Rensselaer Union, Volume 6, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 January 1874 — Hottentot Dogs. [ARTICLE]

Hottentot Dogs.

We find in Our Dumb Animals that travelers who have visited the Cape of Good Hope give wonderful accounts of the fidelity and sagacity of the Hottentot dogs. They are chiefly employed to guard their master’s flocks against the lions, leopards and tigers which abound in the surrounding country. No dog, single-handed, would be a match for one of these fearful beasts-, and therefore the powers of combination and organization are developed in these dogs to a remarkable degree. At night, when the flock is assembled in one place, four dogs station themselves as sentinels at equa) distances along the line of danger, and watch in a sitting position,.the head stretched out to catch the slightest noise. Nor does their power of organization end here. All good defense requires a patrol, and the four dogs take turns, hour by hour, in walking up and down before the camp, listening to and-watching intently to give immediate warning of the enemy’s approach. If a tiger or a leopard comes in sight, the sentinel utters a cry of alarm, and the other dogs instantly assemble, and throw themselves, en masse, upon the intruder, who finds their united strength too much for him. Sometimes, however, the enemy comes in force, in which case the dogii utter long, plaintive cries, to call to their* assistance the guard of the neighboring flock, who respond to the signal, and expect similar aid in their hour of danger. These remarkable dogs have ho external beauty to recommend them. Their colors is a dirty gray. They have square paws, pointed noses, stiff ears, and very rough hair. They are nevertheless regarded by the Hottentot as members of his family. They have their fights by the fireside, and are taken care of and fed like the children of the house. —A boy while coasting in the streets of Minneapolis, the other day, collided with a lady pedestrian wd Wfok« her h|g.