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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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