We have already observed that there were in Peru and Mexico, before the
arrival of the Europeans, domestic animals called _alco_, which were of
the same size, and nearly of the same disposition, as our small dogs;
and which the Spaniards called _Mexican_ or _Peruvian dogs_, from this
similitude, and from their having the same attachment and fidelity to
their masters. In fact, the species of these animals does not seem to
be essentially different from that of the dog; and besides, the term
alco may probably be a generic and not a specific term. Recchi has
left us the figure of one of these alcos, which is called _ytzcuinte
porzotli_ in the Mexican tongue; it was prodigiously fat, and probably
degenerated from its domestic state and too great an abundance of food.
The head is represented so small, that it has not any proportion to
the size of the body; its ears are hanging, which is another mark of
domesticity. The muzzle resembles that of a dog; the fore-part of the
head is white, and the ears are partly yellow. The neck is so short as
to leave no interval between the head and shoulders. The back is curved
and covered with yellow hair. The tail is white, short and pendulous,
but does not descend lower than the thighs. The belly is large, tense,
and marked with black spots; it has six very apparent tits. The legs
and feet are white, and the toes, like those of a dog, are armed
with long and pointed claws. Fabri, who has given this description,
concludes, after a very long dissertation, that this animal is the
same as that called alco, and I think his assertion well founded; but
we must not look upon it as conclusive, for there is still another
race of dogs in America, to which it applies equally as well. "Besides
the dogs, says Fernandes, which the Spaniards have transported into
America, we met with three other species, which resemble ours both
in their natures and manners, and which do not essentially differ in
figure. The first and the largest of these American dogs is called
_xoloiztcuintli_. This is frequently three cubits long, and what is
particularly remarkable, he is entirely without hair, and only covered
with a soft, close skin, marked with yellow and blue spots. The second
is cloathed with hair, and in size resembles our little Maltese dogs.
He is marked with white, black, and yellow. His deformity is singular
but not disagreeable. His back is arched, and his neck so exceedingly
short, that the head seems to shoot immediately out of the shoulders;
in his own country he is called _michuacanens_, from the name of his
country. The third, which also resembles our little dogs, is called
_techichi_, but his look is dull and savage. The Americans eat his
flesh."
From comparing the testimonies of Fabri and Fernandes, it is clear
that the second dog the last author calls _michuacanens_, is the same
as the _ytzcuinte portzotli_, and that this species of animal existed
in America before the arrival of the Europeans; and it must have been
the same with the _techichi_. I am therefore persuaded that this word
_alco_ was a generic name, which equally applied to both, and perhaps
to more races or varieties which still remain unknown to us. But with
respect to the first, Fernandes seems to be deceived both with regard
to the name and subject. No author has spoken of any naked dogs in
New Spain. This race, commonly called _Turkish dogs_, comes from
the Indies, and other warm climates of the Old Continent; and it is
probable that those which Fernandes saw in America, were transported
thither, especially as he expressly mentions that he had seen this
species in Spain, before his departure for America. What further proves
it to be so is, that this animal had no American name, and Fernandes,
in order to give it one, borrowed that of _xoloitzcuintli_, which is
the name of the Mexican wolf. Thus of three species or varieties of
American dogs, there only remain two, which are indiscriminately called
by the name of _alco_; for independently of the fat alco, which served
as a lap dog for the Peruvian ladies, there was a lean and melancholy
alco, used for the purpose of hunting, and it is not impossible that
these animals, though very different to all appearance from that of our
dogs, nevertheless spring from the same stock. The Lapland, Siberian,
and Iceland dogs, may, like the wolves and foxes, have passed from one
continent to the other, and afterwards degenerated by the influence
of climate and a domestic state. The first alco, with a short neck,
approaches the Iceland dog; and the techichi of New Spain, is probably
the same animal as the koupara, or crab-dog of Guiana, which resembles
the fox in its shape and the jackal in its hair. He is denominated the
crab-dog, because he principally feeds upon crabs and other crustaceous
animals. I have only seen a skin of one of these Guiana animals, and I
am unable to decide whether it be a particular species, or whether it
be related to those of the dog, fox, or jackal.