The Antarctic savages occasionally domesticate the Dingo. Of this Dog
we shall give an account later on. Many of the African savages--such,
for instance, as the Damaras, Namaquas, and Kaffirs--also keep Dogs.
The first-named of these tribes take great care of the Dogs, and value
them highly. Mr. Andersson says he has “known them pay as much as two
fine Oxen for a Dog.” The Kaffir Dogs, on the contrary, are thought
very little of. Mr. Baldwin speaks of them as “a set of noisy curs,
which invariably, at the sight of a white man, tumble head-over-heels
in all directions, upsetting everything, as frightened as if they had
seen an apparition. After the first alarm, they bait you unmercifully,
and for many minutes it is impossible to hear yourself speak. I don’t
know that I ever succeeded in making friends with a real Kaffir cur in
my life, not even a puppy; and I scarcely ever saw, or knew, or heard
of one good for anything; they do, indeed, lead the life of a Dog. They
are well fed when quite young, but afterwards they are expected to
provide for themselves, and are consequently wretchedly lean and mangy,
but they continue to exist.”
Dogs are also half-tamed by the natives of South America, where there
are, according to Humboldt, two very distinct breeds, one “totally
hairless--with the exception of a small tuft of white hair on the
forehead and at the tip of the tail--of a slate-grey colour, and
without voice. This variety was found by Columbus in the Antilles, by
Cortes in Mexico, and by Pizarro in Peru (where it suffers from the
cold of the Cordilleras); and it is still very frequently met with in
the warmer districts of Peru, under the name of _Peiros Chinos_.”
The second kind, sometimes called _Canis ingæ_, “belongs to the barking
species, and has a pointed nose and pointed ears. It is now used for
watching sheep and cattle. It exhibits many varieties of colour,
induced by being crossed with European breeds. The _Canis ingæ_ follows
man up the heights of the Cordilleras. In the old Peruvian graves, the
skeleton of this Dog is sometimes found resting at the feet of the
human mummy, presenting an emblem of fidelity frequently employed by
the mediæval sculptors.”
This breed is also distinguished by great ferocity, and will bite
strangers upon the slightest provocation, or even without any
provocation at all. With their masters, too, they are often very surly.
We now come to
THE DOGS OF CIVILISED NATIONS,
and we commence with the Greyhound and its near allies--Dogs of swift
flight, poor sense of smell, and of a comparatively low order of
intelligence, the brain-case being proportionally smaller than in any
other breed.
THE DALMATIAN DOG.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account