giste de la beste, et sont de fort petite despenoe a leur maistre, mais au reste plus
propre à la cuisine qu’à tout autre service. La chair en est assez bonne et sent
aucunement le porc ; j ’en mangeois assez peu souvent, car un telle viande est fort
estimée dans le pays, c’est pourquoy je n’en avois pas si souvent que j’eusse bien
désiré. Ils sont fort importuns dans les cabanes, marchent sur vous, et s’ils recontrent
le pot au descouvert ils ont incontinent leur museau aigu dans la sagamité,
qui n’en est pas estimée moins nette*.”
Canis f . vax. D. N o v .e C a l e d o n iæ . Carrier Indian Dog.
Scacah. Carrier. I ndians.
The Attnah or Carrier Indians of New Caledonia possess a variety of dog which
differs from the other northern races. Mr. M'Vicar made me a present of an
excellent example of this breed, which I intended to have brought to England; but
it was stolen, and fell a sacrifice to the desire which a party of Canadian voyagers
had to partake of a meal of dog’s flesh. I regretted its loss the more, as, intending
to have a portrait taken of it, I had neglected to draw up a detailed account of its
characteristic features.
D E S C R I P T IO N .
I t had erect ears, and a head large in proportion, even when compared with the Esquimaux
dog. Its body was long, and its legs short. Its for was rather shorter and sleeker than that
of the other native dogs, and its body was studded with small spots of various colours. /There
was a good deal of intelligence in its countenance, mixed with wildness. It was extremely
active, and could leap to a great height. The Carrier Indians use it in the chase. I t was of
the size of a large turnspit-dog, and had somewhat of the same form of body; but it had
straight legs, and its erect ears gave it a different physiognomy.
* Sagard Theodat. Canada, p. 767*
[25.] 4. Canis (Yulpes) lagopus. (Linn.) The Arctic Fox.
Genus, Canis, Linn. Sub-genus, Yulpes. Desmarest.
Pied foxes. J ames, Voy., p. 50. An. 1633.
Canis lagopus. Lin n . Syst., vol. i. p. 59. F orster, Phil. Trans., 62, p. 370.
Arctic fox. Pennant, Arctic Z o o l., vol. L, p. 42. Hearne, Journey:, p. 363.
Greenland dog. Pennant, Hist. Quadr., vol. i. p. 257 ? a young individual.
Canis lagopus. Captain Sabine, Parry's First Voy. Suppl. dxxxvii. Mr. Sabine, Franklin’s Jour.,
p. 658. Richardson, Parry's Second Voy., App. p. 299. Harlan, Fauna, p. 92.
Isatis and Arctic fox. Godman, Nat. Hist., vol. i. p. 268.
Stone.fox. Auctorum.
Terreeanee-arioo. Esquimaux of Melville-Peninsula. Terienniak. Greenlanders.
Wappeeskeeshew-makkeeshew. Cr.ee Indians. Peszi. Russians.
D E S C R I P T IO N .
The Arctic Fox in its full win ter dress is entirely of a pure white colour, or white with a
slight tinge of yellow, except at the tip of the tail, where there are a few black hairs intermixed.
Before the eyes, and on the lower jaw, the hair is short and sleek; on the forehead and
posterior part of the cheeks, it becomes considerably longer, and on the occiput and neck
it equals the ears in height, and is intermixed with a soft wool or down. There is so much of
the wool on the body, that it gives the fur the character of that of the Polar Hare. The ears
are of a rounded form, and are covered with shorter hairs than the neighbouring parts.
the shortest hair is on their edges, and it terminates so evenly with that on the back and
front of the ear, as to seem as if it had been trimmed with a pair of scissars, and to render
the ear thicker in appearance than it really is *. The long fur on the posterior part
of the cheeks is directed backwards, and contributes to give a peculiar cast to the
physiognomy, and an apparent great thickness to the neck, which features are common to the
foxes, wolves, and native races of the domestic dog in the northern parts of America, and
distinguish them from their congeners of the Old World. The v ib rissa about the mouth
are very strong, and are in some specimens nearly white, in others of a dusky-brown colour.
The hair on the body is long, particularly on the sides. I t is rather longer on the belly than
on the back, but not so close and woolly. It is denser, and coarser on the tail than elsewhere.
The shoulders and thighs are protected by long for, but the fore-parts of the legs
are covered with short hair, the hind-legs having the shortest and smoothest coat. On the
posterior surface of the legs the hair is longer. The soles of the feet are covered with
very dense woolly hair, of a dirty white colour, giving them that resemblance to the feet of
a hare which is the origin of the Linnean name for the species.
* This fox has shorter and rounder ears than any variety of the red fox.
M 2