Nothing much; and his dog was an ill-tempered brute.

And you tried to sell me an ill-tempered brute, blind of one eye, for an extortionate price.

It was evidently a rogue elephant, an ill-tempered brute who had been driven from the herd to spend a solitary existence.

"He is an ill-tempered brute," he went on as soon as they had left the cockpit.

"Didn't you tell the man who came here that he was an ill-tempered brute, and blind of one eye?"