Turning to the southern parts of the new world, Columbus found two kinds of
dogs in the West Indies; and Fernandez (1/16. I quote this from Mr. R.
Hill's excellent account of the Alco or domestic dog of Mexico, in Gosse's
'Naturalist's Sojourn in Jamaica' 1851 page 329.) describes three in
Mexico: some of these native dogs were dumb--that is, did not bark. In
Guiana it has been known since the time of Buffon that the natives cross
their dogs with an aboriginal species, apparently the Canis cancrivorus.
Sir R. Schomburgk, who has so carefully explored these regions, writes to
me, "I have been repeatedly told by the Arawaak Indians, who reside near
the coast, that they cross their dogs with a wild species to improve the
breed, and individual dogs have been shown to me which certainly resembled
the C. cancrivorus much more than the common breed. It is but seldom that
the Indians keep the C. cancrivorus for domestic purposes, nor is the Ai,
another species of wild dog, and which I consider to be identical with the
Dusicyon silvestris of H. Smith, now much used by the Arecunas for the
purpose of hunting. The dogs of the Taruma Indians are quite distinct, and
resemble Buffon's St. Domingo greyhound." It thus appears that the natives
of Guiana have partially domesticated two aboriginal species, and still
cross their dogs with them; these two species belong to a quite different
type from the North American and European wolves. A careful observer,
Rengger (1/17. 'Naturgeschichte der Saugethiere von Paraguay' 1830 s.
151.), gives reasons for believing that a hairless dog was domesticated
when America was first visited by Europeans: some of these dogs in Paraguay
are still dumb, and Tschudi (1/18. Quoted in Humboldt 'Aspects of Nature'
(English translation) volume 1 page 108.) states that they suffer from cold
in the Cordillera. This naked dog is, however quite distinct from that
found preserved in the ancient Peruvian burial-places, and described by
Tschudi, under the name of Canis ingae, as withstanding cold well and as
barking. It is not known whether these two distinct kinds of dog are the
descendants of native species, and it might be argued that when man first
migrated into America he brought with him from the Asiatic continent dogs
which had not learned to bark; but this view does not seem probable, as the
natives along the line of their march from the north reclaimed, as we have
seen, at least two N. American species of Canidae.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account