Captain Williamson says “that many persons affect to treat the idea of degeneration in quadrupeds with ridicule; but all who have been any considerable time resident in India must be satisfied that Dogs of European breed become, after every successive generation, more and more similar to the Pariah, or indigenous Dog of that country. The Hounds are the most rapid in their decline, and, except in the form of their ears, they are very much like many of the village curs. Greyhounds and Pointers also rapidly decline, although with occasional exceptions. Spaniels and Terriers deteriorate less; and Spaniels of eight or nine generations, and without a cross from Europe, are not only as good as, but far more beautiful than, their ancestors. The climate is too severe for Mastiffs, and they do not possess sufficient stamina; but, crossed by the East Indian Greyhound, they are invaluable in hunting the Hog.”
The Pariah Dogs occur in Turkey, Egypt, Syria, China, India, &c., varying a good deal according to their abode. Their habits are well described by Mr. G. R. Jesse, whose account of the Egyptian Pariah will apply equally well to that of Constantinople, or of any other place where sanitary regulations are simply nil, and where the Dogs are the only creatures who make any attempt to clear the place of fever-breeding filth.
“The Dogs of the Egyptian towns are masterless, and live on carcases thrown out on the mounds of rubbish outside the walls and what is cast them by the charitable. In the villages, and with the shepherds along the desert, they are better cared for, protecting the property of the people from thieves, and their animals from wild beasts. These Dogs are generally sandy in colour, but they vary—some are black, and others white. At Ermeret, near Thebes, is a breed of black Dogs, quite different from those of Lower Egypt—fierce, excellent watchers, having roughish wiry hair, and drooping but small ears: they are stated to be derived from the Slowara Arabs. Numbers of Dogs congregate on some of the rubbish mounds outside the gates and walls of Cairo, and live on the carcases of Horses, Asses, &c., which are thrown there, the Arabs not having arrived at that pitch of Western economy which terminates the utility of a beast of burden at a cheap restaurant. These masterless Dogs act as scavengers, in which capacity they are accompanied by the large black-and-white yellow-billed Carrion Hawk, Kites, and troops of black-and-grey Carrion Crows. Among the skeletons, and scattered bones, heads, and hoofs, these Dogs—about two feet in height, generally of a yellow colour, or black, or a dirty white, smooth-skinned, and mostly with erect pointed ears—may be seen in crowds, their mouths and necks bloody, snarling, snapping, fighting, tearing, and gorging to repletion. The bitches scratch holes in the rubbish-heaps, and there bring forth their young. After the bones of the dead animals are cleared of flesh by the Dogs, bundles of them are collected and carried off by women and children. The Dogs of the town associate in bands, and each band has its district and its chief. No other Dog is permitted to enter the territory without being at once assailed. If, however, a Dog wishes to pass from one quarter of the town to another, he is said to creep along with his tail down in a humble manner, and immediately the Dogs of that part come upon him to throw himself on his back, and deprecate their attack. After due examination, he is allowed to proceed, but repeats his submissive actions whenever he meets new foes, and so, after enduring repeated challenges, gains his destination. These Dogs are still and quiet during the day (unless, indeed, an European comes in sight, when their vociferousness is loud and long), but at night they are very vigilant, and guard the bazaars against the nocturnal thief.”
In some parts of India the superfluous Pariahs are utilised by giving them as food to caged Tigers. An anecdote is related of one who proved himself a match for the Tiger, and who was, as a reward, admitted to close intimacy with the royal beast.
“I knew an instance,” says Captain Williamson, “of one that was destined for the Tiger’s daily meal standing on the defensive, in a manner that completely astonished both the Tiger and the spectator. He crept into a corner, and whenever the Tiger approached, seized him by the lip or the neck, making him roar most piteously. The Tiger, however, impelled by hunger—for all supply of food was purposely withheld—would renew the attack. The result was ever the same. At length the Tiger began to treat the Dog with more deference, and not only allowed him to partake of the mess of rice and milk furnished daily for his subsistence, but even refrained from any attempt to disturb him. The two animals at length became reconciled to each other, and a strong attachment was formed between them. The Dog was then allowed ingress and egress through the aperture; and, considering the cage as his home, he left it and returned to it just as he thought proper. When the Tiger died he moaned the loss of his companion for a considerable period.”
In Siam, these unhappy creatures are equally abundant, and are even worse off. Mr. Thomson[116] states that they occur in great numbers in nearly all the temples. “It is contrary to the Buddhist creed to take away life; hence many of their temples become places of refuge for troops of famished Dogs, who remain there till they die; for though the priests give them what food they can spare, there is never enough for them all. These Dogs, then, are usually animated skeletons, their skins destitute of hair, and covered with many sores. I tossed them a little food; it gave rise to the most savage fight I ever witnessed. One or two wretched curs limped away from the strife, torn and lacerated, probably to lie down and die. This canine community—fierce, hungry, and diseased—must surely be one of those many Buddhist hells where sorcerers expiate their crimes. The animals are deemed to be animated by the spirits of the departed, and are undergoing a lifetime of torture. The priests, if they are good men, look on at their misery with pious complacency, and probably take the lesson to heart, lest they, too, in the next stage of their existence, should be condemned to howl for offal or garbage to satisfy the hungry pangs and sore-eaten frames of starving Pariah Dogs.”
DINGO.
THE INDIAN WILD DOG.[117]
This animal, which exists in large numbers all over the peninsulas of India and Malacca, differs so much from the ordinary Dogs, that it has been proposed to separate it from them under a different generic name, Cuon. Its distinctive characters are, however, by no means sufficiently great to warrant this separation. It occurs, under slightly different varieties, in different parts of India, and receives various native names. By the Mahrattas it is called Kolsun (Canis dukhunensis of Colonel Sykes); Sona kúta, or Golden Dog, in Central India; Buansú in the Himalayas; Dhole in Ceylon, and so on.