children. I can assure you they are. I have always found our dogs the best of friends with our children, and they enjoy romping together. One of their favourite games is "hunt the slipper," and it is most amusing to watch the dog seek the slipper and run off with it.

A very great point in their favour is the freedom from disease. They do not appear to be subject to distemper as are other dogs. I think possibly this is partly due to the healthy, free, open-air life they live on the limitless tundras of Northern Russia. During my visit to Archangel I did not hear of a single case of distemper.

I may mention that the native Samoyede takes a deep personal interest in his dogs, and makes great pets of them. I saw the dogs running in and out of their chooms, or tents, playing with the children, and I did not find it at all easy to buy them. A trained sledge dog, in particular, is worth a great deal to his master.

Her Majesty the Queen has been a great admirer of the Samoyede dog for many years, and her dog Jacko is one of the finest ever imported. I may mention that the beautiful white Samoyede Perlene, owned by Mrs. Scott, is descended on both sides. from dogs used on the Jackson-Harmsworth expedition.

Having been practically the first to bring these dogs over to this country, I naturally take a very great interest in the breed, and it is especially pleasing to see them becoming such a favourite breed. They are certainly unique in beauty and intelligence."

The dogs of Lapland and of Iceland (Figs. 80 and 81) are somewhat smaller than the Esquimaux, especially the latter. In other respects they resemble the other dogs of the Northern parts. In Finland there appears to be a breed resembling the Australian Dingo, but much more domesticated. Some of these dogs are remarkable

ratters. Speaking generally of the various breeds of Arctic dogs, they are very attractive in appearance, and would well repay more attention being given to them. It is of course a question whether the extraordinary dense coat required to protect these dogs during the severe winters they have to encounter in their native parts can be preserved in the warmer climate of this country. The writer's experience in breeding Esquimaux, which extends over a period of more than twenty years, is that with judicious breeding the coat does not deteriorate, many of the dogs bred here comparing very favourably in this respect with imported specimens.

CHAPTER XXXII

THE DINGO

THE Dingo-the native dog of Australia-is becoming scarcer year by year. A dog of this breed without any admixture of Collie or other blood is far more difficult to obtain than was the case a few years ago. A pure Dingo, or Warragal, as it is called by the natives, is only now to be met with in the far interior of Australia, although there are a number of crossbred dogs that resemble the native dog so closely as to render it very difficult, in many cases, to tell the difference.

These dogs are a source of great loss and annoyance to sheepfarmers, not only on account of the number of sheep that they actually kill, but also on account of the number that they injure. A couple of these dogs will kill as many as a dozen sheep in a night, and seriously injure three or four times that number. It is not therefore surprising that strenuous efforts have been made to rid the country of them, large numbers having been poisoned by strychnine; also other means of destroying them have also been resorted to.

The Dingo stands about 22in. high, and has a broad, flat forehead, rather large pricked ears, pointed muzzle, and dark eye; the teeth are level and much larger than is the case in other dogs of greater size; the tail is bushy and carried low, or slightly elevated when the dog is running. The colour of full-grown dogs is red, sometimes slightly tinged with black, with white feet and tip to tail; but the puppies when whelped are black, or very nearly so. They are extremely active dogs, and far more resemble a wild animal than any other kind of dog.

The domestication of a Dingo brought direct from the bush would be a difficult matter, although it would be possible to a certain extent in the case of puppies bred and reared in this country; but even under these circumstances it would probably be some generations before their destructive nature could be bred out and they could be trusted about the place loose, more especially in the neighbourhood of poultry. The writer has never known a Dingo to attack any one, but great care should be exercised in handling them, even by those known to them, as they will turn round and snap in

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an instant, and a bite from one of these dogs is a serious matter and leaves a nasty wound. The writer has at various times owned several of these dogs and has never been bitten by one; but those who have been injudicious enough to ignore the notice exhibited at most shows cautioning visitors against touching any of the dogs, and have interfered with a Dingo, have not always been so fortunate, and have had good cause to regret their folly.

Of the Dingos that have been exhibited, Captain Burton (13,315) a frequent winner about sixteen years since, was unquestionably one of the best. Like many wild animals in confinement, this dog would continue to walk round in a circle for hours together; it was for this

reason that he was exhibited loose in an iron cage, as if chained up the chain soon became twisted. In later years Myall (41,736) (Fig. 82) has successfully represented the breed on the show-bench. Previous to either of these dogs Lupus was a frequent winner under different judges. The high carriage of tail was a fault in this dog apparent to any one; in addition to this the writer, who owned Lupus for some years, always considered that there was something about the dog not altogether characteristic of the breed, although it would have been very difficult to define exactly what this was. He had no suspicion at the time that the dog, although bred in this country, was not a pure-bred Dingo, as was represented to be the case when

he became possessed of it. It was not until some time after the dog had been given away and he was exhibited by his new owner that the writer noticed for the first time one or two small black spots at the root of the tongue. This clearly showed that there was Chinese or Chow-Chow blood in the dog, which readily accounted for the high carriage of tail, as well as for other faults not so easily discernible.

The Dingo does not bark, but is capable of making noise enough to be heard for some distance round. It will easily be gathered from what has been said that a dog of this breed can hardly be considered a desirable house-dog, however interesting one may prove to those having suitable accommodation for keeping such dogs