he had thrown it, had the curiosity to look for it in the "bush," wondering whether, indeed, the dingos preyed upon their own kind, as do the wolves. Nor had he long to search, for to his surprise and horror he discovered the miserable animal lying among the grass and brushwood, and still alive! In fact, it was evident that after the process of flaying, the poor wretch had revived, and had crawled into the bush to protect its skinless body from the scorching rays of the noon-day sun. The sportsman shuddered; but he raised his gun, and responded to the dictates of humanity by blowing the unfortunate creature's brains out.

The dingo is said to be occasionally domesticated by the colonists, but this domestication is only partial, as he can never be cured of his propensity to destroy any animal he can master, or of running away to the "bush" on the first opportunity. Mr. Pennant relates an anecdote of one which was brought to this country, and considered very tame; yet the moment it was set at liberty it leaped upon the back of an ass, and would have speedily destroyed it but for the timely interference of its keepers. One of those in the Dublin Royal Zoological Gardens got loose one night, and was not long in setting to work among the sheep and goats; fortunately, however, he was observed by the watchman, an alarm given, and was secured before he had time to do much damage. To persons visiting the dingo in the day-time he usually appears harmless and playful, and presenting scarcely any difference from ordinary domestic dogs. The yellow dingo in the Irish Zoological Gardens is said to be rather a wicked fellow to strangers. Of that I can say little, but I know that he and I are very great friends, and that I never visit the gardens without going to see him, and, if there be no one by, entering his enclosure, and spending a quarter of an hour at least in play with him. He dislikes a crowd, and will not permit even me to make free with him if many persons are present. When angry, he does not growl or show his teeth like the dog, but lowers his tail, and at the same time licks his lips, while his hair stands erect from his head to his stern: his ears are thrown back, and his whole countenance assumes an expression of distrust not to be mistaken. When pleased, he whines, utters a sort of bark, jumps and frisks about, fawns upon me, and displays all the marks of genuine canine delight. When in a good humour he is a dog; when vexed, he is a wolf.

Some naturalists suppose the dogs of the Society Isles and New Zealand to be descendants of the dingo. They are described as resembling the common cur, but having prodigiously large heads, remarkably little eyes, pricked ears, long hair, and short bushy tails. Their principal food is fruit and fish. They are excessively stupid, seldom bark, and their voice extends usually only to a howl.

It has been attempted to cross the dingo with the wolf, but unsuccessfully. The former has, however (as the latter) been crossed with the domestic dog, and the breed is now, I believe, common enough in Australia. Some of our native zoological societies should turn

I have here to return thanks to the Royal Zoological Society for having presented me with a perpetual free admission for myself and two friends.

their attention to this subject, and at once set the point at issue at

rest.

THE CANADIAN DOG.-This is smaller than the dingo. Its colour is usually grey and white, and it is not very unlike the fox of the northern regions. Its ears are erect, and its tail bushy, carried in a half-curl. He is remarkable for fineness of scent, and for his speed, while he is capable of keeping for incredible distances without betraying symptoms of fatigue or distress. Its flesh is eaten by the Indians, who regard it as a luxury. This dog is frequently domesticated by the Indians, and will learn a sort of partial barking; but its progeny are wild, like those of the wolf. The Canadian dog is, when reclaimed, susceptible of instruction, and may be taught to take the water, to fetch and carry, and perform most of the services for which the Newfoundland is famed. When brought to this country, he is not unfrequently exhibited in menageries as a wolf, the wolf of Florida, or jackal; nay, sometimes as both or as either, according as may be most likely to please the public taste at the time, or as a vacancy may exist in the collection by whose proprietor he is purchased.

THE DHOLE OF INDIA* in general appearance resembles the dingo, but is of a slighter make, and more ferocious appearance. He possesses erect ears, pointed muzzle, and a sparkling, fearless eye. His chest is deep, belly much drawn up, limbs straight, bony and muscular, tail long and not bushy, in which he differs from the dingo: colour, a light brown, inclining to chesnut on the upper part of the body, forepart of the legs, tips of the ears, muzzle, and upper part of the tail. Were it not for the erectness of the ears and greater slenderness of the muzzle, he would bear a close resemblance to the African bloodhound. The dholes hunt, like the dingos, in packs, and thus associated are a terror to all animals of the forest. They run in silence, until certain of and close upon their game; and then they send forth a shrill, clear cry, at sound of which all of their kind within hearing hasten to the chase, and join the pack. The speed of a pack of dholes is tremendous, nay, almost incredible, being little inferior to that which a pack of ferocious greyhounds might be supposed capable of exerting; and this speed continues unabated until they come up with the object of their pursuit; it may therefore be readily perceived that no animal can have any chance of escape from them.

The dhole is nearly wholly an inhabitant of the wilderness or jungle, seldom, unless when hard pressed for a meal, venturing near the habitations of man. The natives assert that the larger the game they are in pursuit of, the greater is the eagerness they manifest. The deer, the elephant, and the royal tiger are alike their prey, and their strength proves no defence before the combined powers of this terrible enemy. The dholes do not run closely together, but spread over a considerable space; so that, when their game is a tiger, thirty or forty dogs are often destroyed before the main force of the pack comes

*The first specimen of this breed ever brought to Europe was lately presented to the Royal Zoological Society by Colonel Sykes.

up, and overpowers their victim. They are so far a blessing to India, for there is no doubt that but for them the breed of tigers would prove far more numerous and troublesome. I do not know that the dhole has ever been kept long in confinement in this country; nor do I think that confinement with an European climate would at all agree with him; and strict confinement would alone answer him, as, were he to be set at liberty, his ravages would surpass those detailed in the most romantic accounts of the depredations of the most ferocious wolf. If the latter be ferocious, he at least can be intimidated. Fear and the dhole are strangers to each other; he knows not what it is.

THE WILD DOG OF SOUTH AMERICA.-This dog, or as the natives term him, BUCK DOG, I take to be the same described by some naturalists under the name of Canis Braziliensis. His head resembles that of the dhole and dingo, but his muzzle is shorter, terminates more abruptly, and partakes more of the aspect of our common fox. His hair is long, and tail very bushy; his colour is grey, rather brownish above, on the muzzle, and on the legs. It is very like the wolf in appearance, and there is in the museum of natural history, in the Edinburgh University, a stuffed animal which strongly resembles it; not being labelled, however, I cannot say whether it be really a specimen of this variety of dog, or of one of the smaller varieties of wolf. This dog is about the size of a common Scotch colley, scarcely so large as the dingo, and not unlike the jackal in general appearance, but rather more hairy, shorter and stouter in his make, and much more powerful. These dogs form earths for themselves, like foxes, and are hunted by the natives and colonists just as we hunt foxes in Britain. They afford a long chase, and make little or no fight when taken. I have been informed by native Americans that they are oc casionally susceptible of domestication, and when tamed are often associated with domestic dogs in the chase of their own species, which duty they perform with all the good will imaginable, and from their speed and powers of endurance prove valuable allies.

A South American gentleman whom I met in Edinburgh assured me that he had some of these dogs so tame as to be used as civet hounds, and that they were infinitely superior to the curs commonly used in that description of sport, not only in their speed and sagacity, but in the skill they displayed in saving their legs from the powerful jaws of that animal. The civet, he told me, was not considered as one of the nobler beasts of chase; hence valuable hounds were never used in pursuit of it, as its capture would not compensate their owner for the desperate wounds, and perhaps broken legs, which they frequently received. The civet, he informed me, almost invariably directed its attack to the fore-legs, and possessed such force of jaw as not unfrequently to break the bone completely across.

We now come to the WILD DOGS OF AFRICA, of which there are evidently two distinct races. One of these has been described by Labat as being very ugly, naked animals, with erect ears like the fox, and unable to bark. However ugly they may be, the natives eat their flesh with much relish, and sell them in the market as we do

Afrique Occidental.

sheep and hogs; and so highly are they esteemed as articles of diet, that a native considers a sheep or goat as a fair equivalent for a fat one. The natives reclaim some of them, but their progeny, as in other cases, turns out wild. Speaking of the wild dogs of Western Africa leads me to mention a curious anecdote respecting the domesticated ones. When first European dogs were brought among these people, they having never before heard a dog bark, took it into their heads that these foreigners spoke in a language of their own. It was to no purpose that the poor savages were attempted to be undeceived. They were convinced of the truth of their conjecture, and discovering that barking was capable of communication, formed establishments called "Barking Schools," in which European dogs were the teachers; and dogs out of these seminaries sold for very high prices. After awhile, such native dogs as had learned to bark were promoted to the rank of teachers, and employed in the instruction of their brethren. Whether the learning to bark was ultimately regarded as an acquisition or not I cannot say, but I think there can be no doubt that this new whim of their masters saved many poor dogs their lives, many animals that would otherwise have gone to the shambles, being thus found fit for other and nobler work. So I doubt not, whatever the sentiments of the masters may have been, the poor dogs hailed with infinite pleasure the happy tidings that "the schoolmaster was abroad.”

The other species of wild dog peculiar to Africa is the wild dog of Loango, which hunts in large packs, like the dhole of India, and will, like that animal, hunt down and destroy the largest and most formidable beasts, as the lion and tiger, and even the elephant. The colour of this dog is a reddish brown. Their tails are carried in a curve like the greyhounds. Nearly allied to, if not actually identical with, this dog, is the animal since discovered by that enterprizing and scientific traveller, Mr. Burchell, and by him designated "Hyæna Venatica," or "Hunting Hyæna"-the canis pictus of Desmarest. This variety is a native of Southern Africa, and is particularly numerous and troublesome, even on the frontier settlement, at no great distance from the Cape. In size and form it differs from the hyæna or wolf, in being smaller and slimmer; but it bears, at the same time, a much closer resemblance to the former than to the latter. Its colour is reddish yellow-brown, with patches of black and white distributed irregularly over the body and along the legs; its muzzle is black, and a strongly marked black line passes from it over the head to between the ears. The ears are very large, black both on the inner and outer surface; the anterior margin is furnished with a tuft of whitish hairs. The tail is moderately long and bushy, divided in the middle by a ring of black, below which it is nearly white, as are also the forelegs below the joint. These markings are not the same in every individual, but vary considerably. I once saw a hyæna dog of a light bay colour, shaded above with black, and with dark stripes down the sides and on the legs; feet and belly white. This individual was very gentle, and suffered himself to be caressed by strangers.

The hyæna dog is an animal of nocturnal habits, and hunts in packs. He is not only resolute and fierce, but very swift and active,

so much so that no animal, a pack has once selected as a quarry, has much chance of escape. Sheep, cattle, and horses are its favourite prey. For the mode of its assault on cattle or horses, from whom it might expect some resistance, it exhibits singular caution. Its attack is made by night, and, creeping among its victims, it bites off their tails. This does not say much for its courage.

There are many other descriptions of wild dogs, which I do not think it necessary to treat of in these papers, and therefore have confined myself to the principal varieties.

SPORTS ON THE CORNISH MOORS.

BY MASTER HARRY.

How we adore those glorious old moors, barren and uninviting though they appear!

"What a superb day's hunting! what a delightful day's-by Jove! we were just going to say fishing! But, hold! we are no fisherman. To be sure, we have sat on a rock, opposite Barnpool at Plymouth, and "bobbed," not "for whales," but for sticklebacks; but this was when we were under the influence of Jack Macauley and his birch (peace to both their manes!); and even since then we have been goose enough, after reading some delightful, soul-exciting article on fishing in the pages of this Magazine, most probably from that most delectable of all amusing quills, SILVANUS SWANQUILL, to fancy that we could "go and do likewise;" and, as a child, after reading William Tell's history, immediately flies to bows and arrows, so have we put together the old fishing-rod, in a piscatorial monomania, and, having caused an earthquake in the stable-heap, and conjoined a line and gut with a "hook at the end of it," gone forth to impale worms, and insinuate, in anything but a gentle manner, "Limerick bends" (bother them!) into our legs, our fingers, and the surrounding bushes -in fact, into every imaginable locality, except that of a trout's mouth: so, never having even experienced the felicity of a "nibble" in our lives, it was very natural and excusable that we should "cut" angling, and take to "dragging." Should that be considered legitimate sporting, we just fancy we could give the reader a treat, and make his mouth water for the sport; but, for fear of raising old Izaak's ghost, and some fly-fishers' ill-feelings, we will be silent. Our last feat in that line was perhaps unparalleled in the annals of "fish-catching"-it was glorious! and all accomplished by an old