hunts the muntjak, the deer of that country. The dogs are
led in strings by the attendants until they scent the prey: they are
then unloosed, while the sportsmen follow, but not at the speed which
would distinguish the British sportsman. The animal is generally found
at bay. The male muntjak usually exhibits considerable courage, and
probably several of the dogs have been wounded by his tusks. As soon as
they come up every gun is discharged, and the animal almost immediately
drops. At other times the mounted sportsmen attack them with a spear or
sword. Generally, the muntjak does not go off like the stag in any
direct track, but takes a circular course, and soon returns to the spot
whence it was started. It perhaps makes several of these circles, and at
length entangles itself in a thicket, where it is secured.

These dogs are the indigenous breed of the island, the body lank, the
ears erect, ferocious in their disposition, and with very little
attachment to their masters. Such is the account given of them by Dr.
Horsfield.

THE DINGO, AUSTRALASIAN, OR NEW HOLLAND DOG.

The newly discovered southern continent was, and some of it still
continues to be, overrun by the native wild dogs. Dampier describes
them, at the close of the last century, as

"beasts like the hungry wolves, lean like so many skeletons, and being
nothing but skin and bone."

It was not until the publication of Governor Phillip's voyage to Botany
Bay, that any accurate description or figure of this dog could be
obtained. He approaches in appearance to the largest kind of shepherd's
dog. The head is elongated, the forehead flat, and the ears short and
erect, or with a slight direction forwards. The body is thickly covered
with hair of two kinds--the one woolly and gray, the other silky and of
a deep yellow or fawn colour. The limbs are muscular, and, were it not
for the suspicious yet ferocious glare of the eye, he might pass for a
handsome dog. The Australasian dog, according to M. Desmarest, resembles
in form and in the proportion of his limbs the common shepherd's dog. He
is very active and courageous, covered in some parts with thick hair
woolly and gray, in other parts becoming of a yellowish-red colour, and
under the belly having a whitish hue. When he is running, the head is
lifted more than usual in dogs, and the tail is carried horizontally. He
seldom barks. Mr. Bennett observes that

"dogs in a state of nature never bark. They simply whine, howl, or
growl. The explosive noise of the bark is only found among those that
are domesticated."

Sonini speaks of the shepherds' dogs in the wilds of Egypt as not having
this faculty; and Columbus found the dogs which he had previously
carried to America, almost to have lost their propensity to bark.

He does, however, occasionally bark, and has the same kind of snarling
voice which the larger dogs generally have. The Australasian dogs that
have been brought to Europe have usually been of a savage and
untractable disposition.

There are several of the Australasian dogs in the gardens of the
Zoological Society of London. One of them has been an inmate of that
establishment nine years, others more than five years; but not an
individual has acquired the bark of the other dogs by which they are
surrounded. When a stranger makes his appearance, or when the hour of
feeding arrives, the howl of the Australasian is the first sound that is
heard, and it is louder than all the rest.

If some of them have thrown off a portion of their native ferocity,
others retain it undiminished. A bitch and two of her whelps, nearly
half grown--a male and female--had inhabited the same cage from the time
that the young ones were born. Some cause of quarrel occurred on a
certain night, and the two bitches fell upon the dog and perfectly
destroyed him. There was not a limb left whole. A stronger instance of
the innate ferocity of this breed could scarcely be given. Even in their
native country all attempts perfectly to domesticate them have failed;
for they never lose an opportunity to devour the poultry or attack the
sheep. Every domesticated dog coming within their reach was immediately
destroyed. One that was brought to England broke his chain--scoured the
surrounding country--and, before dawn, had destroyed several sheep; and
another attacked, and would have destroyed, an ass, if he had not been
prevented.

Mr. Oxley, Surveyor-General of New South Wales, however, gives an
interesting account of the mutual attachment between two of the native
and wild New Holland dingos.

"About a week ago we killed a native dog, and threw his body on a
small bush. On returning past the same spot to-day, we found the body
removed three or four yards from the bush, and the female in a
dying-state lying close beside it: she had apparently been there from
the day the dog was killed. Being now so weakened and emaciated as to
be unable to move on our approach, it was deemed a mercy to despatch
her."

When Van Diemen Land began to be colonized by Europeans, the losses
sustained by the settlers by the ravages of the wild dogs were almost
incredible. The districts infested by these animals were principally
those appropriated to sheep, and there was scarcely a flock that did not
suffer. It was in vain to double the number of shepherds, to watch by
night and by day, or to have fires at every quarter of the fold; for
these animals would accomplish their object by stratagem or by force.
One colony lost no fewer than 1200 sheep and lambs in three months;
another colony lost 700.

The ravagers were either the native wild dogs of the island, or those
that had escaped from their owners. They seemed to have apportioned the
country into different districts, each troop having its allotted range.
At length the evil became so great that a general meeting of the
colonists was convened. The concluding sentences of the speech of
Lieutenant Hill forcibly express the extent of the evil.

"The country is free from bush-rangers: we are no longer surrounded
and threatened by the natives. We have only one enemy left in the
field; but that enemy strikes at the very root of our welfare, and
through him the stream of our prosperity is tainted at its very
source."

The colonists were then few, but they cordially united in the endeavour
to extirpate this formidable enemy; and, although the wild dog is still
found in the interior of the island, he is comparatively seldom seen,
and his ravages have nearly ceased.

THE CANIS AUSTRALIS--KARARAHE, NEW ZEALAND DOG.

A tradition exists in New Zealand of this dog having been given to the
natives two or three centuries ago by a number of divinities who made
their descent on these shores, probably Juan Fernandez and his
companions. The sagacious animal has, however, dwindled down to the
lowest rank of his family, but ill usage has not altogether destroyed
his worth. In New Zealand he is the safeguard of every village. Should
the slightest alarm exist, he is the first to ascertain the cause of it,
and many families have saved themselves by flight, or have taken arms in
self-defence against the incursions of predatory bands. The New
Zealanders are therefore kind in their treatment of the dog, except that
they occasionally destroy him for his hide.

The name formerly given to the New Zealand dog was 'pero', which in
some measure substantiates the supposition of Juan Fernandez having
visited the country--'perro', in the Spanish language, being the
name of a dog.

We will now turn to the northern parts of America. The races of wild
dogs are there considerably limited, both in number and the districts
which they occupy.

In the elevated sandy country north of the source of the Missouri,
inhabited by the "Stone" and the "Black Foot" Indians, is a doubtful
species of dogs--wolves they used to be called--who hunt in large packs
and are exceedingly swift; whose bark is similar to that of the domestic
dog, but who burrow in the ground, and eagerly run to their holes, when
the gun of the hunter is heard.

[Our author evidently, in the above remarks, confounds the Louisiana
marmot, Arctomys Ludovicianus or Prairie dog, with the Canis Latrans of
Say, as he certainly would not make us believe that such harmless
animals as the marmot should associate themselves in packs to hunt the
deer or other quadrupeds; neither would he tell us that so different an
animal as the Canis Latrans could burrow in the ground and retreat to
their holes when surprised by the hunter. The Louisiana Marmot,
improperly called Prairie dog, is about sixteen inches long, and lives
in extended villages or excavations surmounted by mounds. These
communities often comprise several thousand inhabitants, whose sole food
consists in the scanty herbage surrounding the settlement, as they
seldom extend their excursions beyond a half-mile from their burrows for
fear of the wolves, and many other enemies.

The Canis Latrans, on the other hand, is quite a large and savage
animal, and frequently unites in bands to run down deer or buffalo
calves, but as for living under ground in burrows, it is quite out of
reason to suppose such a thing possible with this quadruped, who
secretes himself in the depths of the forest, and appears on the open
plain only when in pursuit of game.--L.] The habit of selecting large,
open, sandy plains, and burrowing there, extends to the greater part of
the American wild dogs.

[We have been credibly informed by several gentlemen, familiar with the
country of Mexico, that there is a diminutive species of dog running
wild, and burrowing in the ground as rabbits, in the neighbourhood of
Santa Fe and Chihuahua. A gentleman who has seen these animals, states
that there is no doubt as to their identity, having met with them in a
state of domestication, when they exhibited all the actions and manners
of a French lap dog, such as come from Cuba or other West India Islands.

They are of every variety of hue, and resort to their burrows whenever
disturbed in their natural haunts. What they subsist on it is difficult
to say, as they are too harmless and insignificant to attack any other
animal beyond a mouse or a snail. They are represented as being very
difficult to tame, but when domesticated show no disposition to return
to their former mode of life. The lady of the Mexican Minister, when in
this city, had one of these dogs as a boudoir pet; it was lively and
barked quite fiercely. We have not been able to ascertain whether they
bark in their natural state. The breed of dog cultivated in China for
food alone, are fed entirely upon rice meal and other farinaceous
articles, having no relish whatever for flesh or other strong
aliment.--L.]

In some parts of North America whole troops of horses are guarded and
kept together by dogs. If any of the troop attempt to steal away, the
dog will immediately fly after the horse, head him, and bring him back
to his companions.

[To show the necessity of having dogs for this purpose, as well as to
guard the flocks of sheep, we need only mention that it is no uncommon
thing for a Mexican to own several thousand horses, besides an immense
number of cattle.

Mr. Kendall, in his Santa Fe expedition, states that the proprietress of
one hacienda, a widow, and comparatively poor when the wonderful wealth
of her ancestors is considered, now owns fifty thousand horses and
mules, beside herds of cattle and sheep, and that the pasture ground
extended for fifty miles on either side of the road.

One of the former owners of this immense estate, a short time previous
to the revolution, sent as a present to a Spanish colonel, just arrived
with his regiment of dragoons, a thousand white horses, nearly all of
the same age, and every one raised on this prolific hacienda.--L.]

The wild dogs abound in many parts of South America. In some of the
forests on the banks of the Oronoko they multiply to an annoying degree.
The Cayotte of Mexico, described by some as a wolf, and bearing no
slight resemblance to that animal, belongs to the South American wild
dogs, as do also the Aguara dogs of every kind. These wanderers of the
woods are, however, diminished in numbers in every part of that
continent, and are replaced by other kinds, many of which have been
imported from Europe and domesticated.

[There is no country in the world more cursed with worthless curs than
that of Mexico and the other southern republics; the cities and villages
actually swarm with these animals, and produce no little vexation to
travellers, who speak of their eternal yelping and barking in the most
indignant terms.

Mr. Kendall, on entering San Antonio, says,

"From every house some half dozen Mexican curs would jump forth and
greet us with a chorus of yelps and barks, and before we had fairly
entered the town the canine hue and cry was general. Those who have
for the first time entered a Mexican town or city must have been
struck with the unusual number of dogs, and annoyed by their incessant
barking; but the stranger soon learns that they spend all their
courage in barks--they seldom bite."--L.]

Many of the Indian tribes have succeeded in reclaiming the dog of the
woods, and have made him a useful although not a perfectly attached
servant.

The dogs of the Falkland Islands, and the Indian North American dogs
generally, are brown or gray-coloured varieties of the wild dog; but as
they are nearly exterminated, will occupy little space. It has already
been stated that in Egypt and in Nubia we have the first records of the
dog. Many superstitious notions were connected with him, and divine
honours were paid to him. Those times are passed away, and he is
regarded with aversion by the Moslem of the present day. He is an
outcast. He obtains a scanty living by the offal which he gathers in the
towns, or he is become a perfect wild dog, and scours the country for
his prey. His modern name is the 'deab'. He is of considerable size,
with a round muzzle, large head, small erect ears, and long and hairy
tail, spotted with black, white, and yellow, and having a fierce wolfish
aspect. These dogs are not, however, numerous; but the mischief which
they do is often great, whether in pairs they burrow in the earth, or
associate with others and hunt in troops. [7]

In Nubia is a smaller dog of the same kind, which never burrows. It
lives on small animals and birds, and rarely enters any of the towns. A
similar dog, according to Colonel Hamilton Smith, inhabits the
neighbourhood of the Cape, and particularly the Karroo or Wilderness. It
is smaller than either of the others, and lives among bushes or under
prominent rocks. Others, although not identified with the jackal, yet
associating with him, inhabit the Uplands of Gambia and Senegal.

On the Gold Coast, the dog is used and prized as an article of food. He
is fattened and driven to market as the European drives his sheep and
hogs. The dog is even more valued than the sheep for human subsistence,
and is deemed the greatest luxury that can be placed even on the royal
table.

In Loango, or Lower Guinea, is a town from which the African wild dogs
derive their name--the 'dingo'. They hunt in large packs. They
fearlessly attack even the elephant, and generally destroy him. In the
neighbourhood of the Cape, the country is nearly cleared of wild beasts;
but in Cape Town there are a great number of lean and miserable dogs,
who howl about the streets at night, quitting their dens and
lurking-places, in quest of offal. No great while ago, the wolves and
hyaenas used to descend and dispute the spoil with the dogs, while the
town resounded with their hideous howlings all the night long.

This will be a proper place to refer to the numerous accounts that are
given both in ancient and modern times of the immolation of dogs, and of
their being used for food. They were sacrificed at certain periods by
the Greeks and Romans to almost all their deities, and particularly to
Mars, Pluto, and Pan, to Minerva, Proserpine, and Lucina, and also to
the moon, because the dog by his barking disturbed all charms and
spells, and frightened away all spectres and apparitions. The Greeks
immolated many dogs in honour of Hecate, because by their baying the
phantoms of the lower world were disturbed. A great number of dogs were
also destroyed in Samothrace in honour of the same goddess. Dogs were
periodically sacrificed in February, and also in April and in May; also
to the goddess Rubigo, who presided over the corn, and the Bona Dea,
whose mysterious rites were performed on Mount Aventine. The dog
Cerberus was supposed to be watching at the feet of Pluto, and a dog and
a youth were periodically sacrificed to that deity. The night when the
Capitol had nearly been destroyed was annually celebrated by the cruel
scourging of a dog in the principal public places, even to the death of
the animal.

[As on a certain occasion, the dogs who had the Capitol in custody, did
not bark and give warning when the Gauls attempted to scale the wails,
there is a custom annually observed at Rome, to transfix certain dogs to
forks, and thus crucified, hang them on an elder tree as examples of
justice. (Book 29, chap. IV. Pliny.)-L.]

Many of the Greek and Roman epicures were strangely fond of the flesh of
the dog, and those who ought to have known much better encouraged the
use of this food. Galen speaks of it in the strongest terms of praise.
Hippocrates says that the meat of old dogs is of a warm and dry quality,
giving strength to the eater. Ananias, the poet, speaks of dog's flesh
served up with that of the hare and fox. Virgil recommends that the
fatted dog should be served up with whey or butter; and Dioscorides, the
physician, says that they should be fed on the whey that remains after
the making of cheese.

[Independent of the many useful and interesting qualities that
necessarily endeared this animal to the ancients, he had yet stronger
claims upon them, in the prophylactic properties of different portions
of his body. Pliny, Hippocrates, Aristotle and others, speak of various
preparations made of his flesh, for the cure of many distempers. The
first-mentioned writer observes, that the ashes of burnt dogs, made into
a liniment, with oil, will make an excellent application to the
eye-brows, to turn them black. We doubt not that an analogous compound,
if proved to be really efficacious, might he introduced to the notice of
the belles of our own time, or meet with extensive sale for dyeing the
pagoties and mustachios of the modern dandy. This quaint philosopher
also recommends the same substance as a healing salve, for malignant
wounds, and the internal use of the same article as a preventive or cure
of hydrophobia and other distempers. (Book 28, chap, XI. and X.)--L.]

Before Christianity was established among the Danes, on every ninth year
at the winter solstice, a monstrous sacrifice of 99 dogs was effected.
In Sweden the sacrifice was still worse. On each of 9 successive days,
99 dogs were destroyed. This sacrifice of the dog, however, gave way to
one as numerous and as horrible. On every 9th year, 99 human victims
were immolated, and the sons of the reigning tyrant among the rest, in
order that the life of the monarch might be prolonged. [8]

On the other hand, the dog was frequently the executioner; and, from an
early period, whether in the course of war or the mock administration of
justice, thousands of poor wretches were torn to pieces by animals
trained to that horrible purpose.

Many of the Indians of North America, and almost of the present day, are
fond of the flesh of the dog.

Captain Carver, in his Travels in North America in 1766, 1767, and 1768,
describes the admission of an Indian into one of the horrible societies
of that country.

"The dishes being brought near to me," says he, "I perceived that they
consisted of dog's flesh, and I was informed that at all their grand
feasts they never made use of any other food. The new candidate
provides fat dogs for the festival, if they can be procured at any
price. They ate the flesh; but the head and the tongue were left
sticking on a pole with the front towards the east. When any noxious
disease appeared among them, a dog was killed, the intestines were
wound between two poles, and every man was compelled to pass between
them."

The Nandowepia Indians also eat dog's flesh as an article of luxury, and
not from any want or scarcity of other animal food; for they have the
bear, buffalo, elk, deer, beaver, and racoon.

Professor Keating, in his interesting work on the expedition to Peter's
River, states that he and a party of American officers were regaled in a
large pavilion on buffalo meat, and 'tepsia', a vegetable boiled in
buffalo grease, and the flesh of three dogs kept for the occasion, and
without any salt. They partook of the flesh of the dogs with a mixture
of curiosity and reluctance, and found it to be remarkably fat, sweet,
and palatable, divested of any strong taste, and resembling the finest
Welsh mutton, but of a darker colour. So strongly rooted, however, are
the prejudices of education, that few of them could be induced to eat
much of it.

The feast being over, great care was taken to replace the bones in their
proper places in the dish, after which they were carefully washed and
buried, as a token of respect to the animals generally, and because
there was the belief among them that at some future time they would
return again to life. Well-fattened puppies are frequently sold; and an
invitation to a feast of dog's meat is the greatest distinction that can
be offered to a stranger by any of the Indian nations east of the Rocky
Mountains.