It cannot be objected to the view of several canine species having
been anciently domesticated, that these animals are tamed with
difficulty: facts have been already given on this head, but I may
add that the young of the _Canis primævus_ of India were tamed by
Mr. Hodgson,[29] and became as sensible of caresses, and manifested
as much intelligence, as any sporting dog of the same age. There is
not much difference, as we have already shown and shall further
see, in habits between the domestic dogs of the North American
Indians and the wolves of that country, or between the Eastern
pariah dogs and jackals, or between the dogs which have run wild in
various countries and the several natural species of the family.
The habit of barking, however, which is almost universal with
domesticated dogs, forms an exception, as it does not characterise
a single natural species of the family, though I am assured that
the _Canis latrans_ of North America utters a noise which closely
approaches a bark. But this habit is soon lost by dogs when they
become feral and is soon reacquired when they are again
domesticated. The case of the wild dogs on the island of Juan
Fernandez having become dumb has often been quoted, and there is
reason to believe[30] that the dumbness ensued in the course of
thirty-three years; on the other hand, dogs taken from this island
by Ulloa slowly reacquired the habit of barking. The
Mackenzie-river dogs, of the _Canis latrans_ type, when brought to
England, never learned to bark properly; but one born in the
Zoological Gardens[31] “made his voice sound as loudly as any other
dog of the same age and size.” According to Professor Nillson,[32]
a wolf-whelp reared by a bitch barks. I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire
exhibited a jackal which barked with the same tone as any common
dog.[33] An interesting account has been given by Mr. G. Clarke[34]
of some dogs run wild on Juan de Nova, in the Indian Ocean; “they
had entirely lost the faculty of barking; they had no inclination
for the company of other dogs, nor did they acquire their voice”
during a captivity of several months. On the island they
“congregate in vast packs, and catch sea-birds with as much address
as foxes could display.” The feral dogs of La Plata have not become
dumb; they are of large size, hunt singly or in packs, and burrow
holes for their young.[35] In these habits the feral dogs of La
Plata resemble wolves and jackals; both of which hunt either singly
or in packs, and burrow holes.[36] These feral dogs have not become
uniform in colour on Juan Fernandez, Juan de Nova, or La Plata.[37]
In Cuba the feral dogs are described by Poeppig as nearly all
mouse-coloured, with short ears and light-blue eyes. In St.
Domingo, Col. Ham. Smith says[38] that the feral dogs are very
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