THE

HISTORY OF THE DOG

ITS ORIGIN> PHYSICAL moral
CHARACTERISTICS,

ITS PRINCIPAL VARIETIES.

BY

W- C; L. MARTIN.

LONDON:
CHARLES KNIGHT & r> ,

HT &J^> LEGATE STREET.

1845.

London : — Printed by W. Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street.

ADVERTISEMENT.

The following 4 History of the Dog ' has been
written* to carry forward the plan announced in
the volume of 4 The Elephant,' namely, to com-
plete those works which have for their object to
furnish very complete details of the three quadru-
peds (the Elephant, the Dog, and the Horse) who
have been the great instruments furnished by
Divine Providence to man, to enable him to " re-
plenish the earth and subdue it ;" and who, by their
remarkable sagacity, have, in various states of
society, deserved to be regarded as his especial
friends.

The first of this Series, 4 The Elephant,' was
written by the Editor of the 4 Weekly Volume,'
and was originally published in the 4 Library of
Entertaining Knowledge/ The present volume is
composed by Mr. W. C. L. Martin, whose reputa
tion as a Zoologist is well established ; and he
will also furnish the concluding 4 History of the
Horse,' which will be shortly published.

. V- C. K.

V

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

PAOB

ORIGINAL TYPE OF THE DOG 5

CHAPTER II.

THE DOG OF ANTIQUITY 32

CHAPTER III.

THE PHYSICAL AND MORAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE

MODERN RACES OF THE DOG 62

CHAPTER IV.

ON THE VARIETIES OF THE DOG , 106

CHAPTER V.

ON THE GREYHOUND GROUP OF DOGS 137

CHAPTER VI.

ON THE CALABRIAN AND NEWFOUNDLAND GROUP OF

DOGS 167

vi

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VII.

PAGE

ON THE SPANIEL RACES OF THE DOG 178

CHAPTER VIII.

ON THE HOUNDS 187

CHAPTER IX.

ON THE MASTIFF RACE AND THE TERRIERS 207

r

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

CHAPTER I.

ORIGINAL TYPE OF THE DOG.

It is a singular fact, of which many persons are not
aware, that all attempts to ascertain the primitive origin,
the wild stock, of our domestic quadrupeds, appear
hitherto to have been unsuccessful.* Their primeval
condition and characters are lost in the obscure of by-
gone time, nor know we when, or under what circum-
stances, or by what nations, the several wild stocks were
reclaimed from a state of freedom, and taught to submit
to the bondage of man. With respect to our domestic
poultry, the case is somewhat different. The primitive
root of each species is, we think, fairly determined ; yet
we are equally in the dark as to the circumstances attend-
ing their first subjugation, and their early dispersion
throughout various countries often remote from that in
which the bird is naturally indigenous. The common
fowl, for example, originally from India, existed in our

* The Buffalo used in Asia and Italy, if it can be consi-
dered as a truli/ domestic quadruped, is perhaps an exception.
We may add the Yak and Gyall.

6

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

island before the invasion of Julius Coesar. It would
seem, indeed, as if a record of events and operations
bearing intimately on the welfare of the human race, but
destitute of that meretricious glare which surrounds the
deeds of warriors crimson with blood, or of usurpers
laying waste the towns and villages of a ravaged country,
were unworthy of the pen of the historian, or even of his
notice. So it has been in all ages. History is replete
with the mighty deeds, perchance rather crimes, of mighty
men ; — it speaks trumpet-tongued of war, and the
" gaudia certaminis," the "rapture of the fight," and
the prowess of heroes, — but it is silent respecting the
motives, the attempts, the failures, or the success of those
who unobtrusively laboured in the domestication of wild
animals, serviceable to our species, and valuable as pro-
perty ; — it is equally silent respecting the rise of metal-
lurgy, the discovery of metallic ores, and of the modes
adopted in obtaining and working the pure metal. Yet
we know that at a very early period of man's existence
upon earth, there-was "a keeper of sheep" and "an
instructor of every artificer in brass and iron."

As history, then, is silent respecting the primitive
stocks of our domestic quadrupeds, the zoologist has no-
thing to guide him except observations and experiments.
To these he has had recourse, but with little success.
In the case of the dog, indeed, the difficulty of ascer-
taining its origin is peculiarly great. Various naturalists
of profound research have diligently investigated it, and
few have deduced from their labours the same opinions.
Some have confidently referred the dog to the wolf, as
its wild type, — others to the jackal ; in both of which the
pupil of the eye is circular (linear in the fox). Others,

ORIGINAL TYPE OF THE DOG.

7

again, contend that it is a factitious animal, descended
from a mixture of various species ; and most deny the
existence of any aboriginally wild race of dogs at present
in existence.

So great is the difference in form, size, hair, qualities,
and disposition which the various breeds of the domestic
dog exhibit, that it is difficult to believe, interbreed as
they may together, that all are the descendants of one com-
mon parentage. We are among those who believe that,
as there are degrees in the relationship of species to
species, some may, although distinct, approximate so
nearly as «not only to produce, inter se, mules incapable
of interbreeding, but a progeny of fertile hybrids ca-
pable of admixture, perhaps even to the most unlimited
extent. That of such a mixed origin is the domestic dog
was the opinion of Pallas, and to this circumstance he
attributes its extensive varieties ; for he observes that
those domesticated animals which either do not intermix
with other species, or which produce with others an un-
proliflc progeny, are very little changed, however com-
pletely and anciently they have been under the dominion
of man. Such, then, may be the origin of our breeds of
dogs ; but we must not forget the modifying effects of
climate, diet, training, and domestication on an animal
which is evidently peculiarly susceptible of impressions
on its physical nature, no less than on its moral (if the
term be allowed), from the thousand agencies connected
with a state of the most complete subjugation, and those
ever in active operation. But if we hesitate to receive
the theory of Pallas, still more so do we to receive that
of some naturalists who regard the wolf as the sole parent
of the dog. This opinion is maintained by many able

b 2

8 HISTORY OF THE IXXi.

zoologists, and among them by Mr. Bell, whose argu-
ments are, it must be acknowledged, entitled to the
greatest consideration. " In order," says this eminent
naturalist, " to come to any rational conclusion on this
head, it will be necessary to ascertain to what type the
animal approaches most nearly, after having for many
successive generations existed in a wild state removed
from the influence of domestication, and of association
with mankind. Now we find that there are several in-
stances of dogs in such a state of wildness as to have lost
that common character of domestication, variety of colour
and marking. Of these, two very remarkable ones are
the Dhole of India and the Dingo of Australia ; there is,
besides, a half-reclaimed race amongst the Indians of
North America, and another, also partially tamed, in
South America, which deserve attention ; and it is found
that these races in different degrees, and in a greater
degree as they are more wild, exhibit the lank and gaunt
form, the lengthened limbs, the long and slender muzzle,
and the great comparative strength, which characterize
the wolf ; and that the tail of the Australian dog, which
may be considered as the most remote from a state of
domestication, assumes the slightly bushy form of that
animal.- We have here, then, a considerable approxima-
tion to a well-known wild animal of the same genus, in
races which, though doubtless descended from domestic
ancestors, have gradually assumed the wild condition ;
and it is worthy of especial remark that the anatomy of
the wolf, and its osteology in particular, does not differ
from that of the dogs in general more than the different
kinds of dogs do from each other. The cranium is abso-
lutely similar, and so are all, or nearly all, the other es-

ORIGINAL TYPE OE THE DOG.

9

sential parts ; and to strengthen further the probability,
the dog and wolf will readily breed together, and their
progeny is fertile. The obliquity of the position of the
eyes of the wolf is one of the characters in which it
differs from the dogs ; and although it is very desirable
not to rest too much on the effects of habit on structure,
it is not perhaps straining the point to attribute the
forward direction of the eyes in the dogs to the constant
habit for many successive generations of looking towards
their master, and obeying his voice." To these remarks
is added the fact that the period of gestation with the
dog and the wolf is the same, viz., sixty-three days;
in the jackal it is fifty-nine days. Now we at once
admit that the theory laid down by Mr. Bell is not de-
stitute of much that is worthy our deep consideration ; we
have consequently given our earnest attention to it ; but
we cannot say that we adopt it. It is at once conceded
that the wolf and the dog will, under some circumstances,
breed together, — so will the dog and jackal, — but the
progeny of the wolf and dog, if at all fertile, as BufFon
seems to prove, is so in a low degree, the mixed race
failing and becoming by degrees extinct. With respect
to the continuance of hybrids between a dog and jackal
race, we have no data to found any assertions upon.
But suppose the progeny of the dog and wolf, and of the
dog and jackal, were fertile, inter se, for ever, what
would be proved ? This, in the opinion of some natural-
ists— that the dog, wolf, and jackal were one and the
same species ; but in our opinion, only that the species,
truly distinct, were of very near affinity, as undoubtedly
they are, and therefore capable of producing fertile hy-
brids. The fact, however, is, that no one can bring before

10

HISTORY OF THE HOG.

us a pure genuine descendant of the wolf and dog of the
second or third generation, though a strain of the wolf
and jackal may exist in various breeds. And here we
may just glance at the character of the wolf, in order to
see if the animal be such as would lead man in the
earliest stages of human existence to select it as a
guardian of the fold. The wolf is ferocious, but, after
all, cowardly, recluse, skulking, and wary. It manifests
no attachment to man. We knew a wolf belonging to
the late celebrated anatomist Joshua Brookes, which
roamed at liberty about his yard, and which while young
was caressed by the students ; it was familiar enough,
and so continued till fully adult, when it showed itself
in its wolfish colours, and instead of being docile became
an object of terror. Mr. Bell, indeed, records an in-
stance in which a female wolf at the Zoological Gardens
was very gentle and familiar, and even brought out her
pups to share in the caresses of those to whom she was
partial ; and he also adverts to the wolf whose history is
recorded by M. Frederic Cuvier, and which evinced
towards its master the most dog-like affection, displaying
at the same time memory and intelligence. These are
extraordinary cases, and may be paralleled with similar
ones relative to the lion, tiger, hyaena, horse, and ele-
phant ; and certainly do not prove that the wolf and the
dog, though closely related, are identical with each
other. Besides we have yet to be shown (which ex-
periments only can decide) that there is in the wolf that
physical pliability, that susceptibility of modification in
its organic and moral organization, which will permit its
conversion into the mastiff, the hound, the setter, the
spaniel, the lapdog, and the pug.

ORIGINAL TYPE OF THE DOG.

11

There is another point not entirely to be overlooked,
though we would not lay much stress upon it, namely,
the inveterate hatred which subsists between the dog
and the wolf. It is said, and perhaps with truth, that
he who leaves the party with which he was connected,
and joins the opposite, is the most rancorous opponent of
his former colleagues. But though this may apply to
ourselves, we have no right to infer that it holds good
with regard to a race of lower animals. The Esquimaux
dog, which closely resembles the grey wolf of the high
northern regions of America, as far as external appear-
ance goes, dreads the latter animal, to which it often
falls a sacrifice ; on the contrary, it is eager in the chase
of the bear. Captain Parry, in the Journal of his
Second Voyage, says : — " A flock of thirteen wolves, the
first yet seen, crossed the ice in the Bay from the direc-
tion of the huts, and passed near the ships. These ani-
mals, as we afterwards learned, had accompanied or
closely followed the Esquimaux on their journey to the
island on the preceding day ; and they proved to us the
most troublesome part of their suite. They so much re-
semble the Esquimaux dogs, that had it not been for some
doubt amongst the officers who had seen them, whether
they were so or not, and the consequent fear of doing these
poor people an irreparable injury, we might have killed
most of them the same evening ; for they came boldly to
look for food within a few yards of the Fury, and remained
there for some time." He says in a subsequent page,
11 These animals were so hungry and fearless as to take
away some of the Esquimaux dogs in a snow-house near
the Hecla's stern, though the men were at the time within
a few yards of them." Nor is it only in the dreary country

12 HISTORY OF THE DOG.

of the Esquimaux that this hostility between the wolf and
dog exists ; it is everywhere the same. Mr. Broke, in
his travels in Sweden, says: — "During my journey
from Tornea to Stockholm, I heard everywhere of the
ravages committed by wolves, not upon the human
species or the cattle, but chiefly upon the peasants' dogs,
considerable numbers of which had been devoured. I
was told that these were the favourite prey of this ani-
mal ; and that in order to seize upon them with the
greater ease, it puts itself into a crouching posture, and
begins to play several antic tricks to attract the attention
of the poor dog, which, caught by these seeming demon-
strations of friendship, and fancying it to be one of his
own species from the similarity, advances towards it to
join in the gambols, and is carried off by its treacherous
enemy. Several peasants that I conversed with men-
tioned their having been eye-witnesses of this circum-
stance." Captain Parry asserts the same respecting the
Esquimaux wolf, and states that a Newfoundland dog-
belonging to one of the ships being enticed to play with
some wolves on the ice, would have been carried off had
not the sailors gone in a body to his rescue. From this
it appears that the wolf does not acknowledge the spe-
cific identity of the dog with himself; for we believe
that few animals habitually, and by preference, make their
own species their prey.

If, because of a certain degree of resemblance, we are
to regard the Esquimaux dog as nothing more than a
domesticated wolf, faithful to his masters, who often treat
him with blows and harsh usage, so must we for the
same reason regard the Mackenzie River or Hare-Indian
dog as a domesticated species of fox. This elegant dog

14

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

is characterized by an elongated pointed muzzle, sharp
erect ears, and by a bushy tail, not carried erect, but
only slightly curved upwards, and by general slender-
ness of contour. In its native country, the banks of the
Mackenzie River, and of the Great Bear Lake, traversed
by the arctic circle, this variety of the dog never barks ;
and the pair brought to England by Sir John Franklin
and Dr. Richardson never acquired this canine language
— this mode of expressing their feelings ; but one born
in the Zoological Gardens made his voice sound as loudly
as any other dog of the same age and size. The hair of
the Mackenzie River dog is full, deep, and fine ; in sum-
mer it is marked by patches of slate grey, but in winter
becomes white and more thick and furry. The animal is
of great use to the natives of those bleak realms where the
moose and reindeer are objects of the chase during the
winter. This dog has not indeed strength enabling it to
encounter these animals, but, from the lightness of its
body and the breadth of its feet, it runs easily over the
snow without sinking, if the slightest crust be upon the
surface, and can overtake the quarry and keep it at bay
till the hunters come up. Dr. Richardson says, that " it
was perhaps formerly spread over the northern parts of
America, but being fitted only for the chase, it has since
the introduction of guns given way to the mongrel race
sprung from the Esquimaux Newfoundland and this very
breed, with occasional intermixture of European kinds.
Now, if we admit, what some have contended for, that
this graceful and intelligent dog is a descendant of the
arctic or some other species of fox, and that the Esqui-
maux dog is the progeny of the arctic wolf, it follows
that as these dogs breed together, their parent stocks

ORIGINAL TYPE OF THE DOG.

15

must be specifically identical. We doubt, however, the
imputed origin of either of these dogs, whether from the
wolf or fox. It is a remarkable fact that many wild or
half-wild dogs, though wolfish in aspect, do not resemble
the wolf in colour. They are, we believe, as a general
rule, red. A brief notice of these wild or half-wild
breeds of dogs may not be here out of place, as we shall
find from it that though these animals be wolfish in
aspect, they are not truly wolves, — they have sufficient
characteristics of their own by which they are to be dis-
tinguished,— they are wild dogs. Let us look first at the
Dingo, or Australian dog. Are we to consider this dog,
of which packs roam through the wilds of Australia,
preying upon the kangaroo and the flocks of the settler,
as descendants of a domestic race, returned to a state of
freedom, — or as an original wild race, of which the rude
savages have rendered some semi-domesticated ? If the
former, we must confess that we are ignorant alike of
the origin of this dog and of the circumstances attending
its introduction. For ourselves we cannot help believing
that the dingo is a true wild dog, constituting a distinct
species indigenous in Australia. This dog, called by the
natives of New South Wales " Warragul," is about as
large as a harrier, with the body firmly built, and the
limbs very muscular. The head is broad between the
ears, and the muzzle is acute ; the neck is thick and
powerful ; the ears are short, pointed, and erect; the
tail is moderate, somewhat bushy and pendulous, or at
most raised only horizontally. The general colour is
sandy red ; the eyes are rather small and oblique, and
have a sinister expression. The dingo is remarkable for
agility and muscular powers, as well as for cunning and

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

ferocity. It never barks, but howls loudly, and hunts
in small companies. Mr. G. Bennett, in his ' Wander-
ings in New South Wales,' comments on the cunning of
the dingo, which he says are the wolves of the colony.
They breed in the holes of rocks, and carefully watch
their brood. A litter was found near the Yas Plains,
which the discoverer failed to destroy, intending to re-
turn and catch the mother also, and thus extirpate the
whole family ; but the female must have been watching
him, or ascertained by the scent that her lurking-place
had been invaded, for on his returning a short time after,
he found all the little dingos had been carried away ; and
he was never able, though diligent search was made in
the vicinity, to discover their place of removal. Of
their power of enduring pain, without manifesting any
sense of suffering, he gives several instances: — "One
had been beaten so severely that it was supposed all the
bones were broken, and it was left for dead. After the
person had walked some distance, upon accidentally
looking back, his surprise was much excited by seeing
the dingo rise, shake himself, and march into the bush,
evading all pursuit. One supposed dead was brought
into a hut for the purpose of undergoing decortication.
At the commencement of the skinning process upon the
face, the only perceptible movement was a slight quiver-
ing of the lips, which was regarded at the time as merely
muscular irritability. The man, after skinning a very
small portion, left the hut to sharpen hisTtnife, and re-
turning, found the animal sitting up, with the flayed in-
tegument hanging over one side of the face." The
ravages made among sheep and calves by these dogs is in
some districts very serious ; and as they have in the in-

ORIG^L .$&>%f>$ %m.$PG- H

terior a vast range of unexplored territory, tite extermi-
nation of the race seems hopeless. Mr. G. Bennett
states that the dingo is not met with in Van Diemen's

X4w4<.>-> odi io bsyIow sHi oic &ffs£ &d ibiffw osnfb -xij
We have had the opportunity of seeing many speci-
mens of this dog in the Zoological Gardens ; and one
which was bred there came under our special notice. It
was about six weeks old when removed from the mother ;
and on being put into a room it immediately skulked into
the darkest corner, and then, crouching, eyed us with
looks of great distrust and aversion : as soon as left to
itself it commenced the most melancholy howling, which
ceased on any person's entrance. This was for some
days its constant practice ; and when placed in a kennel,
the greater part of the day was so employed. It grew
up strong and healthy, and gradually became reconciled
to those from whom it received its food, but was shy
towards others, retreating into its kennel at their approach.
It never barked, nor, like other dogs, gave notice of the
approach of strangers, and therefore, as a guard, was per-
fectly useless. A great part of every day was spent in
howling, and that so loudly as to be heard at the distance
of nearly half a mile. When the moon rose brightly it
would sit and utter for hours its wild lamentations, not a
little to the annoyance of the neighbourhood. With all
its shyness, it was at the same time savage and cunning :
it would never make an open attack, but several times
snapped at persons when their back was turned, and im-
diately retreated to its kennel. So great was its strength,
that, having one day got loose, though encumbered with
a heavy chain, it leaped a wall of considerable height,
and was not secured without difficulty. The dingo, wre

18

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

believe, does not breed freely with any of our European
domestic dogs ; experiments in Paris have failed ; but
Mr. Cunningham notices a hybrid progeny of this race
now established in New Holland. Granting the existence
of this hybrid;race, still we have no proof in it that the
dingo is specifically identical with any of our European
dogs. According to Pallas and BufFon the offspring of
the goat and sheep are prolific. Mr. Hodgson (Proceeds.
ZooLSoc. 1834, p. 107) states that the Jharal goat of
Nepal 1 1 breeds with the domestic goat, and more nearly
resembles the ordinary types of the tame races than any
wild species yet discovered." Moreover, if the ideas of
Mr. Eyton be correct respecting the specific distinction
between the Chinese hog and the common European
breed (founded on important osteological differences),
the offspring of which are fertile inter se, we have an
interesting case in point. See also Proceeds. Zool. Soc.
1831, *p. 66, for an account of a hybrid between the hare
and^rabbit.

We know not on what grounds Mr. Bell regards the
wild dogs of various regions as the emancipated descend-
ants of a domestic race : if the wolf is the origin of the
dog, might we not expect to find these dogs, no longer
under the agency of man, return again to the wolf, and
exhibit their genuine characters ; might we not, in fact,
have some reason to suspect that the wolves of some
countries were nothing more than emancipated dogs,
which have recovered their typical form and aspect ? We
think, however, that, setting aside the dingo, as occupy- J
ing, in the opinion of many, though not in our own, a
disputable situation, and a red wild dog stated to exist
in Southern China, respecting which little is known,

ORIGINAL TYPE OF THE DOG.

19

genuine aboriginal wild dogs — not pariahs, not the mas-
terless dogs of the villages and towns of the East— may-
be proved to exist ; and though we do not claim any of
them as the origin of the domestic dog, we feel the more
assured that we have no need of looking to the wolf as
the exclusive wild type of our domestic canine race.
Besides, u the wolf " is somewhat vague, because there
are various species of wolves, both in Europe, Asia, and
America \ and further, if each of these species has given
origin to a breed of dogs, in the different countries where
they are found, then, as all domestic dogs promiscuously
breed together, the advocate of the non-admixture of
species is plunged into a dilemma.

In India, wild dogs with specific characters have been
discovered, and are tolerably well known. Of these we
may notice the Buansu (Canis p?imcevits, Hodgs.). re-
garded by its describer as the origin of the domestic dog.
It is a native of Nepal, the eastern and western limits of
its range being the Sutlege and the Burhampootra ; but

it seems to extend with some immaterial differences into
the Vindya, the Ghauts, the Nilgiris, the Cosiah Hills,
and in the chain passing brokenly from Mirzapore, through
South Bahar and Orissa to the Coromandel Coast." 1 ' Of
this race, although so wild as to be rarely seen, Mr. Hodg-
son has succeeded in obtaining many individuals, some of
which lived in confinement many months, and even pro-
duced young, having been pregnant when they reached

him The Buansu preys by night as well as by

day, and hunts in packs of from six to ten individuals,
maintaining the chase rather by powers of smell than by
the eye, and generally overcoming its quarry by force
and perseverance. In hunting it barks like a hound : but

20

HISTORY OF THE DOG. >

its bark is peculiar, and equally unlike that of the culti-
vated breeds of dogs and the strains of the jackal and the
fox. Adults in captivity made no approach towards
domestication ; but a young one, which Mr. Hodgson
obtained when it was not more than a month old, became
sensible of caresses, distinguished the dogs of its own
kennel from others, as well as its keepers from strangers ;
and in its whole conduct manifested to the full as much
intelligence as any of his sporting dogs of the same age."
Proceeds. Zool. Soc. 1833, p. 111. This dog is stated
by Mr. Hodgson to be remarkable for its dentition, there
being a deficiency of the second tubercular molar of the
lower jaw. In the same volume of the Proceeds., at
p. 113, we find the following: — "A letter was read,
addressed to the Secretary by W. A. Wooler, Esq.,
giving an account of a wild dog from the Mahablishwar
Hills, now known as Malcolm's Pate, in the Presidency
of Bombay: its local name is Dhale (Dhole ?). The
habits of this dog in. a state of nature are described by
Mr. Wooler : they accord with those of the Buansu of
Nepal, as detailed by Mr. Hodgson." Most probably it
is the same species.

In July, 1831, Colonel Sykes described a wild dog
from the Mahrattas, termed by the natives Kolsun
(Cams Duckhwiensis, Sykes). "This," he says, "is
the " wild dog of Dukhun (Deccan). Its head is com-
pressedjand elongated, its nose not very sharp. The
eyes are oblique, the pupils round, the irides light brown.
The expression of the countenance is that of a coarse,
ill-natured Persian greyhound, without any resemblance
to the jackal, the fox, or the wolf; and in consequence
essentially distinct from the Canis Quao or Swnatrensis

ORIGINAL TYPE OP THE DOG. 21

of General Hardwicke. Ears long, erect, and somewhat
rounded at the top, without any replication of the tragus.
Limbs remarkably large and strong in relation to the
bulk of the animal'; its size being intermediate between
the wolf and jackal." In December, 1833, Colonel
Sykes compared specimens of this Kolsun with those of
the Buansu of Mr. Hodgson, " and showed that the two
dogs are perfectly similar in their general form, and in
the form of the cranium ; and that in his specimen,
equally with that of Mr. Hodgson, the hinder tubercular
tooth of the lower jaw was wanting. The only difference
remarkable between the two specimens is in the quality
and quantity of the fur ; 4hat of the Dukhun dog being
paler and less dense than that of the individual from Ne-
pal. These differences, depending probably on climate
and individual peculiarity, cannot be regarded as sufficient
to indicate a distinction between the two races. Iden-
tical as they are in form and habits, Colonel Sykes con^
siders them as one species. Here, then, we have a
genuine wild dog, called, in different mountain districts,
Kolsun, Buansu, and Dhole, of a sandy red or rufous
colour. With respect to the absence of the last molar in
the lower jaw, though this has occurred in the specimens
of some skulls which we have examined, we are much
disposed to consider it in general as resulting from age.
In all dogs this tooth is very small ; and in the skull of
an English terrier of about two years old, now before us,
it is absent on one side.

Colonel Baber, in a note subjoined to a description of
this wild dog, by Colonel Sykes, in the Trans. Asiatic
Society, states that it was often seen by him on the
Western Coast, and in the Balaghat district, where it is

22

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

numerous. u As often," he adds, "as I have met with
them, they have been invariably in packs of from thirty
to perhaps sixty. They must be very formidable, as all
animals are very much afraid of them. Frequently re-
mains of hogs and deer have been brought to me, which
had been taken overnight by these wild dogs. The na-
tives assert that they kill tigers and chetahs, and there is
no doubt of the fact. It is quite correct that they are
found in the Nelageris, though only on the western parts.
I myself was followed, while travelling between the Pai-
tera river and Naddibaff, a distance of eight or nine miles,
by a pack of them ; and had I not repeatedly fired on° my
pistols they would certainly have carried away three or
four terriers and Spanish dogs that were following me at
the time. Two or three times I succeeded in getting
young ones, but I did not keep them longer than three
or four weeks, they were so very wild as well as shy.
It was only at night they would eat, and then most vora-
ciously." It would seem from this that the young dogs
were captured, and not accustomed from their birth to
domestic dogs and human keepers. We may here ob-
serve that the terms Dhole, and Quao, or Quyo, or Qui-
hoe, appear to be given indifferently to distinct wild
dogs, whence some confusion has arisen. Thus the
Quyo or Qyo of Dr. Spry is identical with the Kolsun ;
but the Quihoe of Dr. Daniel Johnson, the Dhole of
Captain Williamson (Canis [Chryseus] Scylax, H.
Smith), appears to be distinct : it is more slender in
form and higher on the limbs than the Kolsun, and has a
sharper muzzle, and a longer and far less bushy tail. It
lives and hunts in packs, and gives tongue during the
chase, uttering a cry not unlike that of a hound, in-

ORIGINAL TYPE OF THE DOG.

23

termixed with snarling yelps. It has been seen to
attack the wild boar. There is also a wild dog or dhole
in Ceylon (Canis Ceylonicus, Shaw), of which, however,
little is definitely known. With respect to the Sumatran
wild dog (Cams Sumatrensis, Hard.), it is of small size,
with much of the aspect of a fox, having a sharp muzzle
and long black whiskers. Its colour is ferruginous, the
eye is oblique, the ears erect and hairy, but consider-
ably rounded at the tip. It is shy and restless. It
would appear that a much larger wild dog is also indi-
genous in Sumatra.

A large wild dog (Canis Javanicus) exists in Java,
and was brought to Europe by M. Leschenault. It
equals an ordinary wolf in size, but has smaller ears ; its
colour is fulvous brown. There is in central India and
the southern provinces a wild dog, or dhole, known
under the name of Wah. It is robustly made, equal to
a harrier in size, but heavier ; the head is large, broad,
and flat ; the muzzle black ; the whole expression very
ferocious. The tail is rather short, the limbs muscular.
The general colour is tanned, with white on the breast
and under parts, and dusky at the tip of the tail. It is
said to hunt in packs, uttering a deep growling bay.

In Beloochistan, the woody mountains of south-eastern
Persia, and extending perhaps even to Caubul, there is
found a wild dog, termed Beluch (Beluel of Avicenna?),
of a red colour, shy, and very ferocious. It is said to hunt
in packs of twenty or thirty, and to pull down and tear
to pieces a buffalo or bullock with the greatest ease.
Colonel C. Hamilton Smith says that a British officer
who traversed this wild region saw a group of these red
dogs barking on the edge of the forest, evidently on the

24

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

watch for game, — they withdrew into cover before 'he
could fire at them, or completely examine them ; they
were however long, rather low on the legs, of a rufous
colour, with a hairy tail, and of a powerful make. Their
footmarks in the sandy soil were very distinct, and indi-
cated that their feet were like those of a hound. The
natives informed him that farther to the west existed a
wild species of still larger size, which had so much white
that the brown and black occurred upon its back in the
form of spots.

It would appear that a wild dog exists in Natolia,
which Colonel C. H. Smith supposes may be the Sheeb,
or Schib, of Syria. He terms it Cams (Thous) acmon.
" A well-known friend," he writes, " who long resided
in Asia Minor, and is well known in his literary capacity,
communicated to us part of his journal, where he had
noted the discovery of a suspicious-looking animal in a
chalk-quarry about six miles from Smyrna, much superior
in size to a jackal, but not a wolf. He is, however, in
doubt whether it is this species, or one of the Chryseis
(Cams) Beluel." The following extract from Kitto's
i Physical History of Palestine ' is interesting : — " There
is an animal of which travellers in Arabia and Syria
hear much, under the name of the Sheeb ; which the
natives believe to be bred between a leopard and a wolf.
Its bite is said to be mortal, and to occasion raving mad-
ness before death. They describe it as being scarcely
distinguishable in shape from a wolf, but with the
power of springing like a leopard, and attacking cattle.
In 1772 Dr. Freer saw and measured the forepart and
tail of one of these animals, and supplied Dr. Russell
with the description, which he has inserted in his book

ORIGINAL TYPJE Of THE DOG.

25

(Nat. Hist, of Aleppo).. The animal was one of several
that followed the Basrah caravan from Basrah to the
neighbourhood of Aleppo. Many persons in the caravan
had been bitten, some of whom died in a short time
raving mad : it was also reported that some persons in
the neighbourhood of Aleppo -were bitten and died in
like manner ; but the Doctor saw none of them himself.
Dr. Russell imagines that the sheeb might be a wolf run
mad ; but this is a hazardous assumption, as it is doubt-
ful that canine madness exists in Western Asia ; and
unless we conclude with Colonel Hamilton Smith that
the sheeb is probably the same as the Thous Acmon, or
the wild wolf-dog of Natolia, it is best to await further
information on the subject. Burckhardt says that little
doubt can be entertained of the existence of this animal,
and explains its fabulous origin (between a wolf and a
leopard) by stating that the Arabs, and especially the
Bedouins, are in the common practice of assigning to
every animal that is rarely met with, parents of two dif-
ferent species of known animals."

There is also in Egypt, and especially Nubia, a species
of wild-dog, termed Deeb by the natives (Canis anthits,
F. Cuv. ; Thous anthus, H. Smith), of which Dr. Rup-
pel obtained specimens about Bahar-el-Azrak ; and also
observed a head taken from the catacombs of Syout,
which appeared to belong to this species. " The head
is rather deep at the jowl, the nose full at the point, the
ears erect, the throat and breast dirty white ; the body
above of a mixed fulvous white, black, and buff, produc-
ing a series of small black spots, or pencils, Caused by
the tips of the longer hairs uniting in meshes." Pro-
fessor Kretschmar is disposed to consider this as the

26

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

original whence the Egyptians derived their domestic
dogs ; but to this point we shall hereafter refer.

A wild dog exists in India under the name of the
Jungle Koola, Lyciscus Tigris of H. Smith. " A speci-
men shot among the rocks on the sea-shore, near Vin-
covah, in the vicinity of Bombay, was in colour yellowish
grey, brindled with blackish streaks ; the head was sharp,
the under parts dirty white, the tail not very hairy,
whitish below ; and the markings on the body so distinct
that some young officers present conceived it to be a
young tiger ; but other persons immediately named it a
1 jungle koola ' (wild dog). It was killed in the act of
searching for offals and putrid animal matter cast on
shore by the sea."

Whether the species we have mentioned are all distinct
from each other, or whether, as in the instance of the
Kolsun and Buansu, several are identical, we have no
means of positively determining ; but whether they be
so or not, we have no reason for regarding them as
originating from a domestic race — they are genuine wild
dogs, and notmarroon dogs (chien maron), or feral dogs,
as those animals which have run wild from a domestic
state are termed, and which always retain their characters
of domestication.

Besides the Asiatic wild dogs which we have noticed,
other species occur in various quarters of the globe.
They exist in Congo, Guinea, and other parts of Africa,
hunting in packs, and dwelling in caves and burrows.
Clapperton met with them in the country beyond Tim-
buctoo. A wild dog termed Mebbia is described in the
travels of F. Zuchi as resembling the hound, and asso-
ciating in packs of thirty or forty, giving chase to all

ORIGINAL TYPE OF THE DOG.

27

sorts of quadrupeds. We here say nothing of the
hunting-dog of the Cape (Lycaon venaticus; Hycena
venatica, Burchell), nor of a variety (or perhaps distinct
species), the simirof Kordofan {Lycaon pictus, Temminck,
not Desmarest), because, though these ferocious animals
are true dogs in the form of the skull and in general
contour, they have, as in the hyaena, only four toes on
the anterior feet, and the same on the feet behind.
These wild hunting-dogs are savage, fierce, and treache-
rous, of great strength, and hunt in packs, both by day
and night. The fur is close and of a sandy red, irregu-
larly clouded, and blotched with black and white. Indi-
viduals vary in the disposition of the markings. Height
about one foot ten inches, or near two feet.

When America was discovered, from its north to
Tierra del Fuego, and in the Caribbean Islands, the
natives were found to be possessed of wild-looking do-
mestic dogs, of very different aspect to any of our
European races. " Those belonging to the savages of
the Antilles," says Buffon, « had the head and ears very
long, and resembled a fox in appearance" (see Hist.
Gen. des Antilles, par le P. du Tertre : Paris, 1669).
He also adds that the Indians of Peru had a smaller kind
of dog, which they named Alco ; and that those of the
isthmus were ugly, with rough long hair and erect ears.
"The semi-domesticated native dogs of South America
are sufficiently tamed," says Colonel H. Smith, " to
accompany their masters to hunt in the forest, without,
however, being able to undergo much fatigue ; for when
they find the sport not to their liking, they return home,
and await the return of the sportsmen. In domesticity
they are excessive thieves, and go to prowl in the forest.

28

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

There is a particular and characteristic instinct about
them to steal and secrete objects without being excited
by any well-ascertained motive. They are in general
silent and often dumb animals ; the cry of some is
seldom and but faintly heard in the night ; and in do-
mestication others learn a kind of barking. None appear
to be gregarious, but several are occasionally encoun-
tered in families. Although in company with man the
domesticated will eagerly join in the chase of the jaguar,
we have never heard that they are in the same state of
hostility towards the feline race as are their congeners in
Asia and Africa. The native Indians who have do-
mestic dogs of European origin, invariably use the
Spanish term Perro, and greatly promote the increase
of the breed, in preference to their own, which they
consider to be derived entirely, or with a cross, from the
Aguaras of the wroods ; and by this name of Aguara it
is plain, throughout almost all the interior of South
America, that the whole group of indigenous canines is
understood." Of late years, however, these indigenous
tame dogs have been almost entirely replaced by dogs of
European breeds, which in many places, as Hayti, and
also in several parts of South America, have given origin
to a feral or emancipated race, as have the horse and ox.
In North America, besides the Hare-Indian dog, the
Esquimaux, &c, there is the Techichi or carrier-dog of
Mexico ; the black wolf-dog of the Florida Indians, the
ordinary dog of the North American Indians, with a
heavy triangular head, and perhaps several others, deci-
dedly of indigenous extraction. What, it may be asked,
is the origin of these animals ? With respect to the Aguara
dogs, we have the natives' own accounts, viz., from

OHIGIjSTAL TYPE OP THE DOG.

29

wild species still existing :— " There are many species,"
says Buffon, " which the natives of Guiana have named
Dogs of the Woods (Chiens des Bois), because they are
not yet reduced, like our dogs, to a state of domestica-
tion; and they are thus rightly named (viz. dogs), be-
cause they breed together with domestic races." These
wild aguara dogs, which naturalists generally call foxes,
are thrown into a group (Dasicyon) by Col. H. Smith,
comprising the hoary aguara dog (Z>. canescens) ; the
Falkland Islands aguara dog (Z). antarcticus) ; the
aguara dog of the woods (JD. sylvestris), somewhat like
a cur, of which he considers the Crabodage or Surinam
aguara dog to be a domestic variety ; and the Dunfooted
aguara dog (Z>. fulvipes ; Vulpes fulbipes, Martin).
This last is a small stout foxy-looking animal, with short
limbs.

With respect to the alco of Peru and Mexico, we
know little more about it than what Dampier and Fer-
nandez mention. The latter describes two breeds, viz.
the fat Alco, or Michuacaneus, called by the natives
Ytzcuinte porzotli ; and the broad-footed Alco, or Te-
chichi, which latter is, as we have said, the carrier-dog
of Mexico. The fat alco appears to have been very
small ; a specimen, said to be an alco, was brought to
this country from the neighbourhood of Mexico by Mr.
Bullock ; it was white, variegated with black and
yellow, and was stated to have been obtained in the
mountains of Durango, where it bore the name of
Acolotte. Dogs resembling the alco were seen as early
as 1492 in several of the West India Islands by Colum-
bus, and were also found in Martinique and Guadaloupe
in 1635 by French navigators. These dogs they de-

c

80 HISTORY OF THE BOG.

scribe as resembling the Barbary dogs without hair,
adding that they were eaten by -the inhabitants. All
trace of them is now lost.

The dog of the North American Indians, called Cay-
gotte by the Mexican Spaniards, is referred to a species
termed Lyciscus cagottis by Colonel H. Smith, who
places in the same genus with it the North American
prairie wolf (Canis [Lyciscus] latrans) ; both "diurnal
canines, not strictly wolves." The latter he regards as
the origin of the black wolf-dog of the Florida Indians,
on one side at least, the parentage being the Newfound-
land dog on the other. " The Indian dogs closely re-
semble wolves," says Dr. Richardson, " so that it is dif-
ficult to distinguish them when seen at a short distance.
They breed freely with a wild she-wolf but, excepting^
at certain seasons, " both male and female wolves devour
the dogs as they would any other prey."

After this review of the wild dogs (animals neither
strictly wolves, nor jackals, nor foxes) of Asia and Ame-
rica, we come with somewhat more precision to the con-
sideration of the origin, or rather origins, of the domestic
dogs. ' It is almost incontestibly proved that the abori-
ginal aguara tame dogs and others of the American con-
tinent, which on the discovery of its different regions
were in subjugation to the savage or semi-civilised
nations, were not only indigenous, but the descendants
of several wild aguara dogs, or chiens des bois, existing
contemporary with themselves in the woods or plains ;
and granting that a European race (as is the case since)
had by some chance contributed to their production, the
case is not faltered, but the theory of the blending of
species confirmed.

ORIGINAL sSPYPE Of THE BOG.

31

Now turning to the dogs of the old world:;. may not
there have existed at an early epoch various closely
allied species, whence the different races have sprung?
Asia has still its genuine wild dogs ; but species even
more resembling our present dogs, and in fact their pro-
genitors, may have existed ; nor do we refuse to admit
that in some of our tame races, notwithstanding their
habitual enmity against the wolf, a strain of that animal,
or even of the jackal, may obtain. Not, we contend,
that the wolf has become a dog, and is the sole source of
that valuable creature ; but we are willing to allow that
in some breeds a cross with the wolf may have taken
place, whence a chien-loup, or wolf-dog, has resulted.
From this chien-loup, or chienne-louve, and a dog of
pure breed, a progeny might and perhaps did proceed;
the descendants of this again would breed with pure
dogs, and so the race would be perpetuated. Even
occasionally repeated crossings with the wolf when the
breed was established would not prevent its continuation.
That such is the fact, and that it has modified the cha-
racters of the dog, is corroborated by the statements of
Dr. Richardson and other naturalists. This seems to be
more particularly evident in the high northern regions ;
while in the warmer climates of the East it is equally
probable that in some of the races the blood of the
jackal may be infused. In South and North America
the old races were either exclusively derived from several
half-wolf, half-dog like animals, or from wild aguara
dogs, very like foxes, either directly, or by means of
crosses with some foreign race.

CHAPTER II.

THE DOG OF ANTIQUITY.

From the earliest periods of time, as far as records go,
the dog has existed as the friend and assistant of man.
In the primitive condition of society such an animal,
with high courage, strength, fleetness, sagacity, docility,
and a physical and moral temperament susceptible of
modification, would be invaluable ; nor need we wonder
that the ancients placed it in the starry heavens, or made
it the deified symbol of abstract ideas. " The Egyp-
tians," says M. Elzear Blaze, " seeing in the horizon a
superb star, which always appeared at the time when the
overflow of the Nile began, gave it the name of Sirius
(Latrator') because it seemed to show itself expressly in
order to warn the labourer against the inundation. The
Sirius, it is a dog, they said, — the dog renders us service ;
— it is a god ! Its appearance corresponding with the
periodical rise of the Nile, the dog was soon considered
as the genius of that river : they represented this genius,
this god, with the body of a man and the head of a dog.
It had a genealogy, — it took the name of Anubis, son of
Osiris; its image was placed at the entrance of the
temple of Isis and Osiris, and afterwards on the gate of
all the temples of Egypt. The dog being the symbol of
vigilance, they thus intended to warn princes of their

THE DOG OF ANTIQUITY.

33

constant duty to watch over the good of their people.
It was honoured chiefly at Hermopolis the Great (Chera-
nis, or Ouchmounein, in modern Arabic), and soon
afterwards in all the towns of Egypt. Juvenal says, —

' Oppida tota canem Anubim venerantur, nemo Dianam.' *

At a subsequent period, Cynopolis, the city of the dog
(now Samallout), was built in its honour ; there the
priests celebrated to it festivals in great pomp." Anubis,
Latrator, was the counsellor of Isis ; its statue was of
gold, or gilded, and earthly dogs of a black and white
colour were alternately sacrificed to it. These were
embalmed ; and in modern days, mummies of dogs have
been found in abundance : we have seen some of a red
colour ; and dogs and other animals of this colour are
said to have been sacrificed to Typhon, as -a token of
abhorrence of the shepherd or Scythic conquerors, under
whose dynasty the Israelites held possession in Egypt,
but who were ultimately expelled, when the bondage of
the Israelites commenced. Another Egyptian deity,
Thoth, or Sothis, the Mercury of that nation, is repre-
sented with the head of a dog. " The dog star," says
M. Blaze, " was placed on the limit of the northern and
southern hemispheres. As the equinoctial line seemed
to cut it in two, it was divided into two personages, of
which one ascended to heaven, the other descended to
the infernal regions." Plutarch says, " The circle which
touches and separates the two hemispheres, and which,
on account of this division, has received the name of
horizon, is called Anubis. It is represented under the
form of a dog, because this animal watches during the

* c Whole cities worship the dog Anubis ; no one, Diana.'

3 4 msTO*r ©fthh< tjogv \

day and during the night." The worship of the dog
star, thus, as it were, divided, gave rise to the Greek
Mercury, or Hermes, conductor of the soul to the abodes
of the gods, and Cerberus, the triple-headed guardian of
Pluto's gloomy realms. From Egypt, westward, the
dog in one way or another was mingled up with the rites
and ceremonies of many or most nations. Lucan says,

" Nos in templa, tuam, Romana accepimus, Isin ;
Semicct7iesque deos." *

Nevertheless the Romans sacrificed the dog to Anubis
and the lesser dog star Procyon ; the latter appears
towards the end of July, arising for a short time before
daybreak, as if to announce M the dog star's raging heats."
The Romans deemed it the witherer of fruits, and sacri-
ficed a red dog in propitiation, thinking thereby that the
fruits already ripening would acquire maturity. In
February, during the Lupercal feasts, they sacrificed a
dog in honour of Pan ; and hung and punished dogs on
the anniversary of the failure of the attack of the Gauls
on the Capitol, when the dogs slept, and the sentinels
were roused by the cackling of geese. In Greece, Pro-
serpine, Lucina, Mars, Hecate, and other imaginary
beings were propitiated by the sacrifice of dogs.f In

* " We receive in Roman temples tliy Isis,
And thy hall-dog deities.1'
j- One mode of punishing criminals in Madagascar is by
putting them into a pit, and pouring boiling water over them —
an. I it is believed by the Hovas that, if these tortured creatures
have any charms which may enable them to resist death, the
charms can only be neutralised by cutting off the head of a
black dog, and throwing it, reeking with blood, into the hole
among the agonizing victims before covering the mouth of the
pit with the stone. When the sovereign happens to dream of a

th » »os i or :A->-mqb: ira .

ancient Denmark and 1 Sweden numbers of dogs were
sacrificed for several days running, every ninth year,
during the winter solstice, and with these, men, horses,
hawks, poultry, &c. Eastward, the ancient fire-wor-
shippers of Persia portrayed the principle by which the
power of darkness and his agents are repelled as a dog
with the eyes yellow, and the ears white and yellow.
We learn that the modern Parsees regard the dog with
solicitude. In Japan it is said that the dog still figures
as a deity. " Omysto, or rather Amida, the supreme
king of the heavens and the realms of happiness, is
represented mounted on a horse with seven heads, and
covered with a royal mantle. He has the body of a
man, and the head of a dog, and has a golden collar
round the throat, representing probably the horizon."
Devotees drown themselves with many ceremonies to his
honour. Moreover, as a tribute of respect to this strange
deity, the different streets of each town, according to
Keempfer, contribute to the maintenance of a certain
number of dogs : they have their lodgings, and persons
are especially appointed to take care of them when sick.
Formerly the Peruvians, according to Garcilasso de la
Vega, adored the dog, and had its statue rudely sculp-
tured in their temples. Notwithstanding this, however,
they served up the dog as an excellent dish at their
tables, and made a sort of trumpet of its skull, which
was employed in the chase, in war, and in public festivals.
It was probably from the worship paid in Egypt to

person after execution, if the body be buried and not eaten by-
dogs, it is dug up, the head is cut off, and placed at the feet,
and the head of a black dog put in its stead on the severed
nsck* mxiaxb oi 2UfHfij£d n^'iwivoe silt rrSilW ,9ii6& sdftmW th

36

HISTORY OF THE BOG.

the deities Anubis, Sirius, Thoth, &c, that the Hebrew
legislator condemned the dog to a place among the
unclean animals, and fixed a stigma upon it, in direct
contradiction to the honours bestowed upon that animal
in various heathen nations ; for if we are to trust histo-
rians, as Pliny and Plutarch, not only was the dog
deified, but a certain tribe or nation in Ethiopia had a
dog for their king. In royal vestments, with a crown
on his head, his canine majesty, seated on a throne,
received the homage of his subjects. He indicated his
approbation by wagging his tail ; he forbade by barking ;
he destined to death or punishment by growling ; and
conferred place and dignity by licking the favourite's
hand. He 'had his priestly interpreters, who were, of
course, the persons in whose hands the real power lay,
and we may well believe they served their own interests.
Among our Saxon forefathers, the wolf, from its powers
and the dread in which it was held, was, with certain
additions, assumed as a name by various chiefs and nobles,
as Ethelwolf, Berthwolf, Eadwolf, &c. It would seem
that, among some nations, the names of the dog, synony-
mous or indicative of power and elevation, were in like
manner adopted. Col. H. Smith says, " The root Can,
Khan in its acceptation of power, is evidently mixed up
with the idea of a dog ;" and in ancient Britain, from Cu,
a dog, or head, we have the title Cunobelin, or Cynobe-
lin, the head king, the solar king, the dog of the siin, &c.
The element Can is found in Canute. The same eminent
writer gives numerous examples to prove that the most
ancient names of the dog were never confounded with
those of the wolf, and adds that " a thorough philological
inquiry would most assuredly show that in no language

THE DOG OF ANTIQUITY.

37

and at no period did man positively confound the wolf,
the jackal, or the fox with a real dog."

It was perhaps from the introduction of the dog into
the mystic system of religion whi'ch prevailed in Egypt,
that this animal was accounted unclean by the Israelites,
or perhaps from its habits and propensities. Certain it
is that the dog was despised by that people after their
departure from Egypt, and its name passed into a term
of opprobrium, and continues so to be among the Mo-
hammedans of the East, who in their religious ritual
have borrowed much from the Mosaic institutions. Still
it would appear that throughout the East, time imme-
morial, there existed a race of masterless dogs, the pro-
perty of none, which roamed over the country and about
the streets, clearing them of offal of every description.
Allusions to these dogs occur not only in the Scriptures,
but in the classic writers of antiquity. In Exodus xxii.
31, we read, " Neither shall ye eat of any flesh that is
torn of beasts in the field; ye shall cast it to the dogs."
See also 1 Kings xxi. 19, and 2 Kings ix. 35, and else-
where. Such passages as these, " In the place where

; the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick thy
blood, even thine," and " the dogs shall eat Jezebel by

j the wall of Jezreel," are in accordance with descriptive
passages in the classics,* in which dogs and birds of car-
nivorous appetite are pictured as feeding on the dead —

* There is a savage race of wild or half-wild dogs in Mada-
gascar, which frequent all the places where criminals suffer by
spearing ; their bodies are left there to be devoured, and in a
I short time nothing of the person executed is to be seen excepting
a few half-gnawed bones.

c 3

sunk lc,AB(t oift 00 hniudttu edmif eeoilV/
.410.1 **1UUU't r(1j4(Uui J>ii£ -fe^ob v; 1 1 : > i . • ■< j

Street-dogs of the East.

39

" Whose limbs unburied on the naked shore
Devouring dogs and hungry vultures tore."

Iliad, Pope's Trans, lib. i. lines 4 and 5.

And again —

" ttoWovs Se Kvves fcal yvires tSovrcu

TpcW "*— lib. xviii. line 271.

Such scenes bring to mind the forcible lines of a
modern poet, who had travelled in the Turkish domi-
nions, and well knew the habits of the masterless dogs
that " wander up and down for meat, and grudge if they
be not satisfied :"

" He saw the lean dogs beneath the wall
Hold o'er the dead their carnival ;
Gorging and growling o'er carcass and limb,
They were too busy to bark at him."

Byron's Siege of Corinth.

These dogs are generally termed Pariah dogs, and are
peculiar in their habits. Owned by no one, tolerated,
sometimes supplied by the compassionate with food,
sometimes left entirely to their own resources, these dogs
herd together in troops, and keep to their respective
districts. They are of mixed breeds, some resembling
curs, others mongrel greyhounds ; and many, especially
in Egypt, are almost destitute of hair, and also to a great
extent of their teeth. " Their numbers in the principal
towns of Western Asia are very great, and they seem
greater in proportion than they really are, from the fact
that all which the town contains are seen in the streets,
none being, as in Europe, harboured in courts or houses.
Indeed, the Moslems of the dominant sects count them-
selves defiled if a dog but touches their garments ;f a fact

* "And clogs and vultures eat many Trojans."
f A law of Flaminius Dialus prohibited touching a dog or
goat. An augur of Rome, who happened to touch a dog,

40

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

which seems perfectly well known to the animals them-
selves, at least they know they are not to come in contact
with the clothes of persons in the streets, and the careful
attention with which they avoid doing this, even in the
most crowded streets, is truly admirable. Through this
mutual avoidance, the defiling contact occurs too rarely
to occasion much annoyance to the inhabitants, from the
abounding presence, in their streets, of animals which
they consider unclean. Indeed dogs are not by any
means excluded from a participation in the kindness
which the Turks at least exhibit towards all animals.
Some charitable persons assign a regular allowance to the
butchers and bakers, to make a daily or periodical distri-
bution of food among the dogs of the district. The fact
that they are to receive such donations soon becomes well
known to the dogs, who repair with great punctuality to
receive them at the appointed times. At Constantinople
there was formerly a government officer whose business
it was to see the dogs fed at the public expense. Many
persons have left money by their wills for providing food
for a certain number of dogs. The animals litter gene-
rally in the by-streets and in obscure corners, and we
have noticed some small provision for the comfort of the
mother and her young in the shape of a little straw, or
even a rude construction of boards. Food also is some-
times placed near .them at such times ; they are protected
by public opinion, which on different occasions has stre-
nuously opposed all plans contemplated by the govern-

could not assist at the sacrifices without previous purification.
Dogs and flies were prevented from entering the temple of
Hercules. Formerly in Russia the dog was regarded as un-
clean and not to be touched.

THE DOG OF ANTIQUITY. 41

ment for their removal or destruction. Yet with all this,
the peculiar and distinguishing unfitness of the dog to be
any thing less than the real companion of man and the
object of his care, is evinced by the generally miserable
condition of the street dogs of Western Asia. From
living constantly in the dusty streets, and from feeding
on all kinds of offal, the skin of these dogs becomes foul
and sordid, and from the supply of food being generally
inadequate to their wants, their appearance is lean, starved,
and gaunt, and considering that a large proportion are
eaten up with a kind of mange which sometimes degene-
rates into a sort of leprosy, they exhibit upon the whole
a truly forlorn and battered appearance. Considering
the heat of the summer climate, and the thirst which
the dogs then suffer, it seems strange that they are not
subject to hydrophobia. Indeed some distrust as to the
popular ideas connected with that dreadful disease might
be deduced from the fact that hydrophobia is least known
in the warmest climates.* In Constantinople cases of this
disease sometimes occur, although they are exceedingly
rare ; but they become increasingly unfrequent as we
advance southwards, and in Egypt are altogether un-
known, f

" The dogs divide the town which they inhabit into
quarters, the right of inhabiting and prowling over which
is jealously guarded by the animals born in it ; they make

* Hydrophobia is not produced by heat or thirst, as is popu-
larly believed. This disease occurs at all seasons of the year,
and seems to be sometimes epidemical. In South America we
believe it is not known.

f Hydrophobia was anciently known in Greece and Italy
(see Celsus, lib. v. cap. 27, sect. 2). He advises the applica-
tion, immediately after the bite, of the cupping-glass where

42

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

cbwwnon cause against any presumptuous interloper, who
seldom escapes without severe punishment. Franks,
whom they distinguish by their dress, and particularly
the hat, they seem to regard as much interlopers as
strange dogs, and the Moslems are edified and amused
by the antipathy they express.

" In warm climates the street dogs render consider-
able service by the clearance which they make of the
offal and carcasses of dead animals which the inhabitants
leave in the streets or throw into them. If not pre-
vented, they will devour human bodies under such cir-
cumstances.

1 f Another service which they render without being
taught, is the guardianship of our property, which they
spontaneously assume. During the night, remarks Son-
nini, they are the terror of thieves. Upon the wharfs,
boats and timber, and in the interior of towns goods are
intrusted to their vigilance. An admirable instinct, a
natural inclination to make themselves useful to man, in-
duces them to assume a superintendence which nobody
confides to them, nobody points out to them; and it
would be impossible to approach the property which
these voluntary guardians have taken under their care."
(' Phys. Hist, of Palestine.') Colonel Sykes, speaking of
the Pariah dogs of the Dukhun, observes that they are very
numerous, but are not individual property, and breed in
the towns and villages unmolested. " Amongst the

practicable, to draw out the venom, and the actual cautery ;
should the symptoms of the disease appear, he directs sudden
immersion in cold water; and, if the patient can swim, he
must he ducked in order to force him to take in the liquid —
a useless torture ! He calls this horrid disease " miserrimum
morbi genus."

THE DOG OF ANTIQUITY.

Pariahs is frequently found the turnspit dogy long-backed j
with short crooked legs. There is also a petted minute
variety of the Pariah dog, usually of a white colour, and
with long silky hair, corresponding to a common lap-dog
of Europe ; this is taught to carry flambeaux and lanterns.
The last variety noticed is the dog with hair so short as
to appear naked, like the Canis JEgyptias. It is known
to Europeans by the name of the Polyyar dog."

But besides the Pariah dogs of the towns and villages,
there is a Pariah race still more independent existing in
the country ; these dogs associate in troops, and frequent
the jungles of India and the lower ranges of the Hima-
laya chain; hunting down their prey ; they are of a
rufous colour, long-bodied, and low on the legs, with
erect pointed ears, a sharp nose, and a tail more or less
fringed. Their voice is a loud yelping ; they are easily
tamed, and are doubtless the parent stock of the ordinary
Pariahs of the villages. The Sheckarees train the latte*
for the chase, and find them very intelligent ; indeed
they display a marked instinctive proneness to attach
themselves to man ; often uniting with the palanquin
bearers, as desirous of entering into the traveller's ser-
vice.* The wild and village Pariah dogs follow armies,,

" One of my followers," says Bishop Heber, " a poor Pariah
dog, who had come with us all the way from Baieiily for the
sake of the scraps which I had ordered the cook to give him,
and, by the sort of instinct which most dogs possess, always
attached himself to me as the head of the party, was so alarmed
at the blackness and roaring of the water, that he sat down
on the brink and howled piteously when he saw me going over.
When he found it was a hopeless case, however, he mustered
courage and followed; but, on reaching the other side, a new
distress awaited him. One of my faithful sepoys had lagged
behind, as well as himself, and, when he found the usual num-

HISTORY OP THE BOG.

and hover round the encampment; in the colder and
mountain districts of India the fur of the wild Pariah
dog is both fuller and darker than in the forests of the
South. Are we to consider these dogs the descendants
of a domesticated breed, as curs returned to a state of
independence, or the type of a true and genuine wild
race, indigenous in India? It is difficult to answer this
question. Their uniformity in size, form, aspect, and
colouring are arguments in favour of the latter theory,
viz., that they are an aboriginal wild race. Nor does
the facility with which they are trained or reclaimed
militate against it. In the village or tame Pariahs there
is, as might be expected, some admixture with other
races, still their origin from the wild breed is evident ;
nor is the line of distinction rigidly marked out between
the village and wild breeds, for of the former there are
troops in remote or thinly-peopled localities which are
almost as independent as those of the forests and moun-
tains. It appears to us, then, that the Indian Pariah dog
is a species ; that it exists in a state of primitive wildness,
as well as more or less domesticated ; and that the do-
mesticated race has proceeded from the former.

From all that we can learn, the original dog of the
South Sea Islands (New Zealand, Society, and Sandwich
Islands, &c. &c), which was found there on the arrival ,

ber of my party not complete, he ran back to the brow of the 1
hill and howled; then hurried after me as if afraid of being
himself left behind, then back again to summon the loiterer, (
till the man came up, and he apprehended that all was going |
on in its usual routine. It struck me forcibly to find the (
same doglike and amiable qualities in these neglected animals
as in their more fortunate brethren of Europe.'' — Narrative of '
Journey, $c. vol. ii. p. 206.

THE DOG OF ANTIQUITY.

45

of Europeans, was closely allied to the Pariah dog of
India. It was of small size, indolent, with short crooked
legs, erect ears, sharp muzzle, and of a reddish colour.
This dog, the Poe dog (Canis pacificw, H. Smith), was
fed upon bread, fruit, and other vegetable diet, and its
flesh was regarded as a delicacy. It is now scarce, a
European race, which from feeding on flesh is not eaten,
having usurped its place. According to Mr. Frederick
Bennett, whose note is given by Colonel H. Smith,
" Amongst the Society Islands the aboriginal dog which
was formerly eaten as a delicacy by the natives, is now
extinct or merged into mongrel breeds by propagating
with many exotic varieties. At the Sandwich group,
where the inhabitants have been more remarkable for
the use of this animal as food, and where that custom is
pertinaciously retained (owing probably to the scarcity
of swine and spontaneous fruits of the earth), the pure
breed of the Poe dog has been better protected, and
although becoming yearly more scarce, examples of it
; are to be met with in all the islands, but principally as a
| delicacy for the use of the chiefs. As late as October,
1835, I noticed in the populous and well civilized town
of Honoruru, at Oahu, a skinned dog suspended at the
door of a house of entertainment for natives, to denote
what sumptuous fare might be obtained within."

The late Mr. Williams, speaking of the Samoa or Na-
vigator's group of islands, observes, that in the mountains
of Savaii and Upolo there exists a wild dog: " I re-
gretted," he says, " exceedingly, that I could not obtain
one ; from the description I received, it appears to be a
small animal of a dark dirty grey or lead colour, with
little or no hair, and large erect ears." We have seen

46

HISTORY OP THE. BOG.

a small shy red dog, with a sharp nose and long1 erect
pointed ears, which was brought back from Western
Africa by the officers of the late Niger expedition ; for
some time it neither barked nor wagged its tail, but at a
subsequent period learned both these modes of indicating
its feelings. Mr. Fraser informs us that this breed is
kept at Cape Coast, and along the borders of the Niger,
for one sole purpose, that of affording a much relished
food ] and that a fat and handsome English dog belong-
ing to one of the officers was, after many attempts on the
part of the natives, and tempting offers, positively stolen ;
the gentleman missing his dog, went immediately in
quest of it, but arrived in time only to see it dead, and
preparing for the table of the king at Coomassie.* From
this naturalist we learn that there are no indigenous dogs
in the island of Fernando Po, but that the natives prize
such dogs as are brought over from Europe very greatly,
setting great store by them ; very few, however, live ;
they become weak, fevered, and thin, and waste away.

We may here by way of parenthesis state, that it is
not only among the negroes, and the natives of the South
Sea isles, that the dog is eaten ; this taste prevails among
many uncivilized people, and even among the Chinese,
who fatten dogs for the table on vegetable diet, and sell
them in the markets or shops. Among the 'ancient
Greeks and Romans the dog was served up at table, and
• t»W ."HjcmKi ui liuaitDfifir vhvierwtxs 9ioin <»d ion hfutulft M

" * In Guinea dog's-fiesh is in high estimation; and we are
informed by Capt. Clapperton that this animal constitutes the
favourite food of the Beddites, a persecuted tribe in the centre
of Africa. Humboldt says, that though the custom of eating
the dog is disused on the banks of the Orinoco, it still exists
in some parts of Guiana and Mexico.

THE DOG! ©Ff •lAIfTTQUITY.

47

according to Pliny roasted puppy-dogs were considered
exquisite. They were served up at sumptuous feasts,
and at the festivals in honour of the consecration of the
pontiffs. Dogs were regularly fed by the Romans for
the table, and roast dog was one of the dishes most in
vogue.*

Though from the earliest period there existed a race
of Pariah dogs, either quite wild or masterless, in the
East, there were tame dogs of various breeds, which had
definite owners, and were regarded as property. Even
among the Jews, who, as we have said, regarded this
animal as unclean, such was evidently the case. In fact,
the services of the dog in the chase render it an indis-
pensable auxiliary. Dr. J. Kitto (Phys. Hist, of Pa-

* In May, 1842, a butcher of Besancon was sentenced by
the tribunal of correction to three months' imprisonment for
selling dog instead of kid to his customers. — How the tastes of
men differ! Forster, in his ' Voyage round the World,' thus
expresses himself: — " In our cold countries, where animal food
is so much used, and where to be carnivorous perhaps lies in
the nature of man, or is indispensably necessary to the preserva-
tion of their health and strength, it is strange that there should
exist a Jewish aversion to dog's-flesh, when hogs, the most un-
clean of all animals, are eaten without scruple. Nature seems
to have expressly intended them for this use, by making their
offspring so very numerous and their increase so quick and
frequent." Mr. Wilson, who transplants the above into his
' Essays on the Origin and Natural History of Domestic Ani-
mals,' makes the following remarks : — "There is no reason why
it should not be more extensively practised in Europe. We
know, for example, that Capt. Cook's recovery from a serious
illness at sea, if not entirely owing to, was at least greatly ame-
liorated by, the broth and flesh of a dog." He might have
added, that in cases of blockade, dogs, horses, rats, and other
animals have been eaten. Mr. E. Blaze says, " Jai mange
plusieurs fois a Tarmee du chien et du chat : je prefere cette
viande a celle du cheval."

48

HISTORY OF THE HOG.

lestine) does not consider that the low estimation in
which this animal was held by the Jews arose from the
circumstance of its being placed among unclean animals,
any more than the ass, of whose services that people
freely availed themselves, but must be referred to other
causes, " and may possibly be founded on the inferences
deduced from the passage which declares the hire of a
harlot and the price of a dog to be inadmissible offerings.
It is possible that this passage rather refers to men stig-
matised as dogs from their vile propensities, than to the
animal itself. But, even if literally understood, it inti-
mates that dogs were private property, and objects of
value to be bought and sold. With respect to hunting
dogs, in particular, we are aware of no passage which
expresses the use of them ; but their use in hunting is
implied in that passage which precludes such game as
was in itself fit for food, to be used as such if torn of cloys.
This shows that dogs were used in hunting, and that
game seized on by them might be eaten, but not if they
had mangled it. This was less a stigma on the dog, than
a consequence of the law against eating blood. It is thus
we understand that passage ; and our understanding is
deduced from the actual Moslem law on the subject,
which, with many other laws, is obviously framed on the
practices of the Jews, and which, therefore, embody
Jewish interpretations of the Mosaical law." A passage
in the New Testament, describing the dogs beneath the
table eating the children's crumbs, shows, moreover, that
dogs were admitted even into the house. Still the dog
was not a favoured animal ; and though the Moslems
have hunting-dogs and others, as sheep-dogs, &c, the
more bigoted Moslems, and such as are the constant in-

THE DOG OF ANTIQUITY.

49

Labitants of great towns, " do not much attend to the
iistinction in their favour."

Very differently was the dog, as we have said, esti-
nated in ancient Egypt ; and, from various representa-
ions of this animal still extant, we are enabled to form
i good idea of the prevailing breeds of that country
between two and three thousand years ago—

" When the Memnonium was in all its glory,
And time had not begun to overthrow
Those temples, palaces, and piles stupendous,
Of which the very ruins are tremendous.1'

Several good copies of these specimens of Egyptian
animal drawing, which is always far superior to their
delineations of the human figure, are before us. In a
leash are coupled a light tall hound, marked not unlike
our hound, with pendent ears, and a greyhound with
sharp erect ears and pointed muzzle. Besides these,
there is a small dog with erect ears, and a tail curled up
like that of a pug-dog, but with a sharper muzzle ; it has
an ornamental collar round its neck, and was probably a
pet or favourite house-dog. There is also the figure of
a hound sitting in the usual attitude ; and a low, long-
backed, short-legged dog, with erect ears, a sharp muzzle,
and particoloured dark, or black and white. It resembles
the old turnspit of our country, and was most probably of
the same breed. There is a tall stout dog, compact and
muscular, with high shoulders and broad chest, most pro-
bably a watch-dog ; its ears are small and sharp, and its
tail curled like that of a pug-dog ; the muzzle is mode-
rately sharp. There is also a small slender dog, with a
narrow sharp muzzle, and large, erect, and pointed ears,
broad at the base ; the tail makes a single loop or curl,

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

Egyptian with two Dogs in leash.

Dogs from Egyptian Paintivgs.

THE DOG OF ANTIQVITW

Djgs from Egyptian Paintings.

52 HISTORY OP THE DOG.

and the end is somewhat tufted. Sir J. G. Wilkinson
says that the mummies of dogs still found are mostly of
the fox-dog; and we have seen mummies of a small red
dog in the British Museum, probably of the breed de-
picted. In another representation we see fleet hounds
m chase of antelopes, wild goats, hyaenas, foxes, ostriches
and hares: some of the dogs have a collar armed with
spikes. In other representations men are carrying 0r
leading captured antelopes, and porcupines and hares in
cages. In some delineations, the tail of the greyhound
appears rather full or fringed.

Such, then, were at least some of the domesticated
races of Egypt, and doubtless Western Asia ; and it will
be interesting to see if we can identify any truly tame
breeds of the same regions in the present day as exhi-
biting similar characters. With respect to hunting-dogs
a choice would at first most undoubtedly be made, accord-
ing to the character of the game, the nature of the coun-
try, and the description of weapons employed ; and where
the face of the country retains its primitive features, and
presents the same sort of game, we may expect that, even
though the weapons in process of time have undergone
modifications, the same kinds of hunting-dogs, more or
less improved, or, on the other hand, more or less dete-
riorated, will maintain their place. In the flat plains of
Egypt, a greyhound breed might be expected ; so might
a fleet hound; and it is not unlikely that these two
breeds were used conjointly; and indeed we have a re-
presentation of a dog of both these kinds led coupled
together. Now we have, in modern Egypt and Arabia,
and also in Persia, varieties of greyhound closely re-
sembling those on the ancient remains of art; and it

THE DOG OF ANTIQUITY.

53

would appear that two or three varieties exist, — one
smooth, another long-haired, and another smooth, but
with long-haired ears resembling those of a spaniel.
In Persia the greyhound, to judge from the specimens
we have seen, is silk-haired, with a fringed tail. They
were of a black colour ; but a fine breed, we are informed,
is of a slate or ash colour, as are some of the smooth-
haired greyhounds depicted in Egyptian paintings. In
Arabia a large, rough, powerful race exists ; and about
Akaba, according to Laborde, a breed of slender form,
fleet, with a long tail, very hairy, in the form of a brush,
with the ears erect and pointed, — closely resembling, in
fact, many of those figured by the ancient Egyptians.
In Roumelia a spaniel-eared race exists. Colonel Sykes,
who states that none of the domesticated dogs of Dukhun
are common to Europe, observes that the first in strength
and size is the Brinjaree dog, somewhat resembling the
Persian greyhound (in the possession of the Zoological
Society), but much more powerful. North of the Caspian,
in Tartary and Russia, there exists a breed of large rough,
greyhounds. We may here allude to the great Albanian
dog of former times, and at present extant, which perhaps
belongs to the greyhound family.

As, then, we can clearly trace the greyhound for full
3000 years, we cannot easily assent to Buffon's opinion
that it sprung originally from a cross between the matin
and sheep-dog (nor, indeed, that the latter is the parent
stock of the various breeds of dogs) ; indeed, we believe
that the true greyhound deduces its lineage from an ori-
ginal root, of high antiquity and distinctness — nor do we
think we should hazard too much to say specific distinct-
ness. Instead of following the quarry by the scent,

D

54

HISTOKY OF THE DOG.

which in this face is feeble, it follows by the eye more
or less exclusively, and in this respect is alone among
dogs of the chase. Nor is such a peculiarity, when we
consider how developed the organs of scent are, as a rule,
in the canine race, to be disregarded as less important
than external characters.

With respect to the dogs represented like slender, tall,
deep-chested hounds, with pendent and rounded, but not
very large ears, and which were led in a leash, Colonel
H. Smith is inclined to believe them identical "with the
ancient Elymaean race, and known to the classical writers
more by report than by personal information. The Elymaei
were a tribe of the deserts bordering on Bactria and
Hyrcania ; but the dogs extended into Egypt, or were
introduced either " by the shepherd conquerors" or
" by Sesostris after his Asiatic expedition to the Oxus."
From the Elymaei, it has by some been conjectured that
the modern term " Lyemer" (in French, Limier) arose,
and which has been applied to hounds formerly used for
tracking large game, such as the boar, while held by the
huntsman in a lengthened lyemme or leash, from which
it was slipped when it came upon the lair of the quarry.
We may perhaps consider this Elymaean Lyemer as the
parent of the present Oriental hound, used by the chiefs
in some parts of Persia,* and which does not differ from
the modern hound of Syria. We have already alluded
to the representation of a chase in which these Elymaean
hounds are conspicuous. According to Sir J. G. Wil-
kinson, ff The Egyptians frequently coursed with dogs
in the open plains, the chasseur following in his chariot

* More attention is paid to dogs in Persia than in any other
Mohammedan country.

THE DOG OF ANTIQUITY. 55

and the huntsman on foot. Sometimes he only drove to
cover in his ear, and, having alighted, shared in the toil
of searching for the game, his attendants keeping the
dogs in slips, ready to start them as soon as it appeared.
The more usual custom, when the dogs threw off in a
level plain of great extent, was for him to remain in his
chariot, and urging his horses to their full speed, to
endeavour to turn or intercept the objects of the chase as
they doubled, discharging a well-directed arrow when-
ever they came within its range. The dogs were taken
to the ground by persons expressly employed for that
purpose, and for all the duties connected with the kennel
(the Kwayooym of the Greeks), and were either started
i one by one or in pairs, in the narrow valleys and open
plains ; and when coursing on foot, the chasseur and
attendant huntsman, acquainted with the sinuosities and
direction of the torrent beds, shortened the road as they
followed across the intervening hills, and sought a favour-
able opportunity for using the bow, or marked with a
watchful eye the progress of the course in the level space
before them. For not only was the chasseur provided
with a bow, but many of those who accompanied him ;
and the number of head brought home was naturally
I looked upon as the criterion of his good day's sport.

Having with eager haste pursued on foot, and arrived at
! a spot where the dogs had caught their prey, the hunts-
| man, if alone, took up the game, tied its legs together,
j and hanging it over his shoulders, once more led by his
hand the coupled dogs, precisely in the same manner as
the Arabs* do at the present day. This, however, was
generally the office of persons who followed expressly
for the purpose, carrying cages and baskets on the usual

»2

5G

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

wooden yoke, and w ho took charge of the game as soon
as it was caught : the number of these substitutes for our
game-cart depended, of course, on the proposed range
of the chase, and the abundance they expected to find.
Sometimes an ibex, oryx, or wild ox (Bekr el Wash),
being closely pressed by the hounds, and driven to an
eminence of difficult ascent, faced round and kept them
at bay with its formidable horns ; and the spear of the
huntsman, as he came up, was required to decide the
success of the chase. It frequently happened, when the
chasseur had many attendants, and the district to be
hunted was extensive, that they were divided into parties,
each taking one or more dogs, and starting them on what-
ever animal broke cover. Sometimes they went without
hounds, merely having a small dog for searching the
bushes ; or laid in wait for the larger and more formidable
animals, and attacked them with the lance. Besides the
bow, the hounds, and the noose (lasso), they hunted with
lions, which were trained expressly for the chase, like the
cheetah or hunting-leopard of India ; but there is no
appearance of the panther having been employed for this
purpose,* and the lion was always the animal they pre-
ferred. It was frequently brought up in a tame state ;
and many Egyptian monarchs are said to have been ac-
companied in battle by a favourite lion, as we learn from
the sculptures of Thebes and other places, and from the
authority of Diodorus."

Turning from the ancient dogs of Egypt ' to those of

* In a painting in the British Museum, a fowler in a canoe
on the marshes appears to have a trained cat in his service : it
has seized one bird in its mouth, it holds another down beneath
its fore-paws, and another between its hind-paws.

THE DOG OF ANTIQUITY. 57

j Greece and Italy, we soon find ourselves embroiled
| amidst a host of the names, without being able in most
I instances to obtain a clear and definite idea of the cha-
racters of the breeds they designate. Some were used in
I the chase of the wolf and wild boar, others in pursuit of
the stag or roe, others as guardians of the flock, and
others as watch-dogs in fortresses and citadels. The
Greeks appear to have had greyhounds, and wolf-like
hounds with erect ears, and watch-dogs of wolfish aspect,
with erect ears also. In fact, in the early periods of
Greece and Rome, no pendulous-eared dogs appear to
have been cultivated by the Greeks and Romans ; for it
was not till a later age that they became acquainted with
the true mastiff ; and, accordingly, all the more ancient
representations of dogs in statuary or in medals show
them with erect ears, sometimes in later periods with
ears semi-pendulous ; but it is not till the middle of the
Roman empire, or its decline, that hounds like the mo-
dern race are delineated. Among the more celebrated
breeds of great antiquity were the Chaonian and the
Molossian : the former, a large kind of dog of a wolfish
aspect, and said to be of wolfish origin ; the latter, of
which its fabulous creation in bronze by Vulcan, and its
animation by Jupiter, is humorously described by M.
Elzear Blaze, appears to have been used both for hunt-
ing and as a guard. Virgil styles it acer Molossus, and
Lucretius notices its resounding bark. Most of this
breed were of a slate colour. In later days the mastiff
or bulldog was called Molossiali ; but the ancient acer
Molossus was distinct and very different. There was a
race of Arcadian dogs, said to be descended from lions,
probably from the circumstance of their being large and

58

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

powerful. Certain Spartan and Laconian races, termed
Alopecides and Castorides, were said to be of a mixed
breed between the dog and fox. There was besides a
race of dogs called Cypseli, or footless, — perhaps very
swift greyhounds. Aristotle alludes to a hybrid race of
Indian dogs, between the dog and tiger. This, if not a
large brindled dog, may have been a cheetah or hunting-
leopard ; but it does not appear that this animal, whatever
it might have been, was introduced into Greece, and the
same observation applies to the Elymaean hound. The
breeds of Greece, as in all countries, though at first dis-
tinct, would soon produce numerous mixed races, varying
in size, colour, and other qualities ; and to these the
Romans, as they extended their empire, added from time
to time, carefully selecting from other countries the most
courageous and powerful, both for the pursuit of game
and the sanguinary combats of the amphitheatre.

Of dogs for the chase, the Etruscan and Umbrian were
valued. Another celebrated dog was the Gaulish or
Celtic, which, according to Pliny, was between the dog
and female wolf ; it was termed Lycisca, and was a valu-
able guardian of cattle, and useful in the chase. When
we talk of the chase, in ancient Greece and Italy, it
must not be supposed that the packs of dogs consisted,
as in the present day, all of one breed ; they were assem-
blages of dogs of every sort disposed to hunt, and of
various qualities. Look, for example, at Actaeon's pack,
described by Ovid, and which no doubt was such as was
to be seen every day in Italy in the Augustan age :

« _ primusque Melampus
Ichnobatesque sagax, latratu signa dedere :
Gnosius Ichnobates, Spartana. gente Melampus.

TH2& IXOG OT ANTIQUITY.

59

Inde ruunt alii rapida. velocius aura ;

Pamphagus, et Dorceus, et Oribasus, Arcades omnes.

Nebroplionosque valens, et trux cum Laelape, Tnerop.

Et pedibus Pterelas, et naribus utilis Agre,

Hylaeusque, fero nuper percussus ab apro,

Deque lupo concepta Nape, pecudesque secuta

Poemenis, et natis comitata Harpyia duobus ;

Et substricta gerens Sicyouius ilia Ladon,

Et Dromas, et Cauache, Sticteque, et Tigris, et Alee,

Et niveis Leucon, et villis Asbolus atris ;

Pravalidusque Lacon, et cursu fortis Aello

Et Thous, et Cyprio velox cum fratre Lycisce,

Et nigram medio frontem distinctus ab albo

Harpalos, et Melaneus, hirsutaque corpore Lacbne,

Et patre Dictseo, sed matre Laconide nati

Labros, et Aglaodos, et acutse vocis Hylactor." *

Metam., lib. iii. Fab. ii.

What would a modern sportsman, proud of his high-bred
hounds, endowed with wonderful endurance and courage,
say to such a pack ? Yet in days not long passed by,

* " arid first Melampus

And quick-scented Ichnobates gave the signal by their bark ;
Ichnobates of Gnossian, Melampus of Spartan breed.
Then others rush on, swifter than the rapid wind;
Pamphagus and Dorceus and Oribasus, all Arcadians ;
Strong Nebrophonos, and savage Theron,.with Laelapis;
And Pterelas, useful with his feet, and Agre, with his nostrils;
And Hyl«us, lately wounded by a wild boar;
And Nape, sprung from a wolf ; and Poemenis, used to

follow cattle;
And Harpyia, accompanied by her two sons ;
And Sicilian Ladon, with his compressed flanks ;
And Dromas, and Canace. and Sticte, and Tigris, and Alee ;
And Leucon with snow-white hair, and Asbolus with black ;
And powerful Lacon, and Aello strong in the chase ;
And Thous, and rapid Lycisce with his Cyprian brother ;
And Harpalos distinguished by a white spot, in his black

forehead ;

And Melaneus, and Lachne with his shaggy body ;

And, sprung from a Dictaean father and Laconian mother,

Labros aud Agriodos and acute-voiced Hylactor."

GO

HISTORY OF THE HOG.

Roman Watch- Dog.

such mixtures of dogs were associated in the chase, and
are so still in the^ East.

At Pompeii a mosaic pavement has been discovered
on -which is represented a Roman watch-dog, with a
spiked collar, and fastened by means of a chain ; under-
neath his feet is written Cave canem, Beware the dog.
It is remarkably stout and muscular, with a tail somewhat
fringed, a large head, long and broad muzzle, and sharp
erect ears. The general aspect is wild and savage ; but
if this dog be one of the Chaonian or Molossian breed,

THE DOG OF ANTIQUITY.

61

we do not wonder that the Romans confessed the supe-
riority of the dogs obtained in Britain.

With respect to the mastiff race, it would appear that
Alexander the Great first made it known in Greece,
having met with the breed during his march to the
Indus. He received presents of dogs of gigantic stature,
which were no doubt Thibetian mastiffs, dogs of the
ancient Indi and Seri (the Seri were the people of
Afghanistan). To these dogs Aristotle applied the
name of Leontomyx. An allied breed, perhaps the
same race, existed in England before the Roman con-
quest, as did also a breed of large bulldogs. These
were highly valued in Rome for the combats of the
circus. Col. H. Smith, indeed, thinks there was only
one of these breeds anciently in England, viz., a large
bulldog, nearly equalling the mastiff in size, and that
the latter was brought to our island by the Cimbric
Celtae. Probably he is correct. Another foreign dog
with which the Romans became acquainted, and to
which they were very partial, was the beautiful Maltese,
with long silken hair. This is now extinct, or has
merged into other breeds. It was a favourite with the
ladies. Besides these, the Romans procured a spaniel
breed, the Canis Tuscus proles de sanguine Ibero, from
Spain; the Phasianian, from Asia; the Petronian, from
the Sicambri beyond the Rhine ; and the Althamanian,
from Macedonia, noticed for its cunning and wiles.

d 3

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i>nn 97/ levyrori'iv ,-sob orft m ^nidtemo?. 21* fmriT nifilq
^Ino ai Ji Jud ; nam oi Vwii Aoistia o* Ji gloqmi ijsrfi <Ji

ifosnOTta oHt evchiaib 30b 9fh Jarit i&WH boxiiivio ^noima

CHAPTER Uh

THE PHYSICAL AND MORAL CHAR A CTERISTICS OF THE
MODERN RACES OF THE DOG.

From the dogs of ancient Greece and Rome, of which,
after all, very little is definitely known, let us now turn
to those of the modern day, which have ramified into
countless races, and are ever producing new combinations,
new varieties, new forms of canine existence. As we
look over them, one thing strikes us, namely, that in
contradistinction to the dogs of early periods of antiquity,
which had, as a general rule, the ears erect, and the head
wolfish, our modern breeds are mostly characterized by
pendent ears ; even in the terrier they are naturally
nearly, if not fully, pendent ; and, moreover, in all high
breeds the eye is large, full, and expressive. With
regard to the Esquimaux and similar dogs with sharp
ears, we may regard them as almost wild, and we see in
them what the dog is when only one step removed from
a state of nature. In a certain sense man may be said to
be the god of the dog, and according to the civilization
of man will be that of the dog, over which both morally
and physically he has such influence : the dog of the
savage will be a savage also ; but the dog of civilized
man will be intelligent, open, animated, and in voice,
actions, aspect, and manners evince a decided elevation
above the prowling dog of the wild man of the forest or

CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN RACES. 63

plain. There is something in the dog, wherever we find
it, that impels it to attach itself to man ; but it is only
among civilized races that the dog displays the strength,
the exuberance of its attachment, and acquires those
varied qualifications which, originally resulting from
education, become permanent and characteristic; but
which, so far from rendering it more independent, bind
it still closer to its imperial master. It is, we say, from
education acting upon a moral and physical tempera-
ment peculiarly susceptible, that permanent effects have
resulted. Here we may be permitted to quote a passage
from ourselves. " In taking a review of the various
breeds of the domestic dog, we cannot fail to observe
that they are endowed respectively with qualifications or
habits, certainly not innate, but the result of education,
at least originally ; which education, continued through a
series of generations, has produced permanent effects.
For example, no dog in a state of nature would point
with his nose at a partridge, and then stand like a statue
motionless, for the dog would gain nothing by such a
proceeding. Man, however, has availed himself of the
docility and delicacy of scent peculiar to a certain breed,
and has taught the dog his lesson ; the lesson thus learned
has become second nature. A young pointer takes to
its work as if by intuition, and scarcely requires disci-
pline. Hence, therefore, must we conclude that educa-
tion not only effects impressions on the sensorium, but
transmissible impressions, whence arise the predispositions
of certain races. Education, in fact, modifies organiza-
tion ; not that it makes a dog otherwise than a dog, but
it supersedes, to a certain point, instinct, or makes ac-
quired propensities instinctive, hereditary, and, therefore,

HISTORY OF THE BOG.

characteristics of the particular race. The effect of this
change of nature is not to render the dog more inde-
pendent, nor to give it any advantage over its fellows,
but to rivet more firmly the links of subjection to man.

"It is not to the pointer alone that these observations
apply ; all our domestic dogs have their acquired pro-
pensities, which, becoming second nature, make them one
way or another valuable servants. No one, we presume,
will suppose that the instinctive propensities implanted
by nature in the shepherd's dog make it not a destroyer
but a preserver of sheep. On the contrary, this dog,
like every other, is carnivorous, and nature intends it to
destroy and devour. But education has supplanted in-
stinct to a certain point, and implanted a disposition
which has become an hereditary characteristic, and hence
a shepherd's dog of the true breed takes to its duties
naturally. But a shepherd's dog could not, delicate as
its sense of smell is, be brought to take the place of the
pointer in the field, even though it were subjected to
training from the earliest age ; nor, on the other hand,
could a pointer be substituted with equal advantage in
the place of a shepherd's dog as the assistant of the
drover. Each is civilized, but in a different style, and
education has impressed upon each a different bent of
mind, a different class of propensities." (' Pict. Mus. of
Anim. Nat.' vol. i. p. 199.)

To these remarks we may add that the wild dog and
the semi-domesticated dog either never bark, or utter but
an imperfect sort of barking, whereas the truly domestic
dog not only barks, but gives expression by difference of
intonation to its feelings : the bark of joy is easily discri-
minated from that of warning or of hostility. Thus then

CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN" RACES. 65

is the very barking of the dog the effect of domestication ;
it is, in fact, a sort of language, an attempt to indicate
feelings by sounds, and is manifested only by the civilized
race ; it is an acquired, not an instinctive faculty, and
results from an intimate association with man. This
faculty is lost in dogs reduced by neglect to a state of
joriginal wildness, or condemned to associate with savage
tribes ; but it is speedily regained by their reclaimed
young. Man is destined to progressive advances in the
scale of social and civil life ; and it would appear that
at an humble distance the dog is destined also to some-
thing like the same progression. Were it not so, though
he might be the servant or bondslave, he could not be
the friend and companion of man. And here, perhaps,
we may be permitted to glance at the moral and physical
characteristics of this faithful animal, to which, in the
infancy of society, man must have been deeply indebted.

Carnivorous by nature, the dog is formed for a life of
rapine ; and is fleet, active, powerful, and courageous :
unlike the feline tribe, which steal upon their prey by
surprise, he chases it down in open day, and in united
packs overcomes the most formidable quarry. We be-
lieve all wild dogs hunt by the scent, unless their prey
is in full view ; and so do all domestic breeds, with the
exception of the greyhound, in which the sense of smell,
so exquisitely acute in many breeds, is at a -compara-
tively low ratio ; but in quickness of eye, and in rapidity,
the greyhound excels all other dogs. The muscles of
the jaws and neck are very voluminous in the dog, and
its limbs are vigorous : the larger breeds are serviceable
in drawing burdens and sledges ; from the flexibility of
the spine, however, and the form of the limbs, the dog

66 mm^^^mfm^AsiAn -

is not adapted to carry heavy weights on the bacWit is
not a beast of burden— and often has our pity been ei- j
cited at seeing the shafts of a heavily laden dog-cart
pressing upon the back a poor animal, which from that
very cause could not exert its full strength at the draught.
A dog will lift a weight with its jaws which it cannot
bear on its back ; moreover, the easy progression of the
dog is accompanied by gentle flexures of the spine,
which, so to speak, works spring-like : now a weight on
the back, besides oppressing the creature, prevents this
spring-like action, and gives a stiffness to the dog's mode
of going along, the spine being prevented from acting
in concert with the limbs. It is to be desired that the
unsuitability of the dog to bear pressure on the back were
more generally known ; none but a brute would willingly
treat his dog cruelly, and with such it is of no use to
reason.

The appetite of the dog is voracious ; in a state of
nature it has to undergo long fasts, and is therefore en-
dowed with a huge appetite and great powers of diges-
tion. After a full meal the dog curls himself up and lies
down, while the digestive process goes on, and at that
time he should never be put into violent exercise. In
drinking the dog laps : his tongue is smooth, soft, very
flexible ; along the middle line of its under surface runs
what is popularly called " the worm." This is a fibro-
cartilaginous substance, slender, pointed at its extremi-
ties, and free excepting at its anterior apex, which serves
for the attachment of transverse muscular fibres ; it is
enclosed in a sort of sheath, or canal, and by its elasticity
aids very greatly the movements of the tongue. It has
been ignorantly considered as the cause of hydrophobia,

CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN RACES. 67

I and many dog-fanciers, from this belief, or from some
i absurd ideas, cruelly remove it. In many dogs the palate
is black, but in a breed from China, of which we have
Ibeen specimens, the whole of the inside of the mouth is
lof this colour.

The dentition of the dog may be expressed as follows :

Incisors, j; Canines, -j^J ; False molars, ~J

Laniary molars, ; Tubercular molars. ^|

Occasionally the last tubercular molar of the lower jaw is
wanting ; it is very small, and apt to become lost. Be-
tween the teeth and the hair of dogs there is a remark-
jable connexion, which was first pointed out, we believe,
jby Mr. Yarrell. The following is an extract from the
i Proceeds. Zool.Soc.,' 1833, p. 113 :_ " A specimen was
exhibited of the hairless Egyptian variety of the familiar
doc/, which had recently died at the Society's Gardens.
[The exhibition was made principally with the view of
illustrating the apparent connexion between teeth and
hair. In this animal, so remarkable for its deficiency of
hair, a corresponding deficiency of teeth was observed,
jthere being neither incisors nor canines in either jaw,
iand the molars being reduced to one on each side, the
large tubercular tooth being the only one remaining.
Mr. Yarrell stated, in further illustration of this subject,
I that he had examined the mouths of two individuals of
[ the same variety, still living at the Gardens, in both of
j which, he found the teeth remarkably deficient. In nei-
ther of them were there any false molars; one was en-
tirely destitute of canines also, these teeth being in the
other short of the usua'l number ; and the incisors were
also in both deficient in number. He also exhibited

Teeth of Dog.

CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN RACES. C9

Mastiff.

. Mastiff

Skulls of Dogs.

from his collection the cranium of a hairless terrier, in
which the false molars were wanting." On the face of
the dog will be found certain little tubercles or warts,
with a few stiff hairs proceeding from them, one on each
side, beyond the angle of the mouth, a smaller one often
scarcely to be discovered nearer to the ear, and one be-
tween the rami of the under jaw, beyond the chin.
There is a small glandular patch on the upper surface of
the tail about its centre, where the hair often appears j
deficient. It is most conspicuous in smooth-haired dogs.
The anterior feet have five toes, the hind feet four toes, |
and sometimes a fifth (rudimentary) on the tarsus ; the
claws are not retractile. The tail is turned upwards, |
and generally inclined slightly to the left, sometimes ,
considerably ; and this is connected with a somewhat
oblique mode of progression, the right shoulder being U
rather more advanced than the opposite. In a state of j
domestication the dog still retains his liking for car- ,
rion, and delights to roll in it when occasion serves ; he
is prone also to burying bones in the earth, first digging |
a hole with his nose, in which he deposits the bone, over
which, also with his nose, he shovels the earth, and i
presses it down. A small terrier in our possession is no- I
torious for this procedure ; he well remembers his con- i
cealed stores, and we have often watched him go delibe-
rately and directly to the spot, disinter his bone, and
carry it as a bonne louche to his bed. He will also bury
similar articles in snow ; the fondness of dogs for plough-
ing up the snow with their snout has been often remarked.
Cowper describes the woodman's dog in very character-
istic lines : —

" Shaggy and lean, and shrewd, with pointed ears
And tail croppM short, half lurcher and half cur,

CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN RACES. 71

His dog attends him ; close behind his heel
Now creeps he slow, and now with many a frisk
Wide-scampering snatches up the drifted snow
With ivory teeth, or ploughs it with his snout,
And shakes his powdered coat, and barks for joy."

M. E. Blaze says : " Cet animal est le seul qui hurle
n entendant le son d'une cloche, ou d'un instrument- de
msique."* It is well known that dogs receive disagree-
ble impressions from certain sounds and musical notes :
ut all are not similarly affected ; some are indifferent to
)nes which agitate others and excite melancholy howl-
lgs. But besides this howling, which seems to express

disagreeable affection of the nervous system through
le organs of hearing, somewhat similar, perhaps, to what
re feel on hearing the filing of a saw, and other noises,
rhich, to use the common mode of expression, 11 set our
beth on edge," dogs howl in sympathy with each other,
nd thus at night often disturb a neighbourhood ; nay,
ven a plaintive and compassionate mode of addressing a
fog, especially when young, will make it whine in answer.
F a puppy be taken up, and spoken to in a plaintive,
)mmiserating tone of voice, as if to console it under
>me injury, it will, as we have often seen, utter a plain-
ve whine in reply. This fact may seem too unimportant
Sj> be noticed, but it proves the nervous susceptibility of
le dog, and its appreciation even of the tones of com-
assion in the human voice. In like manner, it knows
jie voice of reproof, of encouragement, or of playfulness,
jad that before it has learned the name to which it is in
lture to answer.

Buffon, always eloquent, often incorrect, says, in a

\ * u This is the only animal that howls on hearing the sound
f a bell or a musical instrument."

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

Spaniel.

Skulls" of Dogs.

Skulls of Dogs.

74 HISTORY OF THE TK)G.

brilliant passage of which any translation must be com-
paratively feeble, u It may be said that the dog is the
only animal the fidelity of which is proof against tempta-
tion— the only one which constantly knows its master and
the friends of the family — the only one which, when a
stranger arrives, is sensible of the circumstance — the only
one which recognises its name and the voices of the
family — the only one which does not rely upon itself — '
the only one which, when it has lost its master, and
cannot find him, calls him by howling — the only one
which, after a long journey, made once only, remembers
the road, and finds again the route — in fine, the only one
of which the natural talents are evident, and of which
the education is always successful." Most of the above
sentences contain more or less of error. The dog is
indeed faithful and affectionate, but he is not the only
animal which knows his master ; the cat, the horse, the
elephant, also know their masters, and are distrustful to-
wards strangers. The cat, the horse, and the elephant
recognise their name ; even domestic poultry will come
trooping in from the premises around the farm when they
hear the well-known call. The cat, the horse, and the
ass have retraced the road only once travelled, and caused
astonishment by their re-appearance. Other animals
have been known to suffer distress, and utter cries, upon
the absence of the person to whom they have attached
themselves. Yet it must be confessed that, though other
animals display these indications of more than instinct,
these qualities which we so much admire, the dog is
superior to them all. The dog claims to be part of the
family ; he understands even the looks of those with
whom he is familiar; he is fond of being caressed, and

CHARACTERISES pF -tfORfflff RACES.

will lavish caresses in return 5 he gambols with delight
around his master, and loves to accompany him in his
walks, and that for the very pleasure of his society.
The dog, in the exuberance of his delight, courses the
meadows or woods by the road side, yet still keeps
attentive to his master, and where the road diverges,
there stops to ascertain which of the two ways will be
jtaken. Intelligent and devoted as the dog is, it is
perhaps natural that he should be at the same time
jealous of a rival, j If a new dog be brought home, the
old dog will manifest signs of great displeasure, and
either sulkily refuse to notice or snarl and snap at the
stranger ; and even when two dogs are brought up
together, and are on the most friendly terms, if one be
noticed, the other puts in his claim also. Nor is it only
of each other that dogs are jealous ; dogs habituated to
the parlour, or to much notice, entertain jealousy even
towards an interloper of the human species. We knew
an instance of this sort in a handsome spaniel belonging
to a relative, whose wife had presented him with an
infant. The dog manifested the most marked ill-nature
towards the child, and growled at it whenever the oppor-
tunity occurred, and would, if not prevented, have done
it mischief; nor was it till several months elapsed that
this fit of resentment subsided ; and afterwards they
would play together on the rug before the fire, the dog
becoming as fond of the child as he had been previously
inimical to it. M. E. Blaze alludes to the instance of a
dog dying of consumption because its mistress received
home an infant which had previously been out to nurse.
He growled whenever she kissed the child. Occasionally
the jealousy of savage and powerful dogs has led to

Shepherd's Dog.

Shepherd's Dog,
Skulls of Dogs/

CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN RACES. 77

serious results. In the Paris papers of 1841 appeared
the following tragical narrative : "A dreadful misfortune

has thrown the family of Sieur M , carpenter, Rue de

Vaugirard, into consternation. The gatekeeper of the
establishment yesterday evening, towards ten o'clock,
according to custom, unloosed the yard-dog, a kind of
bulldog, which is always chained up during the day.
All at once the animal, after having taken a few turns
about the timber-yard, finding the room-door of the gate-
keeper half open, entered, and made a furious attack upon
the unfortunate child of the latter, aged six years, and
which its mother was then engaged in undressing. A
horrible struggle then ensued between the mother,
endeavouring to extricate her child from the jaws of the
dog, and the animal, which had seized his victim by the
throat. At the cries of the mother, the proprietor and
the gatekeeper ran to her, but could not deliver the child
until they cut the dog open ; but too late, the little

Leon P wras dead, so violent had been the gripe on

its throat. This morning Dr. Payer, surgeon of the
Municipal Guard, detailed in the presence of the com-
missary of the police of the district the numerous and
horrible wounds produced by the bite of the dog. It is
supposed that the ferocious act of the animal was caused
by a fit of jealousy towards the child, which never dared
to come near him, but was in the habit of caressing in his
presence another little domestic dog, which belonged also
to the house."

The dog is intelligent, but some breeds are far more
so than others, and some individuals are elevated above
their fellows. Greatly indeed does the cerebral de-
velopment vary in different races (and consequently the
cranial capacity relative to the rest of the skull), as may

s

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

be seen by comparing the skulls together. The supe-
riority in this respect of the skull of the spaniel over
that of the bulldog is most decided, — and it is in the
spaniel, and those breeds most nearly related to it, that
we observe the greatest intelligence and tractability. In
the bulldog and mastiff, on the contrary, the bold inter-
parietal and occipital ridges of the skull demonstrate
the force and volume of the muscles of the jaw and neck.
It is in these dogs that we find the most indomitable
courage and the most combative disposition. M. Elzear
Blaze says, u Le chien est courageux, mais son courage
augment beaucoup en la presence de son maitre, soit
qu'il veuille le defendre, soit qu'il se sente plus forte d'un
tel appui, soit enfin qu'il veuille meriter son estime."*
The fact is, that so utterly subjugated is the dog and so
dependent on man, that he looks to his master for sup-
port and encouragement, and even the most pugnacious
dogs fight more resolutely when they are encouraged by
their master's voice. In South America, the large
sheep-dogs which guard the flocks display courage only
when in charge of the sheep: The following extract
from Mr. Darwin's journal is very interesting : — " While j
staying at this estancia (in Banda Oriental) I was!
amused with what I saw and heard of the shepherd-dogs
of the country. When riding, it is a common thing to
meet a large flock of sheep guarded by one or two dogs,
at the distance of some miles from any house or man.
I often wondered how so firm a friendship had been
established. The method of education consists in sepa-

* " The dog is courageous, but his courage increases in the
presence of his master ; whether it be that he wishes to defend
him, or that he feels himself stronger with such assistance, or
that he desires to merit his approbation."

CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN RACES. 79

rating the puppy when very young from the biteh, and
i in accustoming it to its future companions. An ewe
| is held three or four times a-day for the little thing to
suck, and a nest of wool is made for it in the sheep-pen.
j At no time is it allowed to associate with other dogs, or
with the children of the family. The puppy moreover
; is generally castrated ; so that when grown up, it can
scarcely have any feelings in common with the rest of
its kind. From this education it has no wish to leave
the flock, and just as another dog will defend its master,
man, so will these the sheep. It is amusing to observe,
when approaching a flock, how the dog immediately
advances barking, — and the sheep all close in his rear as
if round the oldest ram. These dogs are also easily
taught to bring home the flock at a certain time in the
I evening. Their most troublesome fault when young is
their desire of playing with the sheep, for in their play
they sometimes gallop their poor subjects most unmer-
cifully. The shepherd-dog comes to the house every
ijday for some meat, and immediately it is given him he
skulks away as if ashamed of himself. On these occa-
sions the house-dogs are very tyrannical, and the least
jof them will attack and pursue the stranger. The
-1 minute however the latter has reached the flock, he
fturns round and begins to bark, and then all the house-
dogs take very quickly to their heels. In a similar
kmanner a whole pack of the hungry wild dogs will
scarcely ever (and I was told by some, never) venture
to attack a flock guarded even by one of these faithful
: shepherds.* The whole account appears to me a curi-

* To these dogs Azara alludes in the following passage : —
<c Among the dogs, the ovegeros, or sheep-dogs, are particularly

E 2

80 <$%miii6l!cw&®m>.< 5

ous instance of the pliability of the affections of the dog
race ; and yet, whether wild, or however educated, with
a mutual feeling of respect and fear for those that are
fulfilling their instinct of association. For we can
understand on no principle the wild dogs being driven
away by the single one with its flock, except that they
consider, from some confused notion, that the one thus
associated gains power, as if in company with its own
kind. F. Cuvier has observed that all animals which
enter into domestication consider man as a member
of their society, and thus they fulfil their instinct of as-
sociation. In the above case the shepherd-dogs rank
the sheep as their brethren ; and the wild dogs, though
knowing that the individual sheep are not dogs, but are
good to eat, yet partly consent to this view, when see-
ing them in a flock, with a shepherd-dog at their head."
It appears to us that the shepherd-dog in this instance
regards the sheep as his supporters and his care, and
feels exactly what a house-dog feels when strangers or
strange dogs intrude upon the premises. We have
frequently seen a large dog under such circumstances re-
treat before one of inferior power, which he would not

deserving of notice, because in this country, where there are
no shepherds, they act in the place of the latter, and take
charge of the flocks. Early in the morning they drive the
flocks from the fold, conduct them to the plain, accompanying
them the whole day, and keeping them united ; — and when
numerous they surround the flock, defending them from birds
of prey, from wild dogs, and other beasts, and even from man,
and from every kind of injury. At sunset they conduct the
sheep back to the fold, when they lay themselves down upon
the ground and sleep, and pass the night in their watchful care
over them. If any of the lambs lag behind, they carefully
take them up in their mouths, and carry them for a time, re-
turning again and again, if need be, until none remain."

CHARACTOR^^&flF;|^ERN RACES. 81

have done otherwise. The wild dogs spoken of by Mr.
Darwin are dogs left to themselves, and which, like
the horses and cattle, have resumed a life of indepen-
dence ; but perhaps they have not learned the power
which union gives, and each thinking only of itself
individually, fears to attack a champion who stands so
boldly on the defensive. The circumstance of the dog
regarding itself as one of a flock of sheep, and as the
guard of those sheep, and not the friend and servant
of one master, is not without a parallel under other cir-
cumstances, in which the animal attaches itself not to
one, but to a collective number of individuals, which
together constitute a master. We say nothing of the
fireman's dog, of which everybody has heard ; — there
are other examples upon record. " In the first regi-
ment of the Royal Guards," says M. Blaze, " we. had a
dog called Bataillon. Entertained by the soldiers at the
guard-house, he always remained there ; his masters
changed every twenty-four hours ; but that gave him no
uneasiness. Sure of his pittance, there he stayed. He
would follow no one to the barracks : but looked upon
himself as the humble servant of twelve soldiers, two
corporals, a sergeant, and drummer, whoever they
might happen to be ; and without being uneasy about
the matter. During the night, when it froze hard, the
centinel frequently called Bataillon, and took his place to
warm himself at the stove : the dog would have suffered
death rather than have passed beyond the door. When
we changed garrison, the dog followed the regiment, and
immediately installed himself in the guard-house of the
new barracks. He knew all the soldiers, he caressed
them all, but would take no notice of those who did not

82

HISTORY OP THE DOG.

wear Our uniform. To this dog the regiment was a
master, an individual whom he loved. His feeling was
for blue dresses with amaranth facings, — he despised all
other colours."

It is owing to the difference amongst the varieties of
the domestic dog in some respects, as in docility, strength,
size, speed, keenness of scent, ferocity, &c, and their
similarity in others, as attachment to their masters, fide-
lity, &c, that there is scarcely any purpose to which
the dog has not been put. Like man he follows differ-
ent occupations ; the street dogs are the lazzaroni of
their race. In the earliest times, the dog, like his mas-
ter, was a mighty hunter. The chase of the ferocious
or of the swift was his occupation ; he brought the wolf,
the wild boar, and the lion to bay ; or tired down the
deer and antelope. Soon, however, war became a game
at which kings played, and Vce Victis I for war in a
semicivilized state of society is unmitigated by modera-
tion or humanity. Then was the dog called from the
chase, or from guarding against savage brutes the peace-
ful flocks and herds, to assist human brutes in the de-
struction of each other ; the dog became a warrior, and
a most formidable one, either in the citadel, the in-
trenched camp, or the battle-field. Shakspere's expres-
sion put into the mouth of Anthony, H Cry havoc, and
let slip the dogs of war !" is by no means metaphorical.
Dogs of war had long been used before, and were so
long after the time of the first bald Caesar.

Watch-dogs were not only kept within the citadel of
Rome, but in all the fortresses of the Greeks. The
citadel of Corinth was guarded externally by an ad-
vanced post of fifty dogs placed { en vidette' on the

CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN RACES. 83

sea-shore. One night the garrison slept, overcome with
wine : the enemy disembarked, but were received by the
fifty dogs, who fought with indomitable courage till forty-
nine fell. The survivor, named Soter (Scot???) — history
has preserved his name — retreated from the field of battle
to the citadel, and gave the alarm ; the soldiers were
roused, and the enemy was repelled. The senate or-
dained that Soter should wear a silver collar, with this
inscription : W Soter, defender and preserver of Corinth."
|A monument of marble was erected in honour of the
dogs which fell, on which their names, with that of
'Soter, were engraved. According to Herodotus, the
iSatrap of Babylon kept so many Indian dogs, that four
[considerable towns in the plain were exempted from all
taxes on the condition of providing food for those animals.
M. Blaze regards these as war-dogs belonging to Cyrus ;
(but Herodotus does not say so, and it is most probable
I that they were hunting-dogs. The ancient Cimbri, the
Celts, the Gauls, and other tribes made use of trained dogs
in war ; and when the Cimbri were defeated by Marius,
the women and baggage were defended so vigorously by
pogs, that a fresh contest had to be commenced.
' War-dogs were armed with spiked collars, and some-
limes with coats of mail. An antique bronze found at
iHerculaneum, and now in the museum of Naples, repre-
sents mailed dogs attacked by soldiers armed with various
'weapons. M. Blaze says, "The Knights of Rhodes
placed dogs at all the advanced posts, and no patrol
set forward without being preceded and followed by a
log. We do the same thing at present in Algeria."
The Spaniards, in their battles with the Indians of
America, employed fierce dogs. Robertson, speaking

of ft war carried on by Columbus against the natives of
St. Domingo, or Hayti, says, " The body which took the
field consisted only of two hundred foot, twenty horse,
and twenty large dogs ; and how strange soever it may
seem to mention the last as composing part of a military
force, they were not, perhaps, the least formidable and
destructive of the whole, when employed against naked
and timid Indians." He afterwards alludes to the fierce
onset of the dogs as carrying consternation. From
these dogs has originated a feral race still existing in
that island, and very different from the dog known as
the Cuban bloodhound or mastiff, of which several speci-
mens have from time to time existed in the gardens of
the Zoological Society. When we thus find that dogs
were trained to war, it will not surprise us to learn that
they were also trained for the combats of the amphi-
theatre. But to this we have already alluded. It is not
only for the chase, the defence of flocks, war, and the
amphitheatre, that dogs have been trained ; they were
taught to drive birds to the nets, and to raise them for
the falconer ; and since the introduction of the fowling-
piece the pointer and setter breed mark the covey or
pack in aid of the sportsman. The retriever, the spaniel,
the cocker, and the water-dog have all their use. In
Italy a breed of dogs is employed for finding truffles.
Formerly the turnspit, now not very common, was used
as an aid to the cook : introduced into a sort of treadmill,
like a squirrel in a cage, the dog trotted along, and the
spit went round. Dogs have been trained as smugglers ;
and for some time these animals carried on business
between France and Belgium, and transported lace and
other commodities across fields and rivers, in spite of the

CH AR ACTERISTICS OF MODERN RACES. 85

exertions of a cordon of douaniers, gaining at length
their home in safety; '.IT **' M'nM 10 ro^nimoG[..i8-
It would appear, from official reports, that it was only
since the suppression of smuggling by horses, in 1825,
that dogs were employed. The first attempts at this
extraordinary use of animal sagacity were made at Va-
lenciennes. The system afterwards spread to Dunkirk
and Charleville, and subsequently extended to Thion-
ville, Strasbourg, and Besancon. The dogs^ trained to
! play the smuggler's part were conducted in packs to the
foreign frontier, where they were kept without food for
i many hours ; they were then beaten and laden, and in
the beginning of the night started on their travels.
: They reached the abodes of their masters, which were
generally selected at two or three leagues' distance from
il the frontiers, as speedily as they could, where they were
1 sure to be well treated, and provided with a quantity of
food. The dogs engaged were conducted in leashes of
from eight or ten to twenty and even thirty individuals ;
j they went very unwillingly, well aware of the starvation
and harsh treatment which awaited them. They were
! for the most part dogs of large size, and as on their
j| return they usually travelled direct across the country,
; they often did much mischief to agricultural property ;
! and, moreover, according to the Report, from being
I hunted about by the custom-house officers, and subjected
! to excessive fatigue and various deprivations, they were
very liable to hydrophobia, and frequently bit the officers,
one of whom died in consequence in 1829. Tobacco and
colonial products were generally the objects of this illicit
trade ; sometimes cotton twist and manufactures. In the
I neighbourhood of Dunkirk dogs have been taken with a

e 3

86

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

value of 24/., 25/., or even 48/. In 1833 it was esti-
mated that 100,000 kilogrammes were thus introduced
into France (a kilogramme is equal to 2 lbs. 8 ozs. 3 dwts.
2 grs. troy); in 1825, 187,315 kilogrammes; in 1826,
2,100,000 kilogrammes : but these estimates are reported
as being under the mark. The burden of each dog has
been regarded as averaging two and a half kilogrammes ;
but sometimes they carried ten or even twelve kilo-
grammes. The above estimate supposes that in certain
districts one dog in ten got killed, in others one in
twenty; but this is a matter of uncertainty, and the
officers were of opinion that not above one dog in
seventy-five was destroyed, even when notice had been
given and the canine smugglers were expected.

Among the measures proposed for the suppression of
this mode of smuggling a premium of three francs per
head was allowed upon every " chien fraudeur" de-
stroyed ; but though the sum paid has been considerable,
viz., 440/. per annum before 1827, and 600/. since that
period, when the premium was allowed in the Thionville
district, the success was not equal to what was expected.
Yet it appears that between the years 1829 and 1830,
40,278 dogs were destroyed, and premiums paid to the
amount of 4833/. Various severe measures of police
were at different times proposed, in order to check the
exportation of large dogs from France into the Belgian
territories, but the plans proved ineffectual. We are not
aware as to what extent such smuggling is now carried
on, but we have read nothing lately in the public papers
concerning it.

Dogs, as we see every day in the streets of the metro-
polis, are taught to lead the blind, which they do with

CHAKACTERISTICS OF MODERN RACES.

87

great judgment, carrying at the same time a little bowl,
by means of a leather thong, in their mouth, to receive
the alms of the charitable. The intelligence of these
slow-moving melancholy dogs is very remarkable, and
we wonder that they should be able to pilot their master
so well through crowded thoroughfares. Montaigne
says, " I have seen one of these dogs along the ramparts
of a town leave a smooth and uniform path, and take a
worse, in order to lead his master from the edge. How
could this dog have been made to conceive that hi& duty
was to look solely to the safety of his master, and to
neglect its own accommodation to serve him ? And how
came he to have the knowledge that a road broad enough
for himself, was not so for a blind man ? Can he com-
prehend all this without a train of reasoning?" At
Rome, says M. Blaze, the dogs of the blind conduct

I their master to the places where the most company is
assembled 5 they visit the various churches ; but if on
their road they come to a handsome house, where they
observe the solemn pomp of a funeral, they never fail to
stop there, counting upon the alms which their master
will surely receive upon such an occasion. To this he
adds the following anecdote : — " I was travelling in a
diligence. At the place where we changed horses, I

i saw a good looking poodle-dog (chien caniche), which
came to the coach-door, and sat up on its two hind legs,
with the air of one begging for something. ' Give him
a sou,' said the postilion to me, ' and you will see what
he will do with it.' I threw to him the coin ; he picked
it up, ran to the baker's, and brought back a piece of
bread, which he ate. This dog had belonged to a poor

88 IIISTORttOTTHHl©0GiT3AHAHO

blind man, lately dead : — he had no master, and begged
alms on his own account." «oqTuq on o< bsrfolfiiog SjnrvBd]

Another work of humanity to which the dog has been
trained, is to find out and succour those who have lost
their way, and are perishing amidst the Alpine snows.
These dogs not only do their utmost themselves to re-
vive the unfortunates, and to conduct them to safety,
but by their loud barking they call assistance. How
different this duty to the combats of the battle-field or
the arena ; yet who can doubt but that these large dogs
would be terrible in conflict ! In their arduous work of
mercy these noble dogs display great courage, prompti-
tude, and prescience of impending consequences : nor are
these qualities undisplayed by other dogs under different
circumstances, either in behalf of human beings or each
other. Colonel H. Smith says, that he has personally
witnessed a water-dog unbidden plunge into the current
of a roaring sluice, to save a small cur maliciously flung
in ; and also an instance in which a Pomeranian dog be-
longing to the master of a Dutch bylander vessel, sprang
overboard, caught up a child which had fallen into the
water, and swam ashore with it, before any person had
discovered the accident. As an instance of great intel-
ligence and benevolence towards a companion, M. Blaze
relates the following : u Three dogs belonging, two to
M. G. and the other to M. P., of Saint-Bonnet sur Ga-
laune (canton de St. Valier, department of the Drome),
went to the chase without their masters : having pursued
a rabbit almost to an extremity, which took refuge in a
burrow, one of the dogs of M. G., carried forward by
eagerness, shoved himself so deeply into this subterranean

CHARACTHHIgTKJS O^MO^BKSP^ACES. 89

asylum, that retreat became utterly impossible. After
shaving scratched to no purpose in the hope of extricating
him, the two companions returned home in such a state
of sadness and dejection, as to be noticed by their mas-
ters, who knew not to what to attribute the cause. The
next day came a fresh disappearance of the two dogs,
which had found the means of joining each other ; they
were seen to return in the evening to their respective
domiciles harassed with fatigue; to refuse every sort of
nourishment, their paws bloody, and their bodies covered
with earth and sweat. At first no attention was paid to
what took place, but the same procedure being repeated
the next and on succeeding days, and M. G. not finding
his dog return, the absence of which began to make him
uneasy, — surprised, moreover, at the daily disappearance
of his second dog, which only came back at night, and
that in the most frightful state,— mentioned the circum-
stance to M. P., who declared to him that his dog had
done the same thing for a week. Finally, the day fol-
lowing, M. G. was wakened early in the morning b}r
the cries of several dogs, who scratched at his door ; he
came down to see what was the matter, and what was
his astonishment when he saw his dog which he thought
lost, feeble, languid, and like a mere skeleton, escorted
by its two liberators to the residence of its master, and
which, seeing it in his care, went to sleep tranquilly on
a bundle of straw, scarcely able to move their stiffened
limbs. M. G. made researches to discover the place
where this touching scene occurred. He found, in fact,
that the narrow opening into which his poor dog had
forced itself was transformed into a large cavity, the
working out of which was evidently due to the intelli*

90 HISTORY OF THE DOG.

gence of the two other dogs." A gamekeeper to whom
this account was related, exclaimed with enthusiasm, " Si
j'avais ces deux chiens-la, je les ferais encadrer !"* The
dog acts as an assistant to the drover, the ratcatcher, the
warrener, and even to the salmon-fisher the dog plays
an important part, — nay, there are instances of dogs
fishing for their own amusement. Jukes, in his ' Excur-
sions in and about Newfoundland,' says: 14 A thin
short-haired black dog belonging to George Harvey
came oft' to us to-day ; this animal was of a breed very
different from what we understand by the term New-
foundland dog in England. He had a thin tapering
snout, a long thin tail, and rather thin but powerful
legs, with a lank body, the hair short and smooth.
These are the most abundant dogs of the country, the
long-haired curly dogs being comparatively rare. They
are by no means handsome, but are generally more in-
telligent and useful than the others. This one caught
his own fish ; he sat on a projecting rock beneath a fish-
lake or stage, where the fish are laid to dry, watching
the water, which had a depth of six or eight feet, the
bottom of which was white with fish-bones. On throw-
ing a piece of codfish into the water, three or four heavy
clumsy-looking fish, called in Newfoundland sculpins,
with great heads and mouths, and many spines about
them, and generally about a foot long, would swim in to
catch it. There he would ' set' attentively, and the mo-
ment one turned his broadside to him, he darted down
like a fish-hawk, and seldom came up without the fish in
his mouth. As he caught them he carried them regu-
larly to a place a few yards off, where he laid them

* " If I had those two dogs, I would have them framed."

CHARACTERISTICS Or MODERN RACES. 91

down ; and they told us that in the summer he would
sometimes make a pile of fifty or sixty a-day just at that
place. He never attempted to eat them, but seemed to
be fishing purely for his own amusement. I watched
him for about two hours, and when the fish did not come
I observed he once or twice put his right foot in the
water, and paddled it about. This foot was white, and
Harvey said he did it to toll or entice the fish ; but
whether it was for that specific reason, or merely a mo-
tion of impatience, I could not exactly decide."

It is not only to useful and beneficent occupations that
the dog may be brought up ; he can be taught amusing
tricks, to pick out letters or numbers at command ; to
play at dominoes ; to act the mountebank ; or take his
part on the stage. We have ourselves seen some admi-
rable performances by a white poodle in Paris, at the
exhibition of the Ombres Chinoises ; and, at one of the
theatres, the really clever acting of two Newfoundland
dogs, in the drama entitled 1 Les Chiens du Mont St.
Bernard.' But beyond these exhibitions proving the
teachableness of the more intelligent races of dogs, these
animals have been drilled into histrionic performances of
the most complex kind, and in which human actors did
not take a part.

Thus, then, is the dog a hunter, a fowler, a fisher, a
keeper of sheep, a centinel and soldier, a guardian of
property, a dispenser of acts of charity and benevolence,
a mountebank, an actor, and, more than all, man's most
disinterested friend. Nay, it is not to his master while
living only that his attachment is limited ; he continues his
affection to him when dead and in the grave. Does any
one doubt it ? Let him take the following confirmation,
related by Napoleon, who witnessed the circumstances

after one of hi? .great es in Italy, when he passed
over the field of the slain, before the bodies were interred.
"In the deep silence of a moonlight night," said the
emperor, " a dog, leaping suddenly from the clothes of
his dead master, rushed upon us, and then immediately
returned to*, his hiding-place, howling piteously. He
alternately licked his master's hand and ran towards us,
thus at once soliciting and seeking revenge. Whether
owing to my own peculiar turn of mind at the moment,
the time, the place, or the action itself, I know not,
but certainly no incident on any field of battle ever pro-
duced so deep an impression on me. I involuntarily
stopped to contemplate the scene. This man, thought
I, has friends in the camp, or in his company ; and here
he lies forsaken by all except his dog ! What a lesson
nature here presents through the medium of an animal !
What a strange being is man, and how mysterious are
his impressions ! I had without emotion ordered battles
which were to decide the fate of the army ; I had beheld
with tearless eyes the execution of those operations by
which numbers of my countrymen were sacrificed ; and
here my feelings were roused by the mournful howliags
of a dog ! Certainly at that moment I should have been
moved by a suppliant enemy. I could very well imagine
Achilles surrendering up the body of Hector at the sight
of Priam's tears."*

»: Thefe is oil record a touching narrative respecting'
the affection testified by an Irish greyhound to its
master, slain in the battle of Aughrim, or Kilconnell,
as it was called by the French, from the old abbey on
the left of the Irish position. The bodies of the Irish

* Journal of the Private Life and Conversation of the Em-
peror Napoleon at St. Helena, by the Count de las Cases.

cHARAdBflftaHBs to W» races. 93

were left where they fell, " to the birds of the air and
the beasts of the field." Among them was an Irish
officer; he was killed and stripped in the battle. But
his faithful dog discovered his remains, and guarded the
| body day and night ; and though he fed with other dogs
on the slain around, yet he would not allow them or
any thing else to touch that of his master. When all
the dead bodies were consumed, the other dogs departed ;
but this used to go in the night to the adjacent villages
for food, and presently return to the place where his
master's bones only were then left. Thus he continued
from July, when the battle was fought, till January fol-
lowing, when one of Colonel Foulk's soldiers, who was
quartered in the neighbourhood, happening to go near
the spot, the dog, fearing he came to disturb his master's
bones, rushed upon the man, who unslung his musket on
i the instant, and shot the poor animal dead. He expired
faithful as he had lived.

Bochart, in 1660, relates an account of a dog which
{ had followed his master's bier to the churchyard of
St. Innocent, Paris, and had then remained there for
three years : he continued on that grave to the end of
I his days. In the last half-century a similar case occurred
i at Lisle. The admiration of the neighbourhood, says
; Colonel H. Smith, was so great, that a hut was built for
j the faithful dog on the grave of his master, and food re-
I gularly supplied. A most affecting instance of attach-
j ment in a spaniel is narrated in Daniel's ' Rural Sports,'
' and quoted by Mr. Bell. We may be pardoned for re-
r peating it : "A few days before the overthrow of Robes-
i pierre a revolutionary tribunal had condemned M. R.,
an ancient magistrate and a most estimable man, on

94

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

pretence of finding him guilty of conspiracy. His faith-
ful dog, a water-spaniel, was with him when he was
seized, but was not suffered to enter the prison. He
took refuge with a* neighbour of his master, and every
day, at the same hour, returned to the door of the prison,
but was still refused admittance. He, however, uniformly
passed some time there, and his -unremitting fidelity won
upon the porter, and the dog was allowed to enter. The
meeting may be better imagined than described. The
jailer, however, fearful for himself, carried the dog out
of prison ; but he returned the next morning, and was
regularly admitted on each day afterwards. When the
day of sentence arrived, the dog, notwithstanding the
guards, penetrated into the hall, where he lay crouched
between the legs of his master. Again, at the hour of
execution, the faithful dog is there : the knife of the
guillotine falls, but he will not leave the lifeless and
headless body. The first night, the next day, and the
second night alarmed his new patron, who, guessing
whither he had retired, sought him and found him
stretched on his master's grave. From this time, every
morning for three months, the mourner returned to his
protector merely to receive food, and then again re-
treated to the grave. At length he refused food ; his
patience seemed exhausted and with temporary strength
supplied by his long-tried and unexhausted affection, for
twenty-four hours he was observed to employ his weak-
ened limbs in digging up the earth that separated him
from the being he had served. His powers, however,
here gave way ; he shrieked in his struggles, and at
length ceased to breathe, with his last look turned upon
the grave." We need make no comment upon this nar-.

CHARACTERISTICS OP MODERN RACES.

95

Irative, and we pity the man who can read it without
■emotion.

Wordsworth, in a beautiful poem, has given an affect-
ling instance of the fidelity of a dog whose master had
accidentally perished. We have quoted the poem in the
' Pictorial Museum of Animated Nature,' and its repeti-
tion here may not be unacceptable :

"A barking sound the shepherd hears,

A cry as of a dog or fox ;
He halts, and searches with his eyes

Among the scatter'd rocks.
And now at distance can discern
A stirring in a brake of fern,
From which immediately leaps out
A dog, and yelping runs about.

The dog is not of mountain breed, '
Its motions, too, are wild and shy,

With something, as the shepherd thinks,
Unusual in its cry.

Nor is there any one in sight

All round, in hollow or on height :

Nor shout nor whistle strikes his ear —

What is the creature doing here ?

It was a cave, a huge recess,

That keeps till June December's snow ;

A lofty precipice in front,
A silent tarn below.

Far in the bosom of Helvellyn,

Remote from public road or dwelling,

Pathway, or cultivated land,

From trace of human foot or hand.

There sometimes does a leaping fish
Send through the tarn a lonely cheer :

The crags repeat the raven's croak
In symphony austere.

Thither the rainbow comes, — the cloud, —

And mists that spread the flying shroud, —

96

.830 AH /HJ8TOimOF>TIi«r»9f^AffAH0

-mua orft Artd«uubffi*ms,-- and the sounding blagt, '}0 ^
r • • That if it could would hu try past,

But that enormous barrier hinds it fast.

Not. knowing what to think, awhile

The shepherd stood ; — then makes his way

Towards the dog, o'er rocks and stories
As quickly as he may :

Nov far had gone before he found

A human skeleton on the ground, —

Sad sight ! the shepherd, with a sigh,

Looks round to learn the history.

From those abrupt and perilous rocks

The man had fallen, — that place of fear !
At length upon the shepherd's mind

It breaks, and all is clear.
He instantly recall'd the name,
And who he was, and whence he came :—
Remember'd too the very day
On which the traveller pass'd this way.

But hear a wonder now, for sake
Of which this mournful tale I tell ;

A lasting monument of words
This wonder merits well.

The dog, which still was hovering nigb^

Repeating the same timid cry,

This dog had been through three months' space

A dweller in that savage place.

Yes, proof was plain, that since the day

On which the traveller had died,
The dog had watched about the spot,

Or by his master's side.
How nourished here through such long time,
He knows who gave that love sublime ;
And gave that strength of feeling, great
Above all human estimate.''

It is about forty years since the fatal accident hai
pened which furnishes a subject for the above poem.
The circumstances were recently detailed to a tourist,

CHARACT!lBftIffH€SiOriiaO»»KN RACES. 97

by one of the guides who conducts visitors; to/ the sum-
mits of Skiddaw and Helvellyn. The unfortunate man
who perished in these solitudes was a resident of Man-
chester, and periodically in the habit of visiting the
Lakes ; and who, confiding in his knowledge of the
country, had ventured to cross one of the passes of
Helvellyn late on a summer's evening, in company with
his faithful dog. Darkness, it is supposed, came on
before his expectation ; he wandered from the track, and
fell over the rocks into one of those deep recesses where
human foot but seldom treads. The body, still watched
by the dog, was found accidentally after many weeks'
fruitless search. The man who told the story had never
heard of the poem ; but the sentiment of natural piety
with which it concludes was on his lips — " God knows
how the poor beast was supported so long !"

The dog dreams ; he pursues in sleep his wonted avo-
cation, and gives chase to the fancied game, or gambols
around his master. Nor is the dream always dispelled
on awaking : Lucretius says,

" Venantumque canes in molli saepe quiete
, Jactant crura tamen subito, vocesque repente
\ Mittunt, et crebras reducunt naribus auras

Ut vestigia si teneant inventa ferarum ; —

Expergifactique sequuntur inania saepe

Cervorum simulacra, fugae quasi dedita cernant ;

Donee discussis redeant erroribus ad se."*

u De Rer. Nat. iv. 988-994.

* " And dogs of the chase, in soft sleep, often 5

Move their limbs suddenly, and send forth hasty sounds,

And draw in frequent inspirations with their nostrils,

As if they were keeping the tracks of game ;

And, aroused, often follow the empty images

Of stags, as if they saw them in flight ;

Till, their errors dissipated, they return to themselves."

98

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

We shall not attempt to enter into the theory of dreams,
further than to observe that they are impressions on the
mental part of our mysterious being during sleep, which
impressions are believed to have a real and present
existence ; and they follow each other according to
associations over which we have at that time no control.
The very circumstance that the dog dreams proves the
comparatively great perfection of those powers which
we term collectively mind. It remembers, it reflects,
it imagines ; it is animated by hope or joy, and depressed
by fear or anxiety.

Dogs certainly acquire some knowledge of time. Mr.
Southey, in his 1 Omniana,' relates two instances of dogs
which were able to count the days of the week. One of
these he says belonged to his grandfather, and was in the
habit of trudging two miles every Saturday to cater for
himself in the shambles. u I know," he adds, " a more
extraordinary and well authenticated example. A dog
which had belonged to an Irishman, and was sold by
him in England, would never touch a morsel of food
upon Friday." We have heard of a dog which was in
the habit of attending church with the bailiff of a gentle-
man in a parish some distance from Edinburgh. When
the family resided at Edinburgh,' the dog being with
them, he would start off* on a Saturday to the bailiff's
house, that he might not lose his privilege, and would
punctually return. M. Blaze says, that a dog belonging
to M. Roger set out every Saturday, at two o'clock pre-
cisely, from Locoyarne to go to Hennebon (about three
miles distant). On arriving, he went straight to the
butcher's, because they killed on that day, and he was
sure of having a good dinner of offal. At this same gen-

CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN RACES.

99

tleman's, family worship was conducted every evening,
and the dog would listen very quietly to the Paternos-
ters, which, however, did not seem much to edify him,
for the moment that the last Paternoster was begun, he
would get up and place himself at the door, ready to go
out as soon as it should be opened. It was evident that
he knew how to count the number of prayers which were
ordinarily repeated. Many instances of a similar nature
might be collected ; but the repetition of such in proof
of a point which few acquainted with dogs will contest,
is not requisite.

Sir Walter Scott was, we believe, impressed with the
opinion that dogs understand, to a great extent, human
language or conversation ; and we believe it. A dog
from his master's conversation will know that he is about
to walk out, or take a journey ; and if he has reason to
believe that his company is not wished for, will make his
escape, and join his master on the road when at too great
a distance for him conveniently to turn back. We have
two dogs, a spaniel and a terrier, both of small size ; and
if, by way of trial, in the course of conversation we say,
in the ordinary tone of voice, and .without looking at
them, "I am sure there must be a cat somewhere about
the house," they are instantly excited, and search in every
place for the animal, to which they bear instinctive ha-
tred. Dr. Gall says that dogs learn to understand not
merely separate words or articulate sounds, but whole
sentences expressing many ideas. In his treatise i Sur
les Fonctions du Cerveau ' is the following passage : —
" I have often spoken intentionally of objects which
might interest my dog, taking care not to mention his
name, or make any intonation or gesture which might

]00

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

awaken his attention. He however showed no less plea-
sure or sorrow, as it might be ; and, indeed, manifested
by his behaviour that he had perfectly understood the
conversation which concerned him. I had taken a bitch
from Vienna to Paris ; in a very short time she compre-
hended French as well as German, of which I satisfied
myself by repeating before her whole sentences in both
languages." Without going so far as Dr. Gall, we can-
not help thinking that dogs understand more of what is
said than is generally suspected ; not that they can follow
out a conversation, or any train of reasoning, but they
can pick up a simple sentence here and there which
more particularly relates to them. If a sportsman asks
his servant whether or not his gun is cleaned, the dog
will most probably rise up, in expectation of the sport ;
and a few orders respecting dress, powder, shot, &c, will
be caught up, and received as intimating that his service
is about to be required. This is not more unlikely than
that the dog should understand the accents of praise or
disapprobation. That dogs communicate their ideas to
each other, and contrive plans for their mutual benefit,
seems to be generally acknowledged ; and we read of
dogs insulted and tyrannized over by others of superior
strength combining with several friendly dogs, or with
one of great prowess, to punish the aggressor. The
story of a dog, whose broken leg had been set and cured
by a benevolent surgeon, bringing to the gentleman's
house another dog whose leg had been broken also, has
been often told. There are two versions of this story,
in one of which the surgeon is described as living at
Leeds ; in the other, the surgeon was Morand, a cele-
brated practitioner in France. Two dogs belonging to

CHARA£TiEIllSTICS OF- MDJ3BRN RACES. 101

M. Blaze, a hound called Triamphaaacyiiinefc «ia pointer
called Medor, were in the habit of absenting themselves
j; occasionally from home, for several days together, and
on their return they were always in good condition, and
by no means hungry, but rather overfilled, and desirous
of going to rest. On one occasion, when these two ca-
nine friends marched off together, their master followed,
and at some distance watched their movements. They
Icarried on the business of poaching for their own benefit.
Medor crouched in a trench, along which Triomphaux
| in full cry drove the hare, which the former suddenly
seized as it passed ; the two then proceeded to make a
good dinner.

The dog, and indeed it is the case with other domestic

102 HISTORY OF THE DOG.

animals, sometimes forms a friendship with other crea-
tures of the lower order, of a different species from him-
self. Instances, indeed, of this friendship between the
dog and the horse are not uncommon, and have come
under our owrn notice ; and we have heard of others in
which a dog and lion or lioness displayed towards each
other the warmest attachment.

In Montagu's supplement to his ' Ornithological Dic-
tionary ' is an account of a friendship between a pointer
and a Chinese goose, which commenced under rather ex-
traordinary circumstances, at least on the part of the goose.
It appears that the dog had killed the mate (gander) of the
goose, and was not only severely punished for the mis-
demeanour, but had the dead bird tied to his neck. The
solitary goose, attracted to the kennel by the sight of her
dead companion, for the loss of which she was greatly
distressed, seemed determined (o persecute Ponto by her
constant attendance and continual vociferations. By
degrees, however, her feelings underwent a change, and
in a short time a strict amity and friendship arose between
these incongruous animals. " They fed out of the same
trough, lived under the same roof, and in the same straw
bed kept each other warm ; and when the dog was taken
to the field, the inharmonious lamentations of the goose
for the absence of her friend were incessant."

One of the most extraordinary cases on record of a
friendship between two most dissimilar animals, a spaniel
and a partridge, is narrated by a writer in whom implicit
confidence may be placed : — " We were lately (in 1823)
visiting in a house, where a very pleasing and singular
portrait attracted our observation : it was that of a young
lady, represented with a partridge perched upon her

CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN RACES. 103

shoulder, and a dog with his feet on her arm. We re-
cognised it as a representation of the lady of the house ;
but were at a loss to account for the odd association of
her companions. She observed our surprise, and at once
gave the history of the bird and the spaniel. They were
both, some years back, domesticated in her family. The
dog was an old parlour favourite, who went by the name
of Tom ; the partridge was more recently introduced
from France, and answered to the equally familiar name
of Bill. It was rather a dangerous experiment to place
them together, for Tom was a lively and spirited creature,
very apt to torment the cats, and to bark at any object
which roused his instinct. But the experiment was tried ;
and Bill, being very tame, did not feel much alarm at his
natural enemy. They were of course shy at first, but this
shyness gradually wore ; the bird became less timid
and the dog less bold. The most perfect friendship was
at length established between them. When the hour of
dinner arrived, the partridge invariably flew on his mis-
tress's shoulder, calling with that shrill note which is so
well known to sportsmen, and the spaniel leapt about
with equal ardour. One dish of bread and milk was
placed on the floor, out of which the spaniel and bird fed
together. After their social meal, the dog would retire
to a corner to sleep, while the partridge would nestle
between his legs, and never stir till his favourite awoke.
Whenever the dog accompanied his mistress out, the bird
displayed the utmost disquietude till his return ; and once,
when the partridge was shut up by accident a whole day,
the dog searched about the house, with a mournful cry
which indicated the strength of his affection. The friend-

f 2

104

HISTORY OF THE BOG.

ship of Tom and Bill was at length fatally terminated.
The beautiful little dog was stolen ; and the bird from
that time refused food, and died on the seventh day, a |
victim to his grief."

Such, then, is a sketch of the general properties of I
the dog, so varied in external configuration, so varied
in acquired propensities and habits, so uniform in attach-
ment to its master. " The guardianship so trustworthy
of dogs, their attachment so devoted to their masters,
their general dislike of strangers, their wronderful powers
of scent, their singular aptitude for the chase, prove I
this fact, that they were formed for the service of man." I
(Cicero, De Nat; Deorum.)

Before entering more fully into the various races of 1
dogs, we may here enumerate a few physical characters I
we have hitherto omitted. Tl^e dog never perspires,
but when heated lolls out its tongue, and salivary fluid
drips from its mouth ; when in health its nose is cool and
moist ; it turns round and round before lying down in 1
the chosen spot ; it is capable of sustaining long hunger, ]
but requires to drink often. The teats in the female :
vary ; some have five pairs, some four ; some have one
more on one side than on the other. The number of
young at a litter varies from four to eight ; they are born
blind, and the eyes are not opened till the tenth or
twelfth day. It is a remarkable fact, and one which we 5
can personally avouch, that the male parent of the first
litter produces an influence on the form and external
characters of subsequent litters by other fathers; and
it often happens that while some of the young resemble
the female or male, others will take after the male parent

CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN RACES.

105

of the first brood.* A similar fact has been proved in
the instance of the mare.

The dog is adult at the age of three years, and seldom
lives longer than about fifteen years. Sometimes, how-
ever, it attains to twenty ; so that Homer's account of
the faithful dog of Ulysses, which died at his feet on
his return after twenty years' absence, is within the
bounds of possibility. The dog has certain subcaudal
glands, which exhale a penetrating fetid odour.

* Jaques Savary, a cynegetical poet of Caen, had long ago,
in 1665, made the same observations. (See Album Dianas
Leporicidce.^)

( 106 )

CHAPTER IV.

ON THE VARIETIES OF THE DOG.

We now venture to offer the following as an arrange-
ment of the principal breeds into which the domestic
dog appears to be resolvable ; from this arrangement we
exclude the true wild dogs of India and the dingo of
Australia, but retain in it such dogs as have reverted to
a life of independence, and which may be termed
feral : —

Feral dog of Russia.
Feral dog of Natolia.
Shepherd's dog of Natolia.
Persian guard dog.
1. Ears, erect or nearly so; Pomeranian dog.

Icelandish dog.
Siberian dog.
Tschuktschi dog.
Esquimaux dog.
Hare Indian dog. [dians.
Black wolf-dog of Florida In-
Nootka dog.
Shepherd dog.
/ Ancient German boarhound,
the Sau-ruden of Redinger.
Great Danish dog.
Feral dog of Hayti.
French matin.
Irish wolf-dog.
Scotch deerhound.
English greyhound.
Italian greyhound.
Persian greyhound.
Brinjaree dog.
Albanian greyhound.
Lurcher.

Ears, erect or nearly so ;
nose, pointed ; hair, long, U
often woolly; form, ro- /
bust and muscular ; as-
pect, more or less wolfish.

Ears, narrow, semi-erect,
or only slightly pendu-
lous; muzzle, produced;
jaws, strong; hair,
smooth or wiry; limbs,
long and vigorous; power
of scent, not highly de-
veloped.

ON THE VARIETIES OF THE DOG.

107

3 Ears, moderately large
and pendent; muzzle,
deep and strong ; hair,
long, sometimes wiry ;
form, robust ; aspect,
grave and intelligent.

4. Ears, moderately large ;
sometimes very large,
pendent ; hair, long and
fine ; muzzle, moderate ;
forehead, developed;
scent, acute ; intelligence
at a high ratio.

5. Ears, large, pendent;
muzzle, long and deep ;
nose, large; hair, close;
scent, acute; form, vi-
gorous.

6. Ears, moderate, pen-
dent ; muzzle, short and
thick ; jaws, enormously
strong; hair, short, some-
times wiry ; form, ro-
bust ; sense of smell va-
riable.

7. Ears, suberect; muzzle,
rather acute ; jaws,
strong ; hair, short or
wiry : scent, acute ; ha-
bits, active ; intelligence,
considerable.

Italian wolf-dog.
Newfoundland dog.
Labrador dog.
Alpine dog.

Spaniel and fancy varieties.
Water-spaniel and varieties.
Rough water-dog or barbet.
Little barbet.
Setter.

Pointer.

Dalmatian dog.

Beagle.

Harrier.

Foxhound.

Old English hound.

Bloodhound.

African hound, &c.

Cuban mastiff.

English mastiff.

Thibet mastiff.

Bandog.

Bulldog.

Corsican and Spanish bulldog
Pug-dog.

Terrier — smooth

haired.
Turnspit.
Barbary dog.

and wire-

We do not offer this arrangement, which is essentially
the same as that which we have elsewhere given, as not
liable to objections ; indeed so many mixed breeds of
dogs of uncertain origin exist, that any attempt to class
them under distinct heads would appear hopeless. We
must confess, however, that F. Cuvier's arrangement of

108

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

all breeds under three heads, viz., Matins, Spaniels, and
Dogues or mastiffs, is to ourselves by no means satis-
factory,— at the same time we would not arrogantly assert
that our own is anything like perfect. It will be ob-
served that we have omitted in it any enumeration of the
Egyptian, Greek, or ancient Roman dogs, and for one
good reason, viz., though much may be learnedly said
about them, little after all is positively established.

To commence with the first section of our arrangement
of the varieties of the Canis domesticus, we may observe
that through the whole northern extent of Europe, Asia,
and America, several breeds of wolf-like dogs, evidently
related to each other, exist. Of these, the Pomeranian
dog, or Kees of the Dutch, is tolerably well known in
England.' Its nose is pointed, the fur is long, the tail
bushy and curled over the back : the colour is white, or
a mixture of white and brown. They make excellent
watch-dogs, and are often seen on the barges traversing
the canals. This dog is undoubtedly of more northern
origin, and is derived perhaps from the same stock as the
Iceland dog, which was carried most probably by the
old Norsemen to that island of ice-cliffs and volcanoes.
It is singular that a wolf-dog of large size, with pointed
nose, erect ears, and a long coat, is to be seen in some
parts of Spain. Col. II. Smith, who calls it the Great
Wolf-dog, thinks that it was brought to that country by
Gothic hordes, and that it is similar to a variety described
by Olaus Magnus, which in his time was common to the
north of Sweden and Norway. A powerful breed of
wolfish watch-dogs of large stature exists in Russia ;
but besides the truly domestic dogs of that country there
is an emancipated or feral race, of wolf-like aspect and

ON THE VARIETIES OF THE DOG. 109

colour, living, like the jungle pariah dogs of the East, in
companies. They approach the outskirts of the towns,
and even of St. Petersburg, making burrows in the earth,
and prowling about at night in quest of food ; they are
dangerous, especially in winter, to persons travelling alone
and unprotected through the country. Col. H. Smith
states that a gentleman and his friend, long resident in
St. Petersburg, were obliged to go out to the rescue of a
boy sent with a message across the ice of the Neva, who
was observed to be beset by a troop of these animals.
It may be that they are real wild dogs, for very little is
known about them.

Throughout Siberia, to its eastern borders, and in
Kamtschatka, various arctic breeds of wolf-like dogs exist,
which are used in winter for the purpose of drawing
sledges over the hardened snow. The Kamtschatka
dogs, of surly temper, are often cruelly treated, and
forced to draw weights beyond their strength ; and to
proceed at the stretch of their speed. The ordinary
loading of five dogs is about 240 or 250 lbs., exclusive of
sledge and driver, and they will travel from 60 to 100
miles in a day. Their perseverance is as great as their
speed. Captain King states that a courier with dis-
patches having occasion to urge his "team" forward
for four days successively, passed over 270 miles in that
space of time. No doubt his sledge was very lightly
loaded. During the summer these dogs wander at
liberty, obtaining their subsistence principally from such
fish as they can catch upon the margin of the sea or
rivers, in which operation necessity makes them very
skilful. In October they are collected by their owners,
or return home, and are fed principally on the bones and

r 3

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

heads of dried fish. The time now arrives for their ser-
vices in dragging the sledge ; and a winter of hard usage
is before them. The leading dog of a sledge, whose
training is rigidly attended to, if well disciplined and
obedient, is of great value. A sum equivalent to ten
pounds is the common price for a good leader. The
other dogs are harnessed in pairs ; but the reins are only
attached to the collar of the leader, whom the rest
follow. The leader is guided by the voice of the driver,
who carries, it is said, a short stick, which he throws at
the refractory individuals, and recovers with great ad-
dress. These dogs pursue game eagerly, and not being-
well fed, are apt when they come to the tracks of rein-
deer, or seals, to start off in full chase, when it becomes
very difficult to stop them ; sometimes, indeed, they
overturn the sledge, and dash it to pieces. Among the
Tschuktschi, according to the details of Admiral von
Wrangell (' Expedition to the Polar Seas ') more con-
sideration appears to be shown to the dogs than in Kamt-
schatka, at least if the ordinary accounts be not over-
charged:— :

" Of all the animals that live in the high north lati-
tudes none are so deserving of being noticed as the dog.
The companion of man in all climates from the islands
of the South Sea, where he feeds on bananas,* to the

* That the dog should thrive upon vegetable food is a re-
markable fact. A professional gentleman of our acquaintance
in Rocliford, Essex, possesses a noble and very fierce New-
foundland dog ; and during the plum-season, when that fruit
is ripe, this dog, if he can possibly get loose, makes his way to
the orchard and large kitchen-garden for the sake of the fallen
greengages, to which he is singularly partial. A spaniel be-
longing to one of the same gentleman's family is equally partial
to greengages, but with epicurean taste refuses other plums,

ON THE VARHTTIiES W TBBE< BOG . 11 1

Polar Sea, where his food is fish, he here plays a part to
which he is unaccustomed in more favourite regions. Ne-
cessity has taught the inhabitants of the more northern
countries to employ these comparatively weak animals in
draught. On all the coasts of the Polar Sea, from the
Obi to Behring's Straits, in Greenland", Kamtschatka,

| and the Kurile Islands, the dogs are made to draw sledges
loaded with persons and with goods, and for considerable
journeys. These dogs have much resemblance to the
wolf. They have long, pointed, projecting noses, sharp
and upright ears, and a long bushy tail ; some have
smooth, some have curly hair (such are the smooth-
haired dogs of Newfoundland, noticed previously).
Their colour is various; black, brown, reddish brown,
white, and spotted. They vary also in size, but it is

i considered that a good sledge-dog should not be less
than two feet seven and a half inches in height (at the
head?), and three feet three-quarters of an inch in
length (English measure). Their barking is like the
howling of a wolf. They pass their whole life in the
open air : in summer they dig holes in the ground for
coolness, or lie in the water to avoid the musquitoes ; in

at least when the greengages are to be procured. On the side-
board in the dining-room are generally kept plates of apples,
pears, and the like ; and to these, when he has an opportunity,
i he will help himself, first taking one and eating it, and then
returning for another. We never knew dogs with the like ap-
petite ; the fox and jackal, however, are, as is well known, fond
of grapes, and so we believe is the dog. We have omitted to
state that the same spaniel is extremely fond of ripe goose-
berries, and will ensconce himself under the bushes, eagerly
devouring the fruit ; not, however, without sundry scratches
on the nose, upon the reception of which he retreats yelping
and rubbing the part — but, overcome by the temptation, he re-
turns to the feast.

112

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

winter they protect themselves by burrowing in the
snow, and lie curled up, with their noses covered by
their bushy tails. The female puppies are drowned, ex-
cept enough to preserve the breed, the males alone being
used in draught. Those born in winter enter on their
training the following autumn, but are not used in long
journeys until the third year. The feeding and training
is a particular art, and much skill is required in driving
and guiding them. The best-trained dogs are used as
leaders, and as the quick and steady going of the team,
usually of twelve dogs, and the safety of the traveller,
depend on the sagacity and docility of the leader, no
pains are spared in their education, so that they may
always obey their master's voice, and not be tempted
from their course when they come on the scent of game.
This last is a point of great difficulty ; sometimes the
whole team, in such cases, will start off, and no endea-
vours on the part of the driver can stop them. On such
occasions we have sometimes had to admire the clever-
ness with which the well-trained leader endeavours to
turn the other dogs from their pursuit ; if other devices
fail, he will suddenly wheel round, and by barking, as
if he had come on a new scent, try to induce the other
dogs to follow him. In travelling across the wide tundra,
in dark nights, or when the vast plain is veiled in impe-
netrable mist, or in storms or snow-tempests, when the
traveller is in danger of missing the sheltering powarna,
and of perishing in the snow, he will frequently owe his
safety to a good leader. If the animal has ever been in
this plain, and has stopped with his master at the
powarna, he will be sure to bring the sledge to the
place where the hut lies deeply buried in the snow ;

OX THE VARIETIES OF THE DOG.

1W

I when arrived at it he will suddenly stop, and indicate
j significantly the spot where his master must dig. Nor
are the dogs without their use in summer : they tow the
boats up the rivers ; and it is curious to observe how in-
stantly they obey their master's voice, either in halting
or in changing the bank of the river. On hearing his
icall they plunge into the water, draw the towing-line
after them, and swim after the boat to the opposite
[ shore ; and, on reaching it, replace themselves in order,
|i and wait the command to go on. Sometimes even those
who have no horses will use the dogs in fowling excur-
i sions, to draw their light boats from one lake or river to
another. In short, the dog is fully as useful and indis-
j pensable a domestic animal to the settled inhabitant of
( this country, as the tame reindeer is to the nomade
tribes. They regard it as such. We saw a remarkable
instance of this during the terrible sickness which, in the
year 1821, carried off the greater part of these useful
| animals. An unfortunate Juhakir family had only two
i dogs left out of twenty, and these were just born, and
I indeed still blind. The mother being dead, the wife of
! the Juhakir determined on nursing the two puppies with
I her own child, rather than lose the last remains of their
: former wealth. She did so, and was rewarded for it, for
her two nurslings lived, and became the parents of a new
and vigorous race of dogs. In the year 1822, when
most of the inhabitants had lost their dogs by the sick-
ness, they were in a most melancholy condition ; they
had to draw home their own fuel ; and both time and
strength failed them in bringing home the fish which
had been caught in distant places ; moreover, whilst thus
occupied, the season passed for fowling and fur-hunting ;

■HISTORY OF THE DOG.

and a general and severe famine, in which numbers pe-
rished, was the consequence. Horses cannot be made a
substitute ; the severity of the climate and the shortness
of the summer make it impossible to provide sufficient
fodder ; the light dog can also move quickly over the
tieep snow, in which the heavy horse would sink. Hav-
ing thus described the. out-of-door life and employments
of the people of this district, let us accompany an indi-
vidual into his habitation, at the close of summer, when
he and his family rest from all these laborious efforts, and
enjoy life after their manner. The walls are caulked
afresh with moss and new plastered with clay, and a
solid mound of earth is heaped up on the outside as high
as the windows. This is accomplished before Decem-
ber, when the long winter nights assemble the members
of the family around the hearth. The light of the fire,
and that of one or more train-oil lamps, are seen through
the ice windows ; and from the low chimneys rise high
columns of red smoke, with magnificent jets of sparks
occasioned by the resinous nature of the wood. The
dogs are outside, either on or burrowed in the snow.
From time to time their howling interrupts the general
silence ; it is so loud as to be heard at great distances,
and is repeated at intervals, usually of six or eight hours,
except when the moon shines, when it is much more
frequent."

Besides the Hare Indian dog, to which we have
already referred at some length, and which is decidedly
an aboriginal of the high northern latitudes of America,
we may notice the Esquimaux dog and the Nootka dog.
The latter is like the dogs of Kamtschatka generally,
but is still more woolly, being covered in fact by a thick

ON THE VARIETIES OT< THE DOG . 115

deep fleece, of variable colour; this fleece felts so well,
that when shorn it rolls up into a sort of bundle like that
of the sheep ; the natives spin it, and work it with other
wool into garments.

The Esquimaux dog is perhaps only a variety of the
preceding j it is spread throughout the whole boreal re-
gion of America, from Behring's Straits to the eastern
coast of Greenland, and appears to be essentially identi-
cal with the boreal race of Siberia and Kamtschatka.
Some naturalists, it is true, make the Greenland dog a
distinct variety, but wherein the difference lies we have
not been able to determine. It appears to us that there is
one great boreal race of true dogs, varying a little in size,
and perhaps still more in the character of the fur, ex-
tending throughout Europe, Asia, and America ; and
that these differences are so trifling that no zoological
distinction can be founded thereon ; they are not more
than might be expected from some differences of climate
and diet, or from more or less of the strain of the wolf,
with which the breed may have been more crossed in one
district or range of country than another. In general as-
pect the Esquimaux dog and grey wolf of North America
so closely resemble each other, that when seen at a little
distance it is not easy to distinguish between them. In
the Museum of the Zoological Society of London is a fine
specimen of the Esquimaux dog (No. 212, d of Catal.
Mamm. 1838) in contrast with a grey wolf from the
northern wilds of America (No. 214, Catal. Mamm.),
and any one would suppose, unless informed to the con-
trary, that the two animals were of the same species..
The Esquimaux dog above referred to was procured at
Baffin's Bay. It was presented to the Society by Cap-

116

HISTORY Ox THE DOG.

tain Sir Edward Parry, 11. X., and " was one of the faithful
companions of our northern voyagers during their stay in
Melville Island in the winter of 1819-20, and is the spe-
cimen referred to by Dr. Richardson" (see ' Fauna Bor.
Amer.,' p. 75). And here we may add to our previous
notice respecting the intermixture of the boreal dogs with
the wolf, the attestations of Captain Sir E. Parry and Sir
J. Franklin. The former assures us that some of his
female Esquimaux dogs, during his first voyage, strayed
from his ships, and returned after a few days, pregnant by
wolves (' Journal,' &c, p. 185). Sir J. Franklin (' Nar-
rative,' &c, p. 172) states, that the Indians attached to
one of his expeditions, upon destroying a female wolf,
carried away three of her whelps to improve the breed.
We learn from the same scientific commander, that in the
month of March the female grey wolves frequently entice
the domestic dogs from the forts, though at other seasons
a strong antipathy seemed to subsist between them (' Nar-
rative,' p. 90).

To the Esquimaux their dogs are of the greatest im-
portance ; these animals are devoted servants and compa-
nions, to whom their masters look for assistance in the
chase of the seal, the bear, and the reindeer. They draw
sledges over the trackless snows in winter, and carry bur-
dens while attending their masters in the pursuit of game
in the summer. They lead a fatiguing life, and during
the winter are often nearly starved for want of provisions.
Their situation indeed is the reverse, with respect to
sufficiency of diet, to what obtains among the dogs of
Kamtschatka ; the latter are turned out in the summer
to seek their own subsistence, and called home on the
approach of winter, when their masters supply them with

ON THE VARIETIES OF THE DOG.

117

Esquimaux Dog.

food. But the Esquimaux dog is not turned adrift during-
summer, and, as it is the season of plenty, is abundantly
supplied with the refuse of the seal and walrus ; but in
winter their feeding is scanty and precarious ; their mas-
ters have but little to spare, and they therefore become
miserably thin at a time when their energies are most in
requisition. Hence, when in harness, they rush out of
the road either to give chase to any animal descried or to
pick up what seems likely to afford a meal. They creep,
when at liberty, into the huts, and steal what they can
find ; nor are they to be driven back, except by unmer-
ciful blows, accompanied by shouts of the intruder's name.
Their hunger is increased by the severity of the winter ;
and in high northern regions not only is more animal food
requisite for the due maintenance of the vital powers, but
that food must be of an oily quality. Blubber and seal's
flesh form, in fact, a necessary staple of food for the Es-
I quimaux and their dogs ; and Captain Sir E. Parry men-
tions that the Esquimaux dogs will not, when suffering

118 HISTORY OF THE DOG.

hunger, urink water unless it happen to be oily. They
know by instinct, perhaps experience, that a draught of
cold liquid, without the addition of oil, would but increase
their painful craving. They content themselves, there-
fore, with licking the snow, and, like the half-famished
wolves, appease their hunger by swallowing clay, or in-
deed almost any substance they can meet with. The
instinctive fondness of "these dogs for fat and blubber
is very strong, so that even when their mode of life is
entirely changed, as is the case of individuals brought to
this country, they still exhibit the same penchant. The
author of the ' Menageries' remarks, that when he wrote,
there were at Chelsea two Esquimaux dogs, which would
stand hour after hour in front of a candlemaker's work-
shop, snuffing the savoury effluvia of the melting tallow.

The strength, the courage, and the exquisite delicacy
of scent which these valuable dogs possess, renders them
all-important to the natives around Baffin's Bay, as the
means of procuring them subsistence. During the short
summer they are employed in the chase of the reindeer
for a stock of food and clothing, and during the long and
dreary winter, when distress drives the fur-clad inhabit-
ants of an inhospitable realm to go forth in quest of prey,
it is upon their dogs that they depend. They follow by
their aid the track of the reindeer ; and so keen is their
sense of smell, that they discover the seals which lie" in
their holes, under the ice of the lakes, at a great distance,
or the bears in their winter retreats, or prowling about
the shores of the Frozen Sea. The ferocity and resolution
with which they attack the bear are wonderful, indeed
the very word nennook, which signifies that animal,
sure to excite them to the uttermost, and is often used to

I

ION THE VARIETIES OF THE DOG. 1 19

call forth their ardour when running in a sledge ; when
thus engaged, should a bear or reindeer come in sight, or
■should the dogs get upon the scent, nothing can restrain

I them ; off they dash, and though this may be sometimes
an inconvenient way of proceeding, it is on the whole
highly serviceable, for it seldom happens that the driver
1 1 has such a stock of provisions that a godsend is not very
■ acceptable ; his arrow or knife will enable him to secure
ithe game when the dogs have surrounded it. Two or
ithree dogs, led on by a man, will fasten upon the largest
ibear ; but, though impetuous in the attack on this formid-
able beast, they have not the same undaunted bravery
jtowards the wolf; indeed, they instinctively avoid a con-
test with that animal, and though they may be excited to
attack it, and certainly when driven to desperation de-
fend themselves to the uttermost, still the approach of the
wolf makes them uneasy, and causes them to utter long
and loud howls.

During their summer excursions in pursuit of reindeer,
the Esquimaux load their dogs with provisions, &c, to
khe extent of about 30 lbs. each. The mode in which
they are laden is similar to that in which the pack-horse
|Was uniformly laden in our country — that is, paniers or
jjbags equally poised are thrown across their backs ; but
lit is not for this mode of exerting its strength that the
ij Esquimaux or any other dog is structurally formed. And
ithis assertion, we think (independently of the reasons
^previously given), the experiments of Captain Lyon will
'! prove. This officer put to the test the strength of these
Janimals exerted in the proper manner, that is, at the
pimple pull, and found that three could draw himself on
n sledge weighing 100 lbs. at the rate of a mile in six

120

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

minutes ; his leader, a well-grown dog, singly drew
196 lbs. a mile in eight minutes, and seven ran a mile in
four minutes with a heavy sledge full of men. Nine dogs
drew 1611 lbs. at the rate of nine minutes per mile ; the
sledge was neither shod nor iced ; had it been so, 40 lbs.
more might have been added for each dog.

The mode in which the Esquimaux dogs are employed
in drawing the sledge, and the difficulties arising from
the imperfect manner in which the animals are harnessed,
and from their quarrelsome nature, are well described by
Sir E. Parry in his ' Journal of a Second Voyage for the
discovery of a North-west Passage :' — " When drawing a
sledge the dogs have a simple harness (annoo) of deer or
seal skin going round the neck by one bight, and another
for each of the fore legs, with a single thong leading over
the back and attached to the sledge as a trace. Though
they appear at first sight to be huddled together, without
any regard to regularity, there is, in fact, considerable
attention paid to arrangement, particularly in the se-
lection of a dog of peculiar spirit and sagacity, who is
allowed by a longer trace to precede the rest as a leader,
and to whom in turning to the right or left the driver
usually addresses himself. The choice is made without
regard to age or sex, and the rest of the dogs take pre- J
cedency according to their training or sagacity, the least
effective being put nearest the sledge. The leader is
usually from eighteen to twenty feet from the fore part of
the sledge, and the hindmost about half that distance, so
that when ten or twelve are running together, several are
nearly abreast of each other. The driver sits quite low
on the fore part of the sledge, with his feet overhanging
the snow on one side, and having in his hand a whip, of

ON THE VARIETIES OF THE DOG.

121

which the handle, made either of wood, bone, or whale-
bone, is eighteen inches, and the lash more than as many
feet in length ; the part of the thong next the handle is
Iplaited a little way down, to stiffen it and give it a spring,
on which much of its use depends ; and that which com-
poses the lash is chewed by the women to make it flex-
ible in frosty weather. The men acquire from their youth
considerable expertness in the use of this whip, the lash
of which is left to trail along the ground by the side of
the sledge, and with which they can inflict a very severe
iblow on any dog at pleasure. Though the dogs are kept
in training entirely by fear of the whip, and indeed with-
out it would soon have their own way, its immediate
lefrect is always detrimental to the draught of the sledge ;
jfor not only does the individual that is struck draw back
and slacken his pace, but generally turns upon his next
|neighbour, and this, passing on to the next, occasions a
jgeneral divergency, accompanied by the usual yelping
and showing of the teeth. The dogs then come together
'again by degrees, and the draught of the sledge is accele-
rated ; but even at the best of times, by this rude mode of
draught, the traces of one-third of the dogs form an angle
of thirty or forty degrees on each side of the direction on
which the line is advancing. Another great inconveni-
ence attending the Esquimaux method of putting the dogs
,to, besides that of not employing their strength to the
best advantage, is the constant entanglement of the traces
by the dogs repeatedly doubling under from side to side
to avoid the whip, so that after running a few miles the
traces always require to be taken off and cleared,
ji " In directing the sledge the whip acts no very essential
[part, the driver for this purpose using certain words, as

122

HISTORY OF TH- 3

the carters do with us, to make the dogs turn more to the
right or left. To these a good lep -'er attends with ad-
mirable precision, especially if ^ own name be repeated
at the same time, looking behind his shoulder with great
earnestness, as if listening to the directions of the driver.
On a beaten track, or even where a single foot or sledge
mark is occasionally discernible, there is not the slightest
trouble in guiding the dogs ; for even in the darkest
night, and in the heaviest snow-drift, there is little or no
danger of losing the road, the leader keeping his nose
near the ground, and directing the rest with wonderful
sagacity. When, however, there is no beaten track, the
best driver among them makes a terribly circuitous course,
as all the Esquimaux roads plainly show ; these generally
occupying an extent of six miles, when with a horse and
sledge the journey would scarcely have amounted to five.
On rough ground, as among hummocks of ice, the sledge
would be frequently overturned, or altogether stopped,
if the driver did not repeatedly get off, and by lifting or
drawing it to one side, steer clear of those accidents. At
all times, indeed, except on a smooth and well-made
road, he is pretty constantly employed thus with his
feet ; which, together with the never-ceasing vocifera-
tions, and frequent use of the whip, renders the driving
of one of these vehicles by no means a pleasant or easy
task. When the driver wishes to stop the sledge, he
calls out " Wo, woa," exactly as our carters do ; but the
attention paid to this command depends altogether on
his ability to enforce it. If the weight is small and the
journey homeward, the dogs are not to be thus delayed ;
the driver is therefore obliged to dig his heels into the
snow, to obstruct their progress, and having thus sue-

ON TFE^.AJ^TpSS OF THE DOG. 123

ceeded in stopping them, he stands up, with one leg
before the foremost cross-piece of the sledge, till by
gently laying the wh^, ;pr each dog's head, he has made
them all lie down. He then takes care not to quit his
position, so that should the^ dogs set oif he is thrown
upon the sledge instead of being left behind by them.

11 With heavy loads, the dogs draw best with one of
their own people, especially a woman, walking a little
way a-head, and in this case they are sometimes enticed
to mend their pace by holding a mitten to the mouth,
and then making the motion of cutting it with a knife,
and throwing it on the snow, when the dogs, mistaking
it for meat, hasten forward to pick it up. The women
also entice them from the huts in a similar manner. The
rate at which they travel depends of course on the weight
they have to draw, and the road on which their journey
is performed. When the latter is level, and very hard
and smooth, constituting what in other parts of North
America is called ' good sleighing,' six or seven dogs
will draw from eight to ten hundredweight, at the rate
of seven or eight miles an hour, for several hours to-
gether ; and will easily under these circumstances per-
form a journey of fifty or sixty miles a day. On
untrodden snow, five-and-twenty or thirty miles would
be a good day's journey. The same number of dogs,
well fed, with a weight of only five or six hundred
pounds, that of the sledge included, are almost unma-
nageable, and will run on a smooth road, any way they
please, at the rate of ten miles an hour. The work per-
formed by a greater number of dogs is however by no
means in proportion to this, owing to the imperfect mode
of employing the strength of the sturdy creatures, and

124 HISTORY OF THE DOG.

the more frequent snarling and fighting occasioned by an
increase of numbers."

The Esquimaux dog is surly and obstinate, because
his treatment is such as not to develop the nobler parts
of his moral nature : he is a slave, ever toiling, and
hardly used ; subjected to want and blows, to cold and
extreme fatigue : seldom, except perhaps by way of
excitement in the chase, does he receive a kind word of
thankful encouragement ; unless indeed from the women,
by whom he is uniformly better treated than by the men :
it is from the women that this poor animal receives care
and attention when sick or helpless, and the consequence
is that the women have the Complete ascendancy over
his affection, — and their words can prevail when the
blows and threatenings of the men only excite obstinate
disobedience ; but let the voice of a female issue the
orders, and obedience is promptly and willingly ren-
dered.

The specimens which we have seen in England have
been remarkably good-tempered and intelligent, and
overflowing with attachment to those who used them
kindly. They were noble-looking dogs, with the fine
bushy tail curled over the loins ; and their breadth of
chest, and contour of limb, denoted wonderful strength.
In size the Esquimaux dog equals a mastiff, and is very
compactly built ; the fur is long, and varying in colour,
from grey or greyish-white, to brown, or black, and
some are parti-coloured, black or brown and white.
Crantz, in his ' History of Greenland,' speaking of the
dogs says, " They are so stupid that they cannot be
used in hunting, excepting to drive the bears into a corner
or decoy. They (the natives) use them instead of horses,

ON THE VARIETIES OF THE DOG. 125

harnessing from four to six dogs to a sledge, and in this
pompous figure visit one another, or draw home their
seals over the ice:" a description which 'shows no little
ignorance and want of discernment, but at which, per-
haps, we ought not to be surprised.

Of an allied race of dogs, the black wolf-dog of the
Florida Indians, we are unable to state any thing from
personal knowledge. Colonel H. Smith describes one
which he was enabled to examine in England, and which
was sent from Canada, as- being higher at the shoulder
than a Newfoundland dog (though it was not quite fully
grown), but shorter in the body, and in aspect very like
a wolf, excepting that the eyes were comparatively
nearer the muzzle ; the nose rather sharp, the forehead
broad and rather arched ; the ears erect, pointed, and
open; the tail full, like that of a wolf, hanging down,
not curled, but not much lower [than the heel, no white
hairs at the tip ; the whole animal being glossy black,
excepting a small spot on the breast, and tips of the
fore-toes, white. The length of the hair was that of the
Newfoundland dog, but somewhat finer. The dog was
not vicious ; and was extremely active. We did not, he
says, hear him, but understood that the voice was more
like howling than barking. Colonel H. Smith remarks,
and probably with reason, that this dog is evidently in-
termediate between the original Newfoundland doj? and
the wolf. 6

Of the ordinary dog of the North American Indians
(C. Canadensis, Richardson), and the Techichi, ap-
parently identical with the carrier-dog of Mexico, we
really know very little; and do not presume to say in
what section they ought to stand.

G

126

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

Colonel H. Smith seems to think the former to be
derived from the Caygotte of the Mexican Spaniards
( Cams [Lyciscns] Cagottis) . Respecting the dog of the
North American Indians, we learn from Dr. Richardson
that it is in appearance and size between the Esquimaux
and the Hare Indian dogs, but is less perfectly reclaimed
than either. In their habits these dogs are sneaking
and cowardly, biting at the heel, but never making an
open attack, unless in packs, upon any animal ; and may
be singly put to flight by a little Scotch terrier. They
assemble at night to howl in unison ; particularly when
the moon shines brightly. They are employed in the
chase at certain seasons, and by some tribes of Indians
are used for the purpose of carrying burdens, and also of
draught. Their flesh is eaten both by the natives and
the Canadian voyagers.

The Techichi is a long-bodied, heavy-looking dog,
with comparatively short legs, and smooth close hair ;
the head is large and broad; the ears are erect. In
size this animal equals the European turnspit.

Before leaving the dogs of North America, which we
may regard as indigenous, excepting that the Esquimaux
is very closely allied to the boreal race of Eastern Siberia
and Kamtchatka, we may devote a few observations to
the Hare Indian or Mackenzie River dog, and the rather,
because the only living pair ever imported into Europe
came under our personal notice. This pair was placed
by Sir John Franklin in the gardens of the Zoological
Society, to which institution they were presented ; and
they produced, if we remember rightly, two litters.
They were very gentle, lively, and familiar, not how-
ever without a degree of wildness, for one having been

ON THE VARIETIES OF THE DOG. J 27

Dog of Mackenzie River.

permitted his liberty, was not retaken except after a
great deal of trouble and an arduous chase. Dr. Richard-
son states that in their own climate these dogs are very
playful and affectionate, and soon gained over by kind-
ness : they are fond of being caressed, and when petted
rub their backs against the hand, in the manner of cats.
They speedily become acquainted with strangers, but
are very mindful of injuries, and do not tamely submit
to the lash. When irritated they howl like wolves, but
do not attempt to bark. With all their good properties
these dogs are by no means remarkably docile, and show
but little aptitude for acquiring such arts as are easily
taught to the spaniel. The larger dogs of the country
frequently fall upon and devour them ; yet in proportion

g 2

128 „soa SJffWaSflrSm^QaafT

to their size they possess great muscular strength and
wonderful perseverance. " A young puppy," says Dr.
Richardson, " which I purchased from the Hare Indians,
became greatly attached to me, and, when about seven
months old, ran on the snow by the side of my sledge
for nine hundred miles, without suffering from fatigue.
During the march it frequently, of its own accord, carried
a small twig, or one of my mittens, for a mile or two."
We are sorry to record the fate of this elegant favourite.
It was barbarously killed and eaten by an Indian, who
pretended that he mistook it for a fox. Dr. Richardson
conjectures that this breed was formerly spread over all
the northern parts of America, but that, since the intro-
duction of fire-arms, it has gradually given way to a
mongrel race, sprung from a mixture of it with the
Esquimaux and Newfoundland breeds. When Dr.
Richardson visited the boreal regions of America, it was
only found in the possession of a certain tribe of Indians,
who differed in features, stature, and mode of life from
their neighbours the Esquimaux, as much as the dogs of
the latter did from those of the former. Probably the
pure breed is now extinct.

Leaving the high northern latitudes of the globe, we
still find wolf-like races of dogs, differing in the same
ratio from the boreal dogs as the wolf of temperate or
warm climates does from its boreal representatives, — such
are the dogs used in Persia to guard the flocks of sheep,
such the shepherd's dog of Natolia ; but we must not
suppose that they perform the duties of our shepherd's
dog, which render it so interesting — on the contrary,
they are to be regarded simply as watch-dogs, defending
the flocks from wild beasts and strangers, and conse-

ON THE VARIETIES 0* tttE DOG. 12D

quently are more remarkable for other qualities than sa-
gacity and intelligence. In the East, be it remembered,
the sheep are not driven — they follow the shepherd —
at least in Western Asia, Greece, &c. ; but in our
country the shepherd's dog acts as drover and gatherer
of the sheep together, and takes no little labour from the
shepherd, to whom his dog is of the utmost importance.
Hence, then, various kinds of dogs are used in the East
and in southern and eastern Europe as guards of the
flocks ; the shepherds employ, for example, a large mas-
tiff in Thibet, and in Calabria a white breed of dogs very
similar in appearance to the Newfoundland dog.

In Western Asia the shepherd's dog resembles a wolf
in stature and aspect ; indeed it is so like the deep yel-
lowish red wolf of Natolia, that a friend of Col. H.
Smith absolutely mistook the latter for one of the Turk-
man dogs ; *this was on the occasion of a wolf-hunt,
which renders the circumstance the , more remarkable,
nor was it until his Greek guide called out Lyke ! when
it was too late to fire, that he was sensible of his mistake.
The wolf-like Turkoman or Natolian watch-dog, though
robust, approaches more to the form of the Irish grey-
hound than do the northern wolfish dogs, and may per-
haps be regarded as an intermediate link. It is rugged
and fierce, with erect ears and rather furry tail. Its
jaws are very powerful. This race is used by the Turko-
man hordes as the guardian of their cattle and tents, and
extends from central high Asia to the Bosphorus. It is
also employed in Persia by the wandering tribes for the
same purpose. In the 4 Proceedings of the Zoological
Society,' 1839, p. Ill, there is given a short notice re-
specting a dog of this breed presented to the Society by

130

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

Turkoman Watch-Dog.

Sir John M'Neil : — "It is a shaggy animal, nearly as
large as a Newfoundland, and very fierce and powerful.
The dam of the animal at the menagerie killed a full-
grown wolf without assistance."

An interesting describer of Persia from personal ob-
servation says, relative to the dogs of that country, that
the most common are "strong wolfish-looking animals,
which are so exceedingly fierce to strangers, that when
near the villages guarded by them, I never thought it
prudent to walk about without a heavy stick in my hand,

ON THE VARIETIES OF THE DOG.

131

and never dared approach the villages unless in company
with some of the inhabitants. I certainly never saw
fiercer dogs than these. They are chiefly found among
the people who in summer live in tents, and during
winter in villages. In other places a dog that has some
resemblance to the mastiff is more common, and not
quite so ferocious."

In Natolia a feral race of dogs exists similar to the
race of shepherd or guard dogs, but with a more brushy
tail and pointed muzzle. The fur is rufous grey. These
dogs differ from the wolf in habits, hunting in the open
day in packs of ten or twelve; but unless molested,
never injure man. If, however, they be assaulted, in-
stead of taking to flight, like the wolf of the country,
they hesitate 'not to rush upon the object of their ven-
geance, who is then in great peril. Col. H. Smith re-
lates that in 1819 the son of a lady of his acquaintance,
in company with another midshipman of H. M. ship
[Spartan, went on shore to the plain of Troy attended by
s guides of the country and several seamen. A troop of
i these dogs came down, and were recognised by the
country people, who warned the young officers not to
fire at them ; but midshipmen are not so easily baulked ;
(one fired and missed his object, when the whole pack
came immediately bounding down towards them, and the
[party found it necessary to run for the shore, where the
feral dogs, satisfied with their victory, pursued them no
j farther.

Let us now turn to the shepherd's dog of our own
i! island and the adjacent parts of the continent, which
!i offers several varieties, more or less differing from each
other. One breed from the north is covered with a deep

132 msToay-or taa^osiiT no

woolly coat, capable of felting ; the colour is generally
grey : another breed, that generally depicted, is covered
with long flowing hair, and the tail is full and bushy ;
the colour is in general black, with tanned limbs and
muzzle, varied occasionally by white on the breast. In
both the muzzle is acute, and the ears erect, or nearly so.
There is a third and larger breed, called the drover's
dog, to which we shall allude more particularly.

According toBuffon, the shepherd's dog is the nearest
to the primitive type or original of the domestic dog ;
and he observes that in all inhabited countries, whether
men be partially savage or civilized, dogs resembling this
more than any other are spread : he attributes its pre-
servation to its peculiar utility, and to its being aban-
doned to the peasantry charged with the care of flocks.
In his genealogical tree of the dog it is this which he
places at the root. That BufFon's theory is altogether
fanciful and erroneous every naturalist of the present day
will freely admit ; so far from being the nearest to the
original type of the dog, if great cerebral development
and intelligence are to be received as tests of cultivation,
we must regard the shepherd's dog as one of the most
remote of our breeds. The forehead rises, the top of
the head is arched and broad between the ears, and it is
only in the sharpness of the muzzle, and pointed form of
the erect or semi-erect cars, that we trace the resem-
blance of this dog to any of the less perfectly reclaimed
races ; and these points only indicate purity of breed, un-
alloyed by admixture with other varieties. No other
dogs can be made so useful to the shepherd, and there-
fore the shepherd is interested in the purity of the race.
How this dog can become converted, as Buffon says;

ON THE VARIETIES <0$" THM DOG. 1 33

into the hound in temperate climates, into the grey-
hound and Danish dog in the East, and in the West into
the mastiff and bulldog, is beyond our comprehension;
for ourselves we look upon the shepherd's dog, when
pure, as it is in Scotland and the wild hilly tracts of
Northumberland, Cumberland, Derbyshire, &c, as the
representative of a breed as distinct as that of the terrier
or mastiff. Perhaps even with respect to external aspect
and form, it has undergone, on the whole, less change ;
it has ever been an out-of-door dog, accustomed to the
heat of summer and the cold and snows of winter ; has
known nothing of the luxury of the parlour, or the com-
forts of the stable or kennel. It is unaccustomed to
associate with other dogs than those of its own race, or
with other men than those whom it is destined to serve.
Its powers fof intellect are directed to one object, and
like its masters it is shrewd, prompt, and observant. Its
eye, often overshadowed by shaggy hair, is bright and
sparkling; it understands every signal ; it obeys on the
instant, and manages its work with marvellous tact and
celerity. This done, it returns quietly to its master,
with the air of one conscious of having done his duty.
The shepherd's dog is of middle stature, or rather low in
proportion to its length, slightly but vigorously formed,
and quick and active in its movements. Though not
quarrelsome, it is very courageous, and will resolutely
encounter the fox in defence of the sheep; and though,
unlike the spaniel, it is indifferent to caresses, and distant
towards strangers, yet to its master it is most devotedly
attached. When the labour of the day is over— when the
sheep are folded for the night-it returns with him home
to his humble cottage, and there curls up underneath his

g 3

134 HISTORY OP TH£ BOG.

chair, or sits by his side and partakes of his simple repast.
Where flocks are of large extent, and have to be watched
during the night, and in cases where several hundred
weaning lambs, wild and capricious, demand the care of
the shepherd night and day — when winter storms of
snow come on, and the scattered sheep have to be hastily
collected and brought to a place of security, it is then
that the shepherd feels to the full the value of his dog.
A circuit of miles on the dreary hills or mountain-side,
or over vast and trackless downs, has to be taken, and
that without loss of time ; to the dog is this duty in-
trusted, and well does he perform his office ; not a sheep
belonging to his master's flock is missing — unless, indeed,
any have been stolen or killed — the whole are gathered
together without intermixture with the sheep of other
owners.

The drover's dog, or cur, to which we have already
alluded, though closely allied to the shepherd's dog, is
longer, more muscular, and generally has the hair short,
though in some breeds we have seen it woolly. This
dog is mostly of a" black and white colour, and the tail,
when not purposely cut, appears as if it had been so.
Bewick, who was well acquainted with both the drover's
and the shepherd's dog, speaking of the former, says : —
" Many are whelped with short tails that seem as if they
had been cut, and these are called in the north self-tailed
dogs." The same writer is disposed to consider this
breed as true or permanent, and he informs us that great
attention is paid to the breeding of it. It seems to us,
however, that the drover's dog is in reality a cross be-
tween the shepherd's dog and some other race, perhaps
the terrier. It often partakes largely of the shepherd's

OX THE VARIETIES OF THE DOG.

135

dog, but is taller on the limbs. These dogs bite severely,
and always attack the heels of cattle, so that a fierce
bull is easily driven by one of them. They are singu-
larly prompt and quick in their actions ; and, as all who
have watched them in the crowded, noisy, tumultuous
assemblage of men and beasts in Smithfield must have
observed, they are both highly courageous and intelli-
gent. Bewick says of these dogs : — " They know their
master's fields, and are singularly attentive to the cattle
that are in them. A good dogwatches, goes his rounds,
and if any strange cattle should appear amongst the herd,
he quickly flies, although unbidden, at them, and with
keen bites obliges them to depart." Some years since
we knew a dog of this breed, or rather nearer the shep-
herd's breed, belonging to a farm-servant who had a
Jarge herd of cows under his charge. During the sum-
mer they were depastured on very extensive fields in
Cheshire, communicating with one another. Morning
and evening, at the bidding of his master, this dog would
range the pasturage, collect them together, and gently
drive them to the accustomed milking-place. If when
he had driven them for some distance he discovered that
one was missing, having wandered astray, he would run
back and traverse the fields till he had met with the ob-
ject of his search, which he would conduct to the herd,
and then pursue his ordinary duty.

We have often seen the drover's dogs, at their master's
bidding, single both sheep and cattle from the drove, and
separate them, or drive them to some spot apart from the
rest — we have seen them part the droves of two or more
drovers travelling in company, which have become min-
gled together at a halting-place by the road side, and

136

HISTOEY OF THE DOG.

arrange them in order for continuing the journey — we
have seen them turn back the herd from a forbidden lane
or gateway, or run before and plant themselves in the way
so as to prevent any of the cattle from going astray.
During his long, slow journey from the west or the north
of our island to the great capital, the drover finds his dog
of all-important utility : nor without this assistant could
the crowded cattle in Smithfield Market be at all managed.
We may here remark that an interesting and really valu-
able paper on the Drover and his duties is in the 1 Penny
Magazine,' September 16, 1843.

981

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omsl nobbidtol b moil biorf odj rfoscJ nwoJ mod* ivjsz ovjsrf
^fiw sd) ni aovbamorfi jmsfq fano OTOlod mn 10 ^B'fr-oiBg 10

I ,^iiij«6 ^nio^ moil oljtjso s/fr lo ^rns .HiOYS'tq- ot as oa
rittori sift io fcsyr q>ifj motf ^smooi wol? ,s«o[ ^ahuCT
CHAPTER V.

'hliioo jfljbtsifesjB iuodiw ion zvi'dhu kmhoaitiiAl&'h)

ON THE GREYHOUND GROUP OF DOGS.

We now turn to another group, of which we may take
the greyhound as the type. This beautiful dog is re-
garded by Buffon as the descendant of the French Matin,
but without any solid grounds : indeed it would appear
that the latter was brought into France by the Cimbri or
Franks, whereas we have sufficiently proved that a grey-
hound breed existed in the earliest times in the East, as
the monuments of Egypt declare ; and greyhound races
of great power still exist in Persia and India ; while to
the north of the Caspian we find the great rough grey-
hound of Southern Tartary. It is, Mre suspect, in the
western parts of Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, whence
in ancient times Scythic tribes pushed their way into
Europe, that our greyhound breed had its original seat.
All our old grey hound breeds were rough and wire-haired,
sandy red or brindled ; and at the present day such dogs
are occasionally to be seen.

We may here observe, that three varieties of the grey-
hound, if not four, appear to have long existed — viz. the
wire-haired greyhound, more or less rough in its coat, as
that of Tartary and Eastern Russia ; a silky-haired breed,
as that of Natolia, Persia, and Ancient Egypt ; and a
smooth-haired breed, now common in England, but which

138

HISTOBT OF THE DOG.

was first introduced into France, and subsequently im-
proved by crossings with dogs from Greece, Italy, and
India. Besides these, some of the ancient Egyptian grey-
hounds were smooth with bushy tails, as are the Bedouin
greyhounds of Akaba ; and in Roumelia there now exists
a breed with smooth hair, but with long ears, like those
the spaniel. We think that these various breeds of grey-
hounds took their origin from one primitive stock ; anc
that the most ancient race was of a yellow colour, wire

ON THE GREYHOUND GROUP.

139

haired, and with sharp upright ears. Changes of climate
and various other circumstances would soon produce minor
modifications, and these being sedulously kept up by atten-
tion to breeding, varieties would thenceforward be the
result.

Major Topham (Egan's 1 Sporting Anecdotes') derives
one variety of the English greyhound partly from the
wolf— namely, the wire-haired race ; and he thinks that
as the wolf remained long in the wolds of Yorkshire-—
where, indeed, the last in England was "destroyed — the
long-haired curly-tailed greyhounds, formerly the com-
mon breed of Yorkshire, were of this mixed origin. This
supposition is destitute of all proof : for, in fact, as we
have said, our smooth greyhound is modern-sprung, and
a much smaller and feebler animal than the great rough
greyhound brought westward by the various Indo-Ger-
manic hordes, among which we may enumerate the Celts,
Goths, Vandals, and other nations. We hear of a dog
to which the name of Gazehound was formerly given ;
and Colonel H. Smith ^thinks that this term may apply
more exclusively to the smooth greyhound, "perhaps be-
cause it followed even more exclusively by the eye than
the rough greyhound, and that in time the name gaze-
hound merged in the term of prior establishment. We
know not how far this opinion be correct : it is certainly
far from improbable.

Before pursuing our observations on the greyhound,
we may allude to two dogs which, contrary to the views
of Colonel H. Smith, we regard as forming part of the
group of which the greyhound is the type— viz. the
Great Danish Dog and the French Matin ; the latter of
which, according to BufFon's theory, is the origin of the

140 HISTOHY OF THE DOG.

greyhound. Now, though we do not agree with Buffori^ «
we cannot help seeing in these dogs an approximation to
the greyhound ; and though we would not assert it, we
cannot help thinking that one of these two races of dogs
may have entered into the breed of the wolf-dogs of Ire-
land, and of the boar-hounds of Germany as we see them
represented by the older masters.

' In the great Danish dog and matin the head is long,
the muzzle more or less produced, the ears small and bent
at the tips, the stature tall, the chest deep, the loins I
arched and muscular. The forehead is rather rounder
and the fur smoother in the Danish dog than in the
matin, and the nose rather less prolonged, and pointed.
The Danish dog, when pure, is generally of a slate
colour, with white about the breast and limbs: the matin
is white clouded with brown, or sandy yellow. The
latter was the colour of a noble specimen we saw a few
weeks since, and which we compared to a gigantic grey-
hound of athletic contour and proportions. A few years
since we accidentally saw in one of the streets in Paris a J
dog of the matin race, certainly the largest which we
have ever beheld. It was of a dull black colour, with
white about the chest, and, if we remember rightly, a j
little tan about the limbs : its form and proportions were
admirable, and its aspect noble. We did not measure it,
but are convinced that its height at the shoulders could
not have been less than a yard by more than two or three
inches, and we believe it was fully three feet. So sur- |
prised and struck were we with the dog, though we have
been through the whole of our life accustomed to large
dogs, that we went into a butcher's shop, out of which it
followed its master, to make some inquiries respecting it.

ON THE SXBTHOUro GEOUP. 141

He told us that it came from the foot of the Pyrenees,
and was, he believed, used for the chase, but had no very
definite information to give. We were at the time forci-
bly impressed with the conviction that such an animal
must have been the old Irish wolf-dog ; and we still can-
not help thinking, that though the Irish wolf-dog was
trough, and the one we saw smooth, a rough variety of
perhaps purer blood might have been 'imported by the
Belgae or ancient Scoti from Scythia into Ireland.

The Danish dog, principally to be observed in Den-
mark and Northern Germany, appears to have accompa-
nied the Gothic tribes who in remote ages were led,
according to Scandinavian tradition, by Odin from the
banks of the Dniester to the shores of the Baltic. By
the Visigoths the race may have been carried into Spain ;
and thus it may have been the origin of the feral breed of
Hayti, the emancipated descendants of the war-dogs of
Columbus.

In Sweden this powerful dog was used in the chase of
the elk, upon which it was started in couples, when the
noble beast, roused from its lair by smaller dogs called
elk-finders, took to flight. Quickly, however, did these
dogs overtake the quarry, and keep it at bay till the
hunters came up, or turn it in the direction where they
were posted to receive it. Here, then, we see that the
Danish dog was employed in the chase of the larger
beasts of " venerie and it appears to us that the dogs
depicted by the old German painters attacking the wild
boar were either a rough variety of this kind, or of a
strain between it and the rough greyhound.

With respect to the feral dog of St. Domingo or Hayti,
and which is perhaps identical with the St. Domingo race

142

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

of greyhounds slightly mentioned by Buffon, we know
little excepting from the information given us by Colonel
II. Smith. It appears that there exists an emancipated
race of dogs of large stature in the remote parts of Hayti,
descended from the Spanish war-dogs used in the con-
quest of that island and other parts of the western hemi-
sphere. These dogs occasionally commit great depreda-
tions upon sheep and cattle. Colonel H. Smith describes
the specimen which he saw as equal in stature to the
largest Scottish or Russian greyhound, standing about
twenty-eight inches in height at the shoulder, with the
head shaped like that of the wire-haired terrier ; the eyes
large and light brown ; the ears small and pointed, and
only bent at the tips ; the chest very deep ; the croup
slightly arched ; the limbs muscular, but light ; and the
tail not reaching to the tarsus, and scantily furnished with
long dark hair. The muzzle was black, as well as the
eyelids, lips, and the whole hide ; but the hair generally,
which was short, coarse, and scanty, was of a pale bluish
ash. " The look and motions of this animal at once told
consciousness of superiority. As he passed down the
streets all the house-curs slunk away ; when within our
lodging the family-dog had disappeared, although he had
neither growled nor barked. His master said he was
inoffensive, but requested he might not be touched. The
hair from the ridge of the nose feathered to the right and
left over the eyes, forming two ciliated arches, and the
brows appeared very prominent. We were assured that
he followed a human track on any scent he was laid on,
with silence and great rapidity ; but, unlike the common
bloodhound, it was impossible to prevent his attacking
and seizing his victim. According to the owner, who it

OX THE GREYHOUND GROUP.

143

seemed was the person the Government had employed
to purchase these dogs, the Spanish graziers were equally-
anxious to destroy all the old dogs of the breed they
could find in the country, and to secure all the young for
domestication ; because when bred up on the farms, they
were excellent guardians of the live stock, defending
them equally against their own breed and human thieves ;
and as they attacked with little warning, strangers could
not easily conciliate them by any manoeuvres."

It is some years since we knew a female dog, said by
its owner to be the offspring of the wild race of Cuba, or
St. Domingo (we forget which), closely agreeing with
the individual described by Colonel H. Smith. It was,
however, of a sandy red colour with black lips. The
muzzle was long and somewhat pointed, the ears were
semipendent, the limbs long but powerful, the chest deep,
the loins arched. It was intelligent, but fierce and
active. It had no resemblance in aspect to the wolf or
dingo, and its nose was broader and less elongated than
that of the greyhound, to which in the figure of the body
it bore considerable resemblance. It equalled a large
greyhound in size, but was more athletic. Colonel H.
Smith regards the Molossian race of antiquity as identical
with the Danish dog, or great house-dog of the northern
German nations. The molossi were slate-coloured dogs
(glauci) and prone to barking. We are not so sure of
this identity. The term molossus seems to have been
very vaguely employed. Nor does it appear that the
molossus of the Greeks or Romans was obtained from the
German tribes, whose dogs were used in battle, and were
renowned for courage.

The French matin is supposed to have been brought

144 HISTORY OF THE DOG.

into France either by the ancient Cimbri, a Celtic
nation, who appear to have migrated westwards from the
countries bordering the Sea of Azof ; but it may have
been introduced at a later period by the Franks, — such at
least is the opinion of Colonel H. Smith, who regards it
as immediately related to the Danish dogs. Was it by
these dogs that the tents of the Cimbri were defended
against the soldiers of Marius ?

Albania and Epirus were in former times noted for a
noble race of dogs : now the Chaonian and Molossian
breeds were anciently from Epirus ; but the question is,
what were these breeds ? — certainly not mastiffs. Were
they, as Colonel H. Smith contends, identical with the
great Danish dog and matin ? We are not prepared to
say. In his road from Arta to Joannina, Mr. Ilobhouse
noticed a breed of dogs, not unlike the true shepherd
breed in England, but much larger, being nearly as big
as mastiffs, with sharper heads, and more curled and
bushy tails. Are not these descendants of the old Chao-
nian or Molossian race ?

Colonel H. Smith, who, in his * Introductory Remarks,'
states that the Molossian dog is most probably the source
of the French matin, — subsequently introduces to our
notice a dog which he terms a Suliot dog, and which, he
says, " is most likely the true Molossian of antiquity."
It is one of the largest breeds known ; fierce, coarse in
aspect, rugged in fur, but nearly resembling that of the
large Danish dog. " We never," he continues, " saw
any that had not the ears cropped, and the tail rough
with straggling hair ; they were tan-coloured, with dark-
brown or blackish surfaces on the back and shoulders and
about the ears. In the last war between Austria and the

ON TUP GREYHOUND QROUP. 145

Turks, the Moslem soldiers employed many to guard their
outposts ; and in the course of the campaigns a great
many were captured by the Imperial forces, and secured
by the officers as private property, or adopted by the
corps as regimental pets. One of these was presented to
the King of Naples, and was reputed to be the largest
dog in the world, being little less than four feet high at
the shoulder. We saw one at Brussels marching at the
head of the regiment of Clerfayt, and another belonging
to that of Bender, both little inferior to Shetland ponies."
The learned writer does not tell why he terms these
Suliot dogs. Suli is a district of Southern Albania,
about thirty miles in length and twenty miles in breadth ;
whereas it is very likely that these dogs are natives of
the region north of the Balkan, to Wallachia. In fact
he subsequently identifies this dog with the watch-dogs
of Hungary (which differ principally in their smaller size)
and also of Southern Hungary, and regards the boar-
hounds (Canis Suillus, Gmel.) figured by Redinger as
the same. We have already expressed an opinion that
the old boar-hounds of Germany, if we are to trust to the
figures given by artists, are between the Danish and the
old rough greyhound .

Speaking of the great dog of Albania, which St. Isido-
rus states to have been more powerful than the lion, we
are reminded of Pliny's account of an enormous dog
which was presented to Alexander by the King of Alba-
nia. When brought up the arena in order to combat
with the bear and wild boar, the dog, as if in contempt
of such enemies, quietly reposed in their presence. Alex-
ander, mistaking this apathy for fear, ordered the dog
..to be killed. The King of Albania, on learning the

146 HISTORY OF THE DOG.

circumstance, sent another dog to the conqueror, at the
same time giving him to understand that bears were
too insignificant to merit notice, and that he must be
matched with a lion or elephant in order to the display
of his prowess. Alexander matched the dog against a
lion, and the latter was vanquished. Now, though this
story bears the marks of some misrepresentation, yet it
proves that Albania was the seat of a gigantic and pow-
erful race of dogs, derived most likely from a Gothic
or Celtic root ; whence sprung also the matin and the
Danish. But in these invincible dogs we see little of
the Molossian breed, which Gratius admits to have been
inferior in the combat to the British bulldog. We sus-
pect the Acer Molossus to have been a fierce, noisy,
sharp-eared watch-dog, with no very great share of real
courage or resolution.

If from these dogs we turn to the gigantic greyhounds,
wolf-hounds, or deer-hounds of old, we see in them but
a modification of the form exhibited by the Danish and
matin ; but so far from regarding these as the origin of
the greyhound race, we should rather be inclined to look
upon them as having branched from it, were we not inclined
to the idea that both sprung from some lost or not clearly
known original root. Yet, as among races of mankind,
the separations and readmixtures of which are so nume-
rous and diversified, that he who endeavours to analyse
them becomes bewildered in a maze of confusion, so may
the greyhound and matin races have commingled at one
point, again divaricated and again commingled, till all
attempts to retrace their genealogy is utterly hopeless.
We have already described the characters of the ancient
Egyptian greyhound. Now granting that the Egyptian

OX THE GREYHOUND GROUP.

147

race was as pure from its source as possible, still we do
not see in it those peculiar traits which the wiry or long
and harsh haired greyhound of gigantic size exhibits, and
which must have been acquired from other, sources.

The Persian, Brinjaree, and Grecian greyhounds ap-
pear again to be departures from the ancient Egyptian
greyhound ; — they have silky hair, feathered tails, and
are of large size, especially the Brinjaree dog, which,
however, we believe is not remarkable for velocity. The
Persian greyhound is very handsome. u One of the
finest species of dog I have ever seen," says an interest-
ing writer, " is a sort of greyhound, which the Persians
rear to assist them in the chase. They have generally
long silken hair upon their quarters, shoulders, ears, and
tail, and I think them as handsome and considerably more
powerful and sagacious than our own greyhounds. I
have sometimes seen a spirited horse break loose, and run
away at full speed, when one of these dogs has set after
him like an arrow, and soon getting ahead of him, taken
an opportunity of seizing the bridle in his teeth, which he
held so firmly that, though he was of course not strong
enough to stop the horse, yet, as he was dragged along,
he continued to pull and confine the horse, so as to hinder
him very much, till some person was able to overtake and
secure him."

The greyhound of continental Greece, not to be con-
founded with the great Albanian dog, is of considerable
antiquity ; it is still used for deer-hunting. This, like
the Persian, is often of a slate colour ; though we may
remark, that the Persian greyhounds we have seen were
of a black colour, slightly tanned about the limbs.

In Barbary, in the Greek islands, in Italy, and in

148

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

Southern India, the greyhound is smooth, and it is from
these sources that the smooth race of the British Islands
has been obtained and brought to its present perfection
by selection and judicious breeding. As we have said, it
is probable,' that to the smooth breed the, term gazehound
was formerly limited. It was in the reign of Louis XV.
that the smooth breed was introduced into France.

We now come to the rough wire-haired race of grey-
hounds which still extends from Tartary through Russia
and Hungary to Germany ; and it is to this race of large
stature and great strength that we have to look for the
origin of the celebrated Irish wolf-dog.

Here we may be permitted to quote a passage from the
1 Penny Cyclopaedia, ' which will perhaps throw some
light upon the early history of this dog. The writer of
the article Ireland says, " The Scoti, who were in pos-
session of the island at the time of the introduction of
Christianity, appear to have been to a great extent the
successors of a people whose name and monuments indi-
cate a close affinity with the Belgee (a Teutonic tribe) of
Southern Britain. A people also called Cruithne by the
Irish annalists, who are identifiable with the Picts of
Northern Britain, continued to inhabit a portion of the
island distinct from the Scoti, until after the Christian
mission ; and it is observable that the names of mountains
and remarkable places in that district still strikingly re-
semble the topographical nomenclature of those parts of
North Britain which have not been affected by the Scotic
conquest. The monuments and relics which attest the
presence of a people considerably advanced in civiliza-
tion, at some period in Ireland, such as Cyclopean build-
ings, sepulchral mounds containing stone chambers, mines,

ON THE GREYHOUND GROUP.

149

bronze instruments and weapons of classic form and ele-
gant workmanship, would appear to be referable to some
of the predecessors of the Scoti, and indicate a close affi-
nity between the earliest inhabitants of Ireland and that
ancient people, by some referred to a Phoenician origin,
whose vestiges of a similar kind abound throughout the
south and south-west of Europe. The Scoti were not
builders in stone, at least in their civil edifices, nor did
they use bronze implements. Their own tradition is,
that they came originally from Scythia, by which is meant
the north-eastern part of central Europe ; which appears
to be confirmed by the fact, that the ancient topography
of the country in districts where the Seotic invasion has
hot wholly obliterated it, points at the Welsh language as
the nearest representative of that spoken by the prede-
cessors of the Scoti, and that the chief distinctions
which at present exist between the Irish and Welsh
languages are referable to a Gothic or northern European
source."

From this the writer seems to infer that the Belgae, or
the Irish branch, spoke a dialect similar to the ancient
Welsh ; and that the Scoti were Gothic. Be this as it
may, it appears from Strabo, that a greyhound of great
stature was employed by the Pictisli and Celtic nations
in the chase, and was so highly valued that it was im-
ported into Gaul. Pliny, who details a combat in which
the " Canes Graii Hibernici " distinguished themselves
in combat, first with a lion, then with an elephant, de-
scribes them as greyhounds taller than a mastiff. Silius,
who calls this dog a greyhound, says, that it was im-
ported into Ireland by the Belgae, and is the same with the
renowned Belgic dog of antiquity, and that it was, during

H

150 HISTORY OF THE W8/

the 'days of Roman grandeur, brought to Rome for the
combats of the amphitheatre. Here, then, we have a
renowned Belgic dog, common to the Belgae, Picts, and
Celts, people by whom Ireland was confessedly peopled
either wholly or in part — a dog undoubtedly of the rough
greyhound race, but perhaps crossed with the giant ori-
ginals of the Albanian or old matin stock. It is thus that
we imagine the old breed to have been imported into
Ireland, where its utility would be fully appreciated, and,
moreover, the necessity felt of keeping the strain in per-
fection. It had the wolf to contend with. There can
be no doubt that anciently a wave of colonization flowed
from Ireland to Scotland, bearing thither the invaluable
wolf-dog. Scotland indeed, to which this term is now
exclusively applied, was by the older writers called
Scotia minor, and Ireland, the source of its colonization,
Scotia major, a name applied to it first in the third cen-
tury,* and which continued to the twelfth. The vene-
rable Bede and the Scottish historian both agree that
Scotland received a large influx of population from Ire-
land under the conduct of Reuda ; and the former states,
that even in his own days half of Scotland spoke the
Irish language as their mother tongue. It is then easy
to understand how the Irish wolf-dog was imported into
Scotland, which country at one period might be called
an adjunct to Ireland ; and if we are rightly informed, — for
we confess our ignorance of Celtic or Gaelic dialects, —
Fionn MacCumhaill, the Fingal of Macpherson, whose

* St. Patrick landed in Ireland, as a missionary, in the year
432. The most ancient name is Erin, — Iris, Iernis, Iuvernis,
Hibernia, &c. Over the Ierni or Hiberni the Scoti seem to
have acquired in the fifth century a decided superiority.

on ewe Qwwowm mow. IM

dog Bran (the mountain torrent) is so finely described,
was an Irish chieftain, and Bran was an Irish wolf-dog.
In the disjointed relics of old Celtic poetry, the sources
of Macpherson's ' Ossian,' this dog is renowned for the
chase of the boar and the wolf, and for might and prowess
in the field of battle. It may seem strange, as the wolf
and wild boar existed in England, that this powerful dog
was not introduced into that country, where the passion
for the chase was a marked feature among all classes.
The question arises, was not this dog introduced into
England? We think that it was. In the Saxon times
of England, times involved in more obscurity than many
periods of Roman history, the people were serfs, and the
chiefs, nobles, and princes alone had power. The bond-
slave fed the swine of his master in the woods, and had
strong fierce dogs to aid him against the wolf ; but a breed
so valuable as a wolf-dog of greyhound race would be de-
nied the serf, and reserved only for the sport of the
noble : and as the history of Saxon England is a history
of wars between rival monarchs, and between Saxons
and Danes, any notice of such a dog cannot be expected.
When the Saxon power yielded to the Norman, the
forest laws were more stringent and sanguinary than be-
fore, and the very dogs used by the serfs were so muti-
lated as to prevent their engaging in the chase. Some of
their toes were cut off, or the pad at the base of the toes
removed. The greyhound was permitted to the nobles
and princes alone. The old greyhound of England was
a large rough dog, but inferior to the Irish, which in the
early Norman times was both known in this island and
prized.

Llewellyn, Prince of Wales, was presented by King

h2

152

HISTORY OF Till: DOG.

John with a specimen of this breed ; and in the Welsh
laws of the ninth century we find heavy penalties enacted
relative to the maiming or injuring the Irish greyhound
(Cunis Graius Hibernicus), upon which a value was
set amounting to more than double that on the ordinary
greyhound. England had long been celebrated for dogs
of the bull, mastiff, and hound breeds, useful for ordinary
purposes, a circumstance which would limit the employ-
ment of the Irish wolf-dog more exclusively to the nobles
who could afford to keep up an establishment of the
choicest dogs for their own pleasure, the spread of which
it would be their pride to restrict ; nay more, which none
of inferior rank were allowed to possess. Thus, then,
while a few valued Irish wolf-dogs were in the posses-
sion of the privileged few, the breed would not become
general.

Smith, who, in his ' History of Waterford ' (2nd edi-
tion), describes these dogs as much taller than a mastiff,
but more like a greyhound, and for size and strength
unequalled, adds, " Roderick, King of Connaught, was
obliged to furnish hawks and greyhounds to Henry II.
Sir Thomas Rue obtained great favour from the great
Mogul, in 1615, for a brace of Irish greyhounds pre-
sented by him. Henry VIII. presented the Marquis of
Dessarages, a Spanish grandee, with two gos-hawks and
four Irish greyhounds." In the reign of King Richard
II. " there were still lands held of the crown ; and among
others, by the family of Engaine, upon the condition of
keeping a certain number of wolf-dogs to hunt that
animal." (Col. H. Smith.)

Some naturalists have been inclined to believe that
these so-called greyhounds were not greyhounds at all,

ON THE GREYHOUND GROtJP.

153

but large dogs perhaps of the mastiff breed ; and they
allege that no greyhound is capable of contending with
the wolf, the great strength of which is notorious, as well
as the severity of its bite. We fully agree that no
modern greyhound is capable of contending successfully
with a wolf ; but our slim, delicate, smooth breeds of the
present day are dwarfs to the old rough greyhound of
England, such as was used by Percy at Chevy Chase;
and this breed again, in size, strength, and courage, fell
far short of the Irish race ; which, as we have said, had
in it, not improbably, a cross from the source of the
Danish dog or matin.

That the Irish wolf-dog was essentially a rough grey-
hound, of a sandy yellow, brindled, or white colour, we
have abundant evidence. Holinshed says, respecting
the Irish, " They are not without wolves, and grey-
hounds to hunt them, bigger of bone and limb than a
colt." Evelyn, describing the sanguinary combats of the
bear-garden, says, " The bulldog did exceedingly well,
but the Irish wolf-dog exceeded, which was a tall grey-
hound, a stately creature, and beat a cruel mastiff."
Pennant calls these dogs Irish greyhounds ; and observes,
that they were led to the chase in leather slips or thongs.
He also says that they were scarce.

The following letter, addressed by Deputy Falkland
to the Earl of Cork in 1623, proves the fact, that the
dog in question was a greyhound ; and, moreover, that
the Scottish deer-hound was of the same stock, though
perhaps at that time less pure : — " My Lord, I have
lately received letters from my Lord Duke of Buccleugh,
and others of my noble friends, who have entreated me
to send them some greyhound dogs and bitches out of

*54

iHISTOBYlOB THK IWHT. KO

this kingdom of the -largest sort, which I perceive they
intend to present unto divers princes and other noble
persons ; and if you can possibly, let them be white,
which is the colour most in request here," &c. &c.

In a paper read by Mr. Haffield before the Dublin
Natural History Society about five years since, he cites
the following communication from Sir William Betham,
Ulster king-at-arms, an authority of no slight import-
ance : — " From the mention of the wolf-dogs in the old
Irish poems and stories, and what I have heard from a
very old person long since dead , of his having seen them
at the neale, in the county of Mayo, the seat of Sir John
Browne, ancestor to Lord Kilmaine, I have no doubt
they were a gigantic greyhound. My departed friend
described them as being very gentle, and that Sir J.
Browne allowed them to come into his dining-room,
when they put their heads over the shoulders of those
who sat at table. They were not smooth-skinned, like
our greyhounds, but rough and curly haired. The Irish
poets call the wolf-dog cu, and the common hound
gayer — a marked distinction, the word cu signifying a
champion." tdon £ bnuoi isob

Respecting the stature of these dogs (of which the
females were, as in the greyhound breed generally, much
inferior to the males) we have no definite admeasurements.
Ray notices one of these dogs as the ''greatest dog"
he had ever seen. Goldsmith asserts that he saw seve-
ral, some of which were four feet high ; and, if he means
at the head, we dispute not his assertion. We should
suppose they stood nearly, if not quite, three feet at the
shoulders. Sitting as we now do in our chair, we find
that for a dog of this breed to put his head upon our

ON THE GBEYHOUNU GBOUP. 155

shoulder f himself standings hisJower :jaft»musi);Jh£ Jhree
feet seven inches from the ground.

The decline and extinction of this noble greyhound
breed in Ireland, and its decline, but not total extinction,
in Scotland, are easily accounted for. In the former
island, as the wolf became extirpated the necessity of
keeping up the stock would diminish more and more, till
at last the remnants of the breed would be in the pos-
session of a few only ; nor was there the opportunity of
employing it as a deer-hound ; for, if we mistake not,
few or no herds of wild-deer or red-deer exist in Ireland,
or have existed there — (we speak not of times when the
great cervus megaceros wandered over the hills) — for
many centuries.* Whereas in Scotland, when the wolf
was extirpated, the red-deer still remained the free denizen
of his mountain range. Hence the name of wolf-hound
would merge into that of deer-hound, and the necessity
for keeping up the dog in his original state would cease ;
and a cross with the old rough greyhound would, sooner
or later, take place, with a corresponding degeneracy of
size and muscular power. Thus, though the Scottish
deer-hound is a noble dog, he is not what the Irish wolf-
dog was in his day of power.

Mr. Bell rightly observes, that the figure of Lord
Altamont's so-called Irish greyhound, given by Mr.
Lambert in the 3rd volume of the ' Linnean Transac-
tions,' bears but a slight resemblance to the greyhound
form. The fact is, that Lord Altamont's dogs were
smooth-haired ; and if any of the old wolf-dog blood was

* As one of the causes of the extinction of this dog in Ire-
land, we may notice political embroilments and their sad
results.

156 HISTORY OF THE DOG.

in them, it was obscured by some other cross. Bewick's
figure, now before us, appears to represent a fine dog of
the Danish race. Colonel H. Smith mentions that
Mr. Hamilton Rowan used often to appear in Dublin
with two majestic wolf-dogs : a correspondent in Dublin
informs us that this is a mistake, for he was assured by a
personal friend of Mr. H. Rowan's, that they were
large bloodhounds. The Irish wolf-dog has for many
years ceased to exist ; even the Scottish deer-hound is
rare.

The following authentic narrative respecting the de-
struction of the last wolves in the county of Tyrone,
abridged from a note in the biography of a Tyrone
family published in Belfast, 1829, may prove not unin-
teresting : — " In the mountainous parts of Tyrone the
inhabitants suffered much from the wolves, and gave from
the public fund as much for the head of one of these
animals as they would now give for the capture of a no-
torious robber on the highway. There lived in those
days an adventurer, who,- alone and unassisted, made it
his occupation to destroy these ravagers. The time for
attacking them was in the night, and midnight was the
best time for doing so, as that was their wonted time for
leaving their lair in search of food, when the country
was at rest and all was still ; then, issuing forth, they fell
on their defenceless prey, and the carnage commenced.
There was a species of dog for the purpose of hunting
them, called the Wolf-dog ; the animal resembled a
rough, stout, half-bred greyhound, but was much stronger.
In the county Tyrone there was then a large space of
ground, enclosed by a high stone wall, having a gap at
each of the two opposite extremities, and in this were

ON THE GREYHOUND GROUP.

157

secured the flocks of the surrounding farmers. Still,
secure though this fold was deemed, it was entered by
the wolves, and its inmates slaughtered. The neigh-
bouring proprietors having heard of the wolf-hunter
above mentioned, by name Rory Curragh, sent for him,
and offered the usual reward, with some addition if he
would undertake to destroy the two remaining wolves
that had committed such devastation. Curragh, under-
taking the task, took with him two wolf-dogs and a little
boy only twelve years old, the only person who would
accompany him, and repaired at the approach of mid-
night to the fold in question. ' Now,' said Curragh to
the boy, ' as the two wolves usually enter at the opposite
extremities of the sheep-fold at the same time, I must
leave you and one of the dogs to guard this one, while I
go to the other. He steals with all the caution of a cat,
nor will you hear him, but the dog will, and positively
give him the first fall ; if, therefore, you are not active
when he is down to rivet his neck to the ground with
this spear, he will rise up and kill both you and the dog.
So, good night.'

" ' I '11 do what I can,' said the little boy, as he took
the spear from the wolf-hunter's hand. The boy imme-
diately threw open the gate of* the fold and took his seat
in the inner part, close to the entrance, his faithful com-
panion crouching at his side, and seeming perfectly aware
of the dangerous business he was engaged in. The night
was very dark and cold, and the poor little boy being
benumbed by the chilly air, was beginning to fall into a
kind of sleep, when at that instant the dog with a roar
leaped across him, and laid his mortal enemy upon the
earth. The boy was roused into double activity by the

h3

J'BEESTORT'WTHB BCHE./"

voice of his companion, and drove the spear through the
wolf's neck as he had been directed ; at which time Cur-
ragh appeared, bearing the head of the other."

" I have not," says a writer in the Irish Penny Jour-
nal, " been able to ascertain with certainty the date of
the death of the last Irish wolf; but there was a present-
ment for killing wolves granted in Cork in the year 1710.
I am at present acquainted with an old gentleman be-
tween 80 and 90 years of age, whose mother remembered
wolves to have been killed about the year 1730-40, in
the county of Wexford. And it is asserted by many
persons of weight and veracity, that a wolf was killed in
the Wicklow mountains so recently as 1770."

For several of the above statements respecting the
Irish wolf-dog we have to express our obligations to the
writer of an article in the ' Irish Penny Journal,' 1841,
whose diligent investigations on the subject merit great
praise.

" An eye of sloe, with ear not ]ovr,
With horse's breast, and depth of chest,
With breadth of loin, and curve in groin,
And nape set far behind , the head —
Such were the dogs that Fingal bred."

Translation from the Celtic.

And such, even in these degenerate days, are the
Scottish or Highland deer-hounds, immortalized by the
pen of Sir Walter Scott and the pencil of Landseer.
The courage and energy of these dogs is well depicted
in the following communication from Mr. M'Neil to
Mr. Scrope, which is highly graphic. We must suppose
that after much toil, and many schemes and manoeuvres,
a favourable position is attained. Scene, — the Island of
Jura.

OX THE GREYHOUND GROUP.

159

" The dogs were slipped ; a general halloo burst from
the whole party, and the stag, wheeling about, set off at
full speed, with JBuskar and Bran straining after him.
The brown figure of the deer, with his noble antlers laid
back, strongly contrasted with the light colour of the
dogs, stretching along the dark heath, presented one of
the most exciting scenes that it is possible to imagine.
The deer's first attempt was to gain some rising ground,
to the left of the spot where we stood, and rather behind
us ; but being closely pursued by the dogs, he soon
found that his only safety was in speed, and (as a deer
does not run well up hill, nor, like a roe, straight down
hill) on the dogs approaching him, he turned, and almost
retraced his footsteps, taking, however, a steeper line of
descent than the one by which he ascended. Here the
chase became most interesting : the dogs pressed him
hard, and the deer getting confused, found himself sud-
denly on the brink of a small precipice about fourteen feet
in height — from the bottom of which there sloped a
rugged mass of stones. Here he paused a moment, as if
afraid to take the leap ; but the dogs were so close that
he had no alternative. At this time the party were not
) above 1 50 yards distant, and most anxiously waited the
i result, fearing, from the ruggedness of the ground below,
1 that the deer would not survive the leap. They were,
; however, soon relieved from their anxiety — for though
j| he took the leap, he did so more cunningly than gal-
lantly— dropping himself in the most singular manner,
so that his hind legs first reached the broken rocks
I below ; nor were the dogs long in following him.

Buskar sprang first; and, extraordinary to relate, did not
I lose his legs. Bran followed, and, on reaching the

160

HISTORY OP THE DOG.

ground, performed a complete summerset ; he soon, how-
ever, recovered his legs ; and the chase was continued in
an oblique direction, down the side of most rugged and
rocky brae, the deer apparently more fresh and nimble
than ever, jumping through the rocks like a goat, and
the dogs well up, though occasionally receiving the most
fearful falls. From the high position in which we were
placed, the chase was visible for nearly half a mile.
When some rising ground intercepted our view, we
made with all speed for a higher point ; and on reaching
it we could 'perceive that the dogs, having got upon
smooth ground, had gained upon the deer, who was still
going at speed, and were close up with him. Bran was
then leading, and in a few seconds was at his heels —
and immediately seized his hock with such violence of
grasp as seemed in a great measure to paralyse the limb,
for the deer's speed was immediately checked. Buskar
was not far behind ; for soon afterwards, passing Bran,
he seized the deer by the neck. Notwithstanding the
weight of the two dogs, which were hanging to him —
having the assistance of the slope of the ground, he con-
tinued dragging them along at a most extraordinary rate,
in defiance of their utmost exertions to restrain him, and
succeeded more than once in kicking Bran off." All his
efforts, however, were in vain — the terrible struggle for
life succeeded, and the gallant deer sank quivering in
death. — (Scrope's Deer-Stalking.)

The following picture, worthy of Landseer's pencil, is
by W. Scrope, Esq.: 'Art of Deer-Stalking.'— The
hart, wounded by the cautious deer-stalker, has darted
away, — the dogs are slipped: — "Away they go over
moss and rock, steep and level, in and out of the black

ON THB< GREYHOUND GROUP.

161

mire, unto the foot of a hill, which they ascend with
slackened pace. Up the nearest eminence runs one of
the hunters, and with levelled glass endeavours to watch
their course. The deer-stalker, at his topmost speed,
1 follows the chase, listening anxiously as he runs for the
bark of the dogs, significant of their having brought the
stag to bay. The wished-for voices soon break upon
him; he redoubles his speed, and a sudden opening
being entered, there is the magnificent creature, standing
on a narrow projecting ledge of rock, within the cleft,
in the middle course of the mountain cataract, the rocks
closed in upon his flanks, bidding defiance in his own
mountain-hold ! On the very edge of the precipice the
dogs are baying at him furiously ; one rush of the stag
will send them down the chasm into eternity; yet in
their fury they seem wholly unconscious of their danger.
Delay would now be fatal ; the stalker creeps cautiously
round to the nearest commanding spot ; every moment is
precious ; yet the least carelessness on his part, that
should reveal his presence to the deer, would cause the
latter to break bay, and in all probability precipitate the
Ifate of the dogs. Meantime the stag, maddened by their
ivexatious attacks, makes a desperate stab at one of them ;
! which the dog, endeavouring to avoid, retreats back-
wards— loses his footing, — his hind legs slip over the
• precipice — he is lost! — No! he struggles courageously,
his fore feet holding on by the little roughnesses of the
'bed of the torrent. He rises a little, but slips back
again — he gasps painfully — but summons up all his
strength and resolution for one last effort ! Hurra ! the
gallant dog has recovered his footing ; and, not taking
breathing time, rushes at the hart as rash and wrathful

162

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

as ever ! The stalker is now ready on a mount over-
looking the seene; he levels, but a sudden movement
brings the dogs within the scope of the gun. Three
times is the aim taken and abandoned ;— a fourth — crack !
the ball is in the deer's head — he drops heavily into the
splashing waters."

In the art of deer-stalking, however, the dog plays a
comparatively subordinate part ; the stalker trusts rather
to the unerring accuracy of his rifle, than to the speed
and prowess of his canine followers. Hunting the deer
with large greyhounds was formerly a favourite diversion
in England. Queen Elizabeth was gratified by seeing
on one occasion, from a turret, sixteen deer pulled down
by greyhounds, upon the lawn at Cowdry Park, in
Sussex.

The modern smooth-haired greyhound is a very ele-
gant dog ; remarkable for its extreme velocity, in which
it is, we believe, superior to the rough-haired dogs of
the olden time, though not to some of the modern rough
greyhounds, in which a cross of the old rough breed or
Scottish deer-hound prevails. No greyhounds used for
the hare equal in speed and endurance those of our
island ; and none, so improved of late years is the breed,
equal them in symmetry; every action is light, easy,
and elegant, yet firm and vigorous. The greyhound is
highly sensitive, and very good-tempered ; like the Irish
wolf-dog, it is peaceable and affectionate ; and fierce only
in the chase of its quarry, or wrhen excited to combat.
On one occasion only have we ever seen a greyhound
fight with another dog ; and in that instance the animal,
a roughish brindled dog, was set upon by a large dog of
a mongrel mastiff breed, and forced to self-defence.

OXo5D£KE SHi:YH)OIIJr®r©05K)UP.

Short indeed was the combat— in a lew seconds the
aggressor sunk severely torn, and was taken away. Slim
as these dogs are, their muscular powers are very great ;
like the race-horse, they are compact of iron muscle and
ivory bone, with no superfluous fat or loose cellular
tissue, and are consequently deceptive to the eye, which
is in general accustomed to see strength conjoined with
massiveness. Yet we have but to consider the chest,
loins, and limbs of a greyhound, and regard the " tori"
of the arms and thighs, to feel assured of the possession
of great power. The smooth greyhound, or gazehound
of the older writers, follows exclusively by the eye —
whereas all the old rough breeds could recover the track
of the game by the powers of smell ; but in the modem
dog every quality is sacrificed to fleetness — and certainly
for sudden and violent bursts of exertion the present
breed has never been equalled. Many trials for ascer-
taining the speed of the greyhound have been under-
taken ; and Daniel's opinion seems to be on the whole
correct, viz. that on flat ground a first-rate race-horse
would be superior to the greyhound ; but that in a hilly
country the greyhound would have the advantage. Much ,
however, in the latter case would depend upon the dog
being habituated to hilly districts ; for a greyhound ac-
customed only to flat plains, though swifter on them
than a Yorkshire greyhound, would yield to the latter in.
a hilly country.

The hare and the greyhound seem to be well matched';,
the swiftness of both animals is astonishing, and a well-
contested run is an animating sight. Daniel records the
circumstance of a brace of greyhounds in Lincolnshire
running a hare from her seat to where she was killed, a

distance measuring m: strait Jii^<i*pwards of four miles,
in twelve minutes ; but as there were a, great many turns
during the course, the actual distance was considerably
more. The hare ran herself to death before the grey-
hounds touched her.

From the impetuosity with which the greyhound runs,
and the consequent difficulty of suddenly stopping, it is
liable to accidents from various causes, — as from precipi-
tating itself down steep quarries of stone or sand — from
coming in collision with banks of earth, walls, and the
like ; ^and instances are known of the concussion pro-
ducing^instant death.

The etymology of the word greyhound has been much
disputed. Some suppose it to be derived from Graius
(Grecian) because this dog was in high esteem among
the Greeks. Caius regards the name as implying rank
among its race — " quod prsecipui gradus sit inter canes."
Others refer it to the Dutch, griip-hund ; from grypen,
to gripe. Mr. Whitaker draws the name from the an-
cient British grech or greg, a dog — and this last is pro-
bably the true origin, — though Mr. Bell seems to think
the term* simply alludes to the prevailing colour of the
ancient breed. The query is, was it grey ? — We think
not ; and believe sandy red, brindled, pale yellow, and
wrhite, with black-tipped ears and black muzzle, to have
been the-prevailing colours.

The Italian greyhound, so well known as an elegant
attendant of the parlour, need not be particularly de-
scribed. It is a most beautiful and affectionate little dog,
of very nervous temperament — and so delicate as to bear
our climate with difficulty.

With respect to the lurcher, it appears to us to be a

m

mongrel breed between the rough greyhouhd and the
shepherd's dog. Bewiek, who figures and describes it,
says, that it is less and shorter than the greyhound, with
stronger limbs ; its body is covered with a coat of rough
hair, commonly of a pale yellow colour ; its aspect is
sullen, and its habits, whence it derives its name, are
cunning and insidious. At the same time it must be
confessed that this dog is very attached to its master,
displays most extraordinary intelligence, and is trained
with great facility. As it possesses the advantage of a
fine scent, it is often nefariously employed during the
night-time in the capture of game ; the more especially
as it works silently, never giving tongue. When taken
to the warren, it steals along with the utmost caution,
creeps upon the rabbits while feeding, and darts upon
them in an instant ; it waylays them as they return to
their burrow, where it is ready to seize them, and then
brings its booty to its master. Bewick knew a man who
kept a pair of these dogs, and who confessed that at any
time he could procure in an evening as many rabbits as
he could carry home. This dog- is equally expert at
taking hares, partly by speed, but more by cunning
wiles. It will drive partridges to the net with the ut-
most circumspection and address ; and will even seize
and pull down a fallow deer, and, leaving it disabled,
return to its master and guide him to the scene of its
exploits.

The true lurcher is not so often to be seen as formerly ;
it is essentially a poacher's dog, so that any person
known to possess one becomes a suspected character.

We may here observe, that it was customary in Eng-
land to protect the fierce rough greyhound-like dogs

166

HISTORY O^^THB DOG.

used in the boar-hunt with a sort of armour. On some
ancient tapestry in Haddon Hall, Derbyshire, is repre-
sented a variety of field-sports, and particularly a boar-
hunt, in which the dogs are defended by a sort of
doublet closely laced on and studded with metallic
points.

uian omofe Hord e^oh

vj

't

-DOG. (aHT^lT* YjfcoTSIH

amog n() . moons 1o jio?: & d*fw Jnud-njod srii m boetu
-«nq<n pa ,?nid*y4i3<I ;tIUiJ nobbsH lii ^ieeqjJt Jnsbnjs:
-iBO'.I t» (riteluofrroq bn£ ^ttoqa-bforl 3o ^iaiw £ fotiwa
lb rtofe « ^d bobwteb 91b agofo 3dJ fbrdw ni ,iw»d
CHAPTER VI.

ON THE CALABRIA N AND NEWFOUNDLAND GROUP
OF DOGS.

We now come to a group of dogs which some naturalists
have regarded as spaniels, but which we think form a
section by themselves ; we allude to the Italian wolf-

|dog, the Newfoundland dog, &c. These dogs certainly
are not spaniels : in size and strength they equal the

■mastiff, while their intelligence and the general expres-
sion of the physiognomy, together with the form of the

'ears and muzzle, show their remoteness from the wolfish
breed of dogs spread through the boreal regions.

Of the dogs of this section, we may first notice the
Calabrian wolf-dog, or dog of the shepherds of the
Abruzzi. These dogs are used by the shepherds of

I Calabria as guardians of the sheep, and are very beauti-
ful. In general aspect they resemble the Newfoundland,

ibut are scarcely so large ; the general coat is long and

.silky, and the tail is thickly and deeply fringed ; the
ears of moderate size, pendent, but not floccose or fringed ;

ithe colour is generally white. Some time since a fine
pair of these dogs were living in the Gardens of the

I Zoological Society; they were gentle and good-tem-

ji pered. In the mountains during the summer these dogs
are of great service, for the wolves are abundant; nor

i are they less important during the winter, when the

168

HISTORY Or THE DOG.

UP

Abruzzezi shepherds conduct their flocks from the moun- i
tains to the vast plain of Apulia, there to remain till the ip
spring. An anonymous writer well acquainted with sa
Calabria thus describes the plain of Apulia, during the ol
winter sojourn of the Abruzzezi : — " Large sheds and
low houses, built of mud and stone, that look like stabling, g
exist here and there on the plain, and have either been lb
erected by the great sheep proprietors, or are let out to p
them at an easy rate by the factors of the tavogliere. i
Other temporary homesteads are erected by the shep- h
herds themselves, as they arrive, and a few pass the It
winter in tents covered with very thick and dark coarse d
cloth, woven with wool and hair. The permanent houses a
are generally large enough to accommodate a whole so-
ciety of shepherds ; the temporary huts and tents are ^
always erected in groups, that the shepherds of the same I
flocks may be always near to each other. The sheep- I
folds are in the rear of the large houses, but generally I
placed in the midst of the huts and tents. On account 8
of the wolves that frequently descend from the moun- c
tains and commit severe ravages, they are obliged to jl
keep a great number of dogs, which are of a remarkably s
fine breed, being rather larger than our Newfoundland,* ji
very strongly made, snowy white in colour, and bold
and faithful. You cannot approach these pastoral ham- i
lets, either by night or day, without being beset by these
vigilant guardians, that look sufficiently formidable when
they charge the intruder, as often happens, in troops of|
a dozen or fifteen. They have frequent encounters with

* Those we have'seen were scarcely so large as a Newfound- |i
land of moderate stature, and far less than the more gigantic j
specimens occasionally to be met with.

THE CALABRIAN AND NEWFOUNDLAND. 169

he wolves, evident signs of which some of the old cam-
signers show in their persons, being now and then
adly torn and maimed. The shepherds say that two
•f them of the right sort are a match for an ordinary
volf." Perhaps two of these dogs might be a match for
wolf, but we are very sure that a single dog would not
>e able to endure the combat. They have always ap-
)eared to us to want that lacerating gripe of jaw for
vhich the Irish wolf-dog was, and the Highland deer-
lound is, so remarkable; nor have they that terrible
enacity of tooth characteristic of the mastiff and bull-
log. It appears, however, that numbers act in concert,
,nd thus deter the wolf from making his assault.
| In the present group we place, provisionally, the
Upine or St. Bernard's dogs, so celebrated for the ser-
ices which they render to mankind, and to which they
re trained by the worthy monks of the Hospice of St.
Bernard. To the honour of these excellent men be it
poken, that while others have trained the dog for the
ombat, for the battle-field, for the chase of the naked
.ndian, or the capture of the runaway slave, they have
vailed themselves of the power, courage, intelligence,
nd fine scent of the dog, in rescuing the unhappy tra-
eller from the horrors of death amidst the snows of the
noun tains.

It would appear that dogs of more than one race are
rained by the monks to the labour of mercy. Those
vhich we have seen were equal in size to the largest
aastiff ; the muzzle was deep, the ears pendulous, the
ur rather longer than in a true close-haired dog and
omewhat wiry, and the form of the body and limbs in-
licative of very great strength. The colour of one

170 HISTORY OF THE DOG.

■which struck us for size and noble aspect was sandy red
or tawny, with the muzzle black. Colonel H. Smith
says that one race is closely allied to the Newfoundland
in form, stature, hair, and colours, with the head and
ears like that of a water-spaniel ; but that the other has
close short hair, more or less marked with grey, liver-
colour, and black clouds betraying an intermixture with
the French matin or great Danish dogs. The proba-
bility is that more attention is paid to the] strength and
intelligence of these dogs, than to the maintenance of
the breed in purity, if indeed there ever was purity of
breed in the stock. We believe that the short-haired
breed is now exclusively, or almost exclusively, used—
the old Newfoundland-like race being nearly if not quite
extinct.

The convent of the Great St. Bernard is situated near
the top of a mountain of that name, near one of the most
dangerous passes of the Alps between Switzerland and
Savoy. In these elevated regions sudden snow-storms
often overtake the bewildered traveller, rendering the
pass impracticable, or its traces so deceptive, that, after
floundering through deep snow-drifts, his powers give
way, and he sinks benumbed and ( torpid ; often the
thundering avalanche is heard, now at a distance, now
more near among the rocks, as it tears its way into the
valley, carrying trees and vast crags before it ; often has
the traveller held his breath, and moved along silently
as a ghost, lest the slightest vibration of the atmosphere
should loosen the strong masses of ice and hardened
snow impending above him, ready on the instant to
sweep him to destruction. Often in the midst of these
horrors is the traveller benighted ; vain are his efforts ;

THE CALABRIA**

he thinks of home, and all he holds dear ; but soon his
mind wanders, — the cold is at his heart, — irresistible
torpor overpowers him, — and all is oblivion.

" 'Tis sweet to hear the honest watch-dog's voice
Bay deep-mouthed welcome as we draw near home."

! But, oh, how sweeter to the ear of the despairing tra-
veller sounds the deep bark of the dog of St. Bernard
through the storm and darkness, proclaiming succour at
hand. It is during such seasons that these dogs are sent
forth, generally in pairs, one carrying a flask of spirits
attached to his neck, the other laden with a cloak for the
use of the unfortunate. If the man can walk, they con-
duct him towards the convent, and by loud barking give

! warning of their return, and call for assistance ; if the
traveller be insensible, they hasten for succour, and

i guide the monks to the spot. So keen is their sense of

I smell, that though the perishing man lie buried beneath
the snow-drift to the depth of several feet, they will not
pass by the spot, — he has yet a chance of escape ; — they

I dig away the snow with their feet-*-they make their
voices resound, and exert themselves to the uttermost in
his behalf ; — and even if life be extinct, their discovery
of the body is not without bringing some degree of con-
solation to the sufferer's friends and relatives. Nor are the
duties of these dogs devoid of danger to themselves ;

| many have perished in endeavouring to save the perish-
ing. One noble animal, who thus met his fate, was
decorated with a medal, in commemoration of having
saved the lives of twenty-two persons, who, but for his
sagacity, must inevitably have perished : many travellers
who visited the Continent after the peace, saw this dog,
and heard from the monks the details of his extraordinary

172 .aXAJax»J33rc®Y<tW>TH«IBS*,lA J AUT

Gaareeiv It was in the winter of 1816 that a Piedmontese
courier, during a dreadful storm, arrived at the Hospice
of St. Bernard ; he was on his way to the little village
of St. Pierre, in the valley beneath the mountain, where
dwelt his wife and children. It was not without ex-
treme labour and difficulty that he had made his way to
the Hospice j but the thoughts of home rose painfully in
his bosom ; — he must, he would proceed. In vain the
monks depicted the dangers of the way ; — in vain they
remonstrated and implored. He could not bear the tor-
ture of absence ; — his resolution was not to be shaken.
At length, as a last resource, the monks gave him two
guides, each accompanied by a dog, of which one was
the noble bearer of the medal. They set forth on their
way down the mountain. In the mean time the anxious
family of the poor courier, alarmed at his long absence,
commenced the ascent of the mountain, in hopes of

Dog of Mount St. Bernard.

THE C ALA BRIAN AND NEWFOUNDLAND. 173

meeting him, or obtaining some information respecting
him. Thus at the moment he and his guides were de-
scending, his family were toiling up the icy steep,
crowned with the snows of ages. A sudden crackling
noise was heard, and then a thundering roar echoing
through the Alpine heights — and all was still. Courier,
and guides, and dogs, and the courier's family were at
the same moment overwhelmed by one common destruc-
tion ; — not one escaped. Two avalanches had broken
away from the mountain pinnacles, and swept with im-
petuous force into the valley below.

We have seen a French print, representing a dog of
St. Bernard (of the Newfoundland appearance) bearing a
child upon his back to the gate of the Hospice. Accord-
ing to the account given, the child, whose mother had
been destroyed by an avalanche, was found unhurt by the
dog, and induced by the sagacious animal to mount upon
his back, and was thus conveyed to a place of safety.
With respect to the Newfoundland dog, it appears to
ij us that there are several breeds which are included under
j this denomination. We have already alluded to a smooth,
sharp-nosed, intelligent dog, which appears to be the
ordinary race of the islands ; but there is also another
breed, with long hair and a long full-fringed tail, of mo-
| derate stature, compactly made, very muscular, and of a
i black colour. The dogs known in England as New-
foundlands are generally of larger stature, rough, rather
loosely made, and apt to be weak in the loins and hinder
quarters. A dog of this latter kind, one of the finest of
its' race, formerly in the possession of a gentleman of our
acquaintance, was brought from Labrador : its admeasure-
ments were as follows : total length, including the tail,

i

174 HISTORY OF TUB DOG.

six feet three inches ; height at the shoulder, two feet
six inches ; length of head from occiput to point of nose,
eleven inches; circumference of chest, three feet one
inch. In Labrador these large dogs are used in drawing
sledges loaded with wood, and are of great service to the
settlers.

In Newfoundland the dogs are employed in drawing
sledges laden with fish, wood, and other articles ; and
are of considerable importance from their strength and
docility. They are admirable water-dogs, make first-
rate retrievers, and will boldly tear their way through
the thickest and roughest covers of bramble, thorn, or
furze, and persevere in the recovery of the game with
great resolution. To the wrater-fowl shooter amidst fens,
reedy lakes, and morasses, they are of the greatest assist-
ance. The aptitude evinced by the Newfoundland dog
in taking to the water, and the courage, devotion, and
skill which it manifests in the rescue of persons drowning,
are too well known to be insisted upon ; and numerous
are the instances on record in which man has owed his
life to the intrepidity of this faithful dog. Among others
we find the following, to our surprise, narrated by M.
E. Blaze, and which we know to be substantially true,
but which we did not know had ever found its way into
print: — Mr. William Phillips was on a visit at Ports-
mouth, for the sake of sea-bathing; and on one occasion,
having ventured out too far, was in imminent danger of
drowning. His two daughters, perceiving the'danger lie
was in, were anxious to send out a boatjto his assistance ;
but the boatmen, taking advantage of theirj alarm and
feelings, began to magnify the importance of their ser-
vice, and demanded an enormous sum. During this con-

THE CALABlttAN" AND NEWFOUNDLAND. 175

ference the unfortunate gentleman was in great extremity,
and had barely strength to keep himself up, when sud-
denly a Newfoundland dog made his appearance, and,
gallantly dashing into the water, swam out boldly to the
assistance of the gentleman, whom he succeeded in bring-
ing safely to shore. This dog belonged to a butcher's
man. Mr. P., filled with gratitude, bought the animal
on the spot for a hundred guineas. Every year, on the
4th of October, he celebrated his deliverance, surrounded
by his family— and to the dog was assigned the place of
honour at the table, with a good ration of beefsteaks.
Mr. P. had a beautiful picture executed, representing
the scene and circumstances of his deliverance : this was
engraved, and all his friends were presented with a copy.
On all his table-linen, napkins, &c, made expressly for
him in Ireland, this picture was worked in the tissue,
with this legend, " Virum extuli mari."*

A few weeks ago the following appeared in the ' Com-
merce/ and was copied into several of the English news-
papers : — » Ten Newfoundland dogs have been imported
into Paris, for the purpose of watching the banks of the
Seine ; and experienced trainers are every day employed
in teaching these magnificent animals to draw from the
water stuffed figures of men and children. The rapidity

* To this narrative we may add the following corrections
from our relative, Jb. Phillips, Esq., Staffordshire :— « The
account you have extracted is in the main correct; the hun-
dred guineas given for the dog were only five. The 'picture
which was painted by Morknd, and engraved by Bartolozzi!
is only the dog on the beach couchant, and the sea and a rock
or two without any other object. I do not remember the anni-
versary, though that might be, as the dog died when I was
very young; I remember well riding on his back once. He
was a dog of dogs!"

I 2

with which they cross and re-crosis the river, and come
and go at the voice of their trainer, is truly marvellous.
It is to be hoped that these fine dogs, for whom hand-
some kennels have been erected on the bridges across
the Seine, will render great services to the cause of
humanity."

The Newfoundland dog is very noble, and generally
as brave as he is powerful : nor is he, in general, apt to
show ill temper or moroseness. We have, however,
known dogs of this breed spoiled by confinement ; and
we have met with several which, contrary to the general
rule, have been extremely capricious, and have attacked
with great ferocity persons familiar with them : we have
known them attack strangers in the public roads — and,
indeed, while the writer was passing along the road a
short time since, a dog of this breed approached him, and,
erecting its hair, turned upon him with a deep growl and
menacing aspect, and would undoubtedly have commenced
a furious onset, had it not been peremptorily called off by
the person in charge of it. We know an instance also of
a lady, with a fur muff and tippet, being attacked in the
street by a Newfoundland dog, which tore her furs to
pieces. But these are exceptions to the rule : for the
Newfoundland dog is very intelligent, sagacious, and
gentle ; and as a house-dog or protector of property is as
valuable as the mastiff.

The Newfoundland dog, or " Chien de Terre-Neuve,"
is not, in our opinion, an aboriginal of that island, or of
the Labrador country : we consider it to be of European
extraction ; though we will not deny that it may have
been'modified by a cross with some of the Esquimaux or
other breeds of American dogs. It is now well proved

THE CALAKMAW A#» ifS#WttiDLANI>.

m

wegians, who, before the year 1000, sailed on a voyage
of discovery from Greenland ; and that, during the tenth
and eleventh centuries, the Northmen discovered and
visited various parts of North America (Lond. Geogr.
Journal, vol. viii.). In 1497, after being forgotten, New-
foundland was re-discovered by John Cabot, then in the
service of England, who gave it the name it now bears
(inclusive of the adjacent parts of the continent, which
have since received other appellations). Immediately
after Cabot's discovery, numerous private adventurers
proceeded to the spot; and as early as the year 1500
the fishery was carried on by French, Portuguese, Bis-
cayans, and other people. It is perhaps to the European
settlers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that
the introduction of the original stock of the Newfound-
land dog is owing — unless, indeed, we may venture to
assign it to the Norwegians. The Norwegian peasants
in the mountains, where wolves and bears are abundant,
possess, at the present time, dogs closely resembling the
Newfoundland, which they arm with collars set with iron
spikes, as a means of protection against the wolves, which
frequently attack them, and endeavour to seize them by
the throat. It is remarkable that the bear usually retreats
before these dogs, which is not the case with the wolf.
Wolf-hunting in winter is a favourite amusement in Nor-
way ; and in many districts these ravenous animals are
extremely numerous, and commit terrible depredations.

CHAPTER VII.

OX THE SPANIEL RACES OF THE DOG.

We may now pass to that section of* dogs in which the
Spaniel, the rough Water-dog, the Poodle, and the
Setter are included. These dogs, whichTorm, we think,
a very natural group, are all remarkable for intelligence,
docility, and their affectionate disposition. Their fur is
long and silky, sometimes crisped ; the ears are large and
pendent ; and the expression of the countenance is spi-
rited, yet gentle and pleasing : all are endowed with the
powers of scent in high perfection ; and many — as the
cocking-spaniel, the water-spaniel, the rough water-dog,
and the setter — are valuable to the sportsman.

The true spaniel breed is divided into many sub-
varieties, derivable from a stock of great antiquity, and
which appears to have been prized by the Romans. Of
these in our country the most conspicuous are the ordi-
nary spaniel, the cocker or cocking-spaniel, used for
covert and woodcock shooting, and the large and small
water-spaniel. Besides these, are the Blenheim and King
Charles's breed of spaniels, celebrated for their beauty.
The author of the ' Sportsman's Cabinet ' states that the
race of dogs passing under the denomination of spaniels
are of two kinds, one of which is considerably larger than
the other, and is known by the appellation of the spring-
ing-spaniel, as applicable to every kind of game in any

THE SPANIEL RACES.

179

country; whilst the smaller is called the cocker or
cocking-spaniel, as being more adapted to covert and
woodcock shooting. If this statement be correct, writers
have erred in applying the name of springer to a small
breed, generally red and white, with a black nose and
palate ; and we cannot well distinguish between the com-
mon and the small water-spaniel. The fact is, that the
breeds of spaniels are as multitudinous as fanciers please
to make them, and, consequently, very indefinite : and
between the elegant Blenheim breed, with abbreviated
nose, large full dark eyes, high forehead, and round
head, with ample, full-fringed ears, and the spaniel of
the sportsman, there are numerous grades of variation.
We say nothing of mongrels.

The spaniel of the sportsman, the small water-spaniel
of Bewick — the springer of the author of the ' Sports-
man's Cabinet ' (but not the springer of Bewick) — is
celebrated for its intelligence and good disposition. It
is active and hardy, and readily takes to the water : it is
easily broke in to the gun. " A good spaniel," says an
old author, uis a great jewel:" it should range well,
never above twenty yards from the gun ; chase neither
fur nor feather, and never give tongue : but sport with
the spaniel requires a quick and sure shot, and the dog
is soon discouraged if an unpractised hand disappoint its
expectations. A well-bred spaniel is, in fact, devoted
to the sportsman, and will even leave its master for a
time to render serviee to a stranger. " I was shooting
one day," says M. Blaze, "at the lake of Saclai, near
Versailles ; my friend Guillemard was with me, or rather
I was with him, for he had permission to shoot wild
ducks on the preserve. Guillemard had no dog. ' Mine

180 HISTORY OF THE DOG.

ur (".'•"■//oft .vo{, 6 j;i t/f^HBO 9tJ o3 rr.n rifotf £ >c
will serve for both,' said I, in setting off. At the first

shot we saw a fine spaniel run up at full speed: he
plunged into the water, and, caressing M. Guillemard,
seemed to say — Here I am at your service ; amuse me,
and I will amuse you. We pursued our sport all the
day, and the dog proved excellent. M. Guillemard said
to me — * I have got a fair godsend ; it is a lost dog ; if
no one reclaims him, I will keep him. He is admirable
as a sporting-dog, and is most acceptable to me.' No
one appeared to own him : but the sport over, off he set
at full gallop, and we saw him no more. I spoke of the
circumstance- to M. Germain, the sworn guard of the
water : < Sir,' said he to me, * that dog belongs to a
sportsman living two leagues distant, who is at present
laid up with the gout : he knows that persons come to
shoot here every Sunday, and on that day regularly
makes his appearance. Having done duty for the first
sportsman whom he meets, he returns to his master.' "

Mr. Yarrell, in his admirable work on British fishes,
quotes the following account of the aquatic skill of a
spaniel, from the MS. of the late Colonel Montagu : —
" Mr. Popham, of Littlecot, in the county of Wilts, was
famous for a trout fishery. They were confined to a cer-
tain portion of river by grating, so that a fish of moderate
size could not escape. To the preserving and fattening
these fish much trouble and expense were devoted, and
fish of seven and eight pounds' weight were not uncom-
mon. A gentleman at Lackham, in the same county,
had a favourite water-spaniel that was condemned to suf-
fer death for killing all the carp in his master's ponds,
but was reprieved at the desire of Mr. Popham, who took
charge of him, in the belief that so shy and swift a fish

THE SPANIEL RACES. 181

.OCKi 3HT lO YflO 31 It 08 f

as a trout was not to be caught by a dog. However, in
this he was mistaken, for the dog soon convinced him
that his largest trout were not a match for him." Mr.
Stoddart also, in his ' Scottish Angling' (p. 119), has
recorded the propensities of a fish-catching dog.

The springer appears to us, if indeed we must distin-
guish between it and the spaniel, to be merely a lighter
and smaller variety ; it is generally red and white, with
long silky hair and large ears, and with the nose black
or mulberry-coloured, and a black palate.

From King Charles's breed we derive the modern
cocker. The colour of King Charles's breed appears to
have been black, or black and white, and Ihe hair long
and silky. We have seen a beautiful and most valuable
pair of cockers of a dark liver-brown colour ; they were
in first-rate training, and though of small size, were ex-
tremely vigorous and active. Still less than the cocker,
or King Charles's breed, is the Marlborough or Blen-
heim spaniel, the race of which is assiduously cultivated
in the present day ; not indeed for field-sports, but for
I the parlour, of which it is an ornament. The most prized
of this breed are very small, with an abbreviated muzzle,
and a round skull arched above ; the ears are very large
and well fringed, and the hair of the body is long, soft,
: and silky. The general colour is black and tan, or black
and white, with the limbs beautifully spotted, and a
tanned mark over each eye.

The elegance, liveliness, intelligence, and affectionate
: disposition of the varieties of the spaniel race, indepen-
; dent of their value to the sportsman, render them gene-
ral favourites ; and high-bred dogs of the cocker or Blen-
heim breeds sell for a large sum of money. We have

i 3

182

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

seen dogs of the latter variety valued at eighty and a hun-
dred guineas. No dog appears to us to become so per-
sonally attached to its master or mistress as a spaniel : it
cannot endure to be absent ; it will come to the room
door and scratch and whine to be admitted, and even "
patiently wait for hours, until entrance be granted. A
beautiful Blenheim, of rather large size, in our posses-
sion, waits regularly every morning at our bed-room door,
and greets our appearance with most lively tokens of
joy and attachment.

We had a small high-bred female of the cocker breed
a few years since, which displayed towards her mistress
the strongest affection. This dog was remarkable for
beauty, having long glossy hair like silk, and for admi-
rable symmetry ; she was, besides, as spirited as'elegant :
she would kill a rat in an instant, and attack a cat with
the courage of a bulldog. Indeed, on one occasion she
was with difficulty prevented from killing a cat as large
as herself, which had struck her with its claw ; she
seized it by the chest. For some time before her death
this dog showed symptoms of disease of the lungs, and
could not scour the fields as before. One evening we
took a walk in the country, accompanied by our favour-
ite ; but her difficulty of breathing increasing, we carried
her home, and had a bed made for her in the parlour.
In the morning we were aroused by the intelligence that
poor Fan was dead. On coming down, we found that
she had left her bed in the night, opened the door of a
closet, and drawn out a morning dress which her mistress
had worn for some days previously. The dress was
spread on the carpet, and upon it she had died ; faithful
and devoted even when life was ebbing.

THE SPANIEL RACES.

183

No dog is more observant of the actions of its master
than the spaniel, or more readily interprets the meaning
of his looks. All are acquainted with the little poem in
which Cowper celebrates the intelligence of his spaniel,
which plunged into the water and drew to the bank a
water-lily which he had previously been endeavouring to
procure.

The following statement, for the truth of which we
Gan vouch, refers to the spaniel already noticed for its
partiality to" fruits : — One morning, as the lady to
whom this spaniel belongs was lacing her boots, one of
the laces broke. She turned to the dog, and playfully
said, ' Oh dear! I wish you would find me another
boot-lace ;' and having managed with the broken one,
thought no more about it. On the following morning,
when she was again lacing her boots, her spaniel ran up
to her with a new silken boot-lace in his mouth ; not
only to her great amazement, but that of the family.
Where the dog had obtained the boot-lace no one could
tell ; but, doubtless, he had purloined it from some work-
box or similar repository.

Leibnitz (Opera, 1768) reports the case of a spaniel
belonging to a Saxon peasant, whom his master, by dint
of labour, taught to articulate, with more or less distinct-
ness, about thirty German words. These words were
first uttered by the dog's master, and then by the dog.

In the ' Bibliotheque Germanique,' 1720, part ii.,
p. 214, is published the account of a dog which uttered
various words ; but in this instance the dog's master, by
means of his hand, managed the dog's throat, so as to
turn the growling of the animal into something like arti-
culate sounds. " Le maitre s'assied a terre, et prend
son chien entre ses jambes, d'oii il lui tient tout le corps

en stijetion. D'tme riialn W M tfelitla iri$hoiF^eft-
hfeTut ; et de 1'autre celle d'en-bas,1 et pendant que l'ani-
mal gronde selon sa coutume il lui presse des differcntes
manieres, tantot Tune, tantot 1'autre machoire,'et souvent
toutes les deux ; ce qui fait diverses contorsions k la
gueule du chien, et en meme temps il lui fait prononcer
des paroles."* In both cases we believe that the imagi-
nation had much to do in prompting the ear to the words
which the guttural intonations between a bark and a
growl in some degree sounded like. But supposing the
words were really uttered, we can draw from the fact no
proof of the intelligence of the dogs in question ; in both
cases the dogs were several years under instruction, and
the time wasted in their tuition might have been far more
usefully employed.

Bewick gives an excellent figure of the large water-
spaniel. It is generally liver-coloured and white, with
the hair of the body crisped or disposed in little knots.
This dog is of moderate size, strong, active, and intelli-
gent, and is of great service to the water-fowl shooter,
either along the sea-coast or amidst fens and marshes.

Distinct from the great water-spaniel is the rough
water-dog, which perhaps exceeds all dogs in intel-
ligence and docility. It is of rather large size," and
very robust, with the cranium remarkably capacious and
elevated, the muzzle short, and the hair long, full, and

* " The master sat himself upon the ground, and placed
his dog between his legs, where he had him completely in
his power. With one hand he held the upper jaw, and with
the other the lower one, and while the animal growled in
his usual manner, pressed them in different ways, now the
one jaw, now the other, and now both : this produced diverse
contortions in the mouth of the dog, and at the same time
caused him to pronounce words."

curling. This variety is the Barbet of fie Fr«tich; sM<
is often termed the German or French Poodle. We
have seen some of a snowy white, others black, and;
others black and white.

No dog is so easily taught to fetch and carry, or to
find coin or other articles, first shown to the animal and
then put into a place of concealment, as the water-dog ;
while from its acute sense of smell, its sagacity, and
aquatic habits, it is invaluable to the water-fowl shooter.

Mr. Bell relates the following interesting narrative
relative to a female of this breed, the intelligence of
which was scarcely less than human : — " My friend (the
owner of the dog) was travelling on the Continent, and
his faithful dog was his companion. One day before he
left his lodgings in the morning, with the expectation of
being absent until evening, he took out his purse in his
room, for the purpose of ascertaining whether he had
taken sufficient money for the day's occupation, and then,
went his way, leaving the dog behind. Having dined
at a coffeehouse, he took out his purse, and missing a
louis-d'or, searched for it diligently, but to no purpose.
Returning home late in the evening, his servant let him in
with a face of sorrow, and told him that the poor dog was
very ill, as she had not eaten anything all the day ; and
what appeared very strange, she would not suffer him to
take her food away from before her, but had been lying
with her nose close to the vessel without attempting to
touch it. On my friend entering the room she instantly
jumped upon him, then laid a louis-d'or at his feet, and
immediately began to devour her food with great voracity.
The truth was now apparent ; my friend had dropped
the money in the morning when leaving the room, and

186

HISTORY OP THE DOG.

the faithful creature finding it had held it in her mouth,
until his return enabled her to restore it to his own
hands; even refusing to eat for a whole day, lest it
should be out of her custody. I knew the dog well, and
have witnessed many very curious tricks of hers, showing
extraordinary docility."

A smaller breed of the rough water-dog, the little
Barbet, is very beautiful, intelligent, and affectionate ;
it is generally white. No dog makes a more elegant
and interesting parlour companion, or more faithfully
guards the house.

Another variety of the present section is the setter,
a dog too well known to need description, and remark-
able for its beauty, docility, powers of smell, affection,
and gratitude. The setter is of ancient descent, and we
do not agree with those who regard it as of a mixed ori-
gin between the spaniel and Spanish pointer ; it has
nothing of the old Spanish pointer in its figure, and we
believe that dogs of a mixed breed between the setter
and pointer are inferior to the genuine breed on each
side. The setter was trained to the net by Dudley,
Duke of Northumberland , in 1535; but in modern days
the use of the fowling-piece has superseded such modes
of taking birds. We know not why it is that sportsmen
seem generally to prefer the pointer to the setter, the
latter being less liable to become foot-sore, and, if we
may speak from observation, not more difficult to break
in. We have remarked that setters are mostly employed
on the moorlands for grouse-shooting. The English
setter is generally white, with large marks of red or
liver colour ; but we have seen very fine dogs of this
breed of a dark liver-brown entirely.

( 187 )

CHAPTER VIII.

ON THE HOUNDS.

The Beagle,

Another distinct group of dogs is that which contains
the hounds, of which several varieties exist, as the stag-
hound, the foxhound, the harrier, and beagle. No country
equals England in the swiftness, spirit, and endurance of
its hounds, and in no country is so much attention paid
to the various breeds, of which the beagle is the smallest.

}88 HISTORY OF THE DOG.

W?J .8a?IUOH

The beagle was once a great favourite, but is now but
little used ; it is of small stature, but of exquisite scent,
and the tones of the pack in full cry are musical. It has
not, however, the strength or fleetness of the harrier,
and still less so of the foxhound ; and hence it does not
engage the attention of the sportsmen of the modern
school, who, unlike Sir Roger de Coverley, are impetuous
in the field, preferring a hard run to a tame and quiet
pursuit. The beagle is used only in the chase of the
hare, and atones for its slowness by the most enduring
diligence, seldom failing to run down the hare, in spite
of her speed, shifts, and doublings. The beagle is about
ten or eleven inches in height at shoulder ; but formerly
some sportsmen prided themselves on possessing packs
of dogs of even less stature, and which were very effi-
cient. Daniel commemorates Colonel Hardy's " cry of
beagles." They amounted to ten or eleven couples, and
were always carried to and from the field in a pair of
paniers upon a horse's back. They were well matched,
and ran together in such close order that they might have
been covered with a sheet. This beautiful pack of dimi-
nutive hounds was kept in a barn, and one night the
door was broken open, and every hound, paniers and all,
stolen ; nor could the owner ever discover the thieves or
their booty.

The Harrier is larger than the beagle, but inferior to
the foxhound, and is only used in the chase of the hare.
Formerly the harrier was a slow and heavy dog, but of
late years the breed has been much improved. Mr.
Beckford says : — " The hounds I think most likely to
show you sport are between the large slow-hunting har-
rier and the little fox-beagle. The former are too dull,

ooa aiix 10 1&0T6LH 8&I

HOUNDS. 189

too heavy, and too slow ; the latter too lively, too light,
and too fleet. The first, it is true, have excellent noses,
and I make no doubt will kill their game at last, if the
day be long enough ; but you know that the days are short
in winter, and it is bad hunting in the dark. The other,
on the contrary, fling, dash, and are all alive ; but the
cold blast affects them, and if your country be deep and
wet, it is not impossible that some of them may be
drowned. My hounds were a cross of both these kinds,
in which it was my endeavour to get as much bone and
strength in as small a compass as possible. It was a
difficult undertaking. I bred many years, and an infinity
of hounds, before I could get what I wanted. I had the
pleasure to see them very handsome — small, yet very
bony; they ran remarkably well together; went fast
enough ; had all the alacrity that could be desired, and
would hunt the coldest scent. ... Harriers to be good,
like all other hounds, must be kept to their own game.
If you run fox with them, you spoil them : hounds can-
not be perfect unless used to one scent and one style of
hunting. Harriers run fox in so different a style from
hare, that it is of great disservice to them when they
return to hare again ; it makes them wild, and teaches
them to skirt the high scent which a fox leaves ; the
straightness of his running, the eagerness of the pursuit,
and the noise that generally accompanies it, all contribute
to spoil a harrier."

The modern English foxhound, in figure, speed,
strength, and perseverance, cannot be improved ; no other
country can produce such a breed. A well-forrned dog
stands about twenty-one or twenty-two inches in height ;
the limbs are straight and clean ; the feet round, and of

HISTORY) DOG.

moderate size ; the breast wide, and the chest deep ; the
shoulders thrown back ; the head small ; the neck thin ;
the back broad ; the tail rather bushy and well carried.
The fleetness of some of these dogs is extraordinary:
Merkin, a celebrated foxhound belonging to Colonel
Thornton, performed four miles in seven minutes. For-
merly the foxhound was bred rather for endurance than
wonderful speed, and the chase would last for several
hours. In January, 1738, the Duke of Richmond's
hounds found their fox at a quarter before eight in the
morning, and killed him at ten minutes before six, after
a chase of ten hours' hard running. Many of the sports-
men tired three horses each ; eleven couple and a half of
the hounds only were in at the death ; and several horses
died during the chase. A revolution in hunting, how-
ever, has now taken place ; and the rapidity of a good
run makes it very like a race ; so that a fox-hunter of the
last century, could he now be present on a good day in
Leicestershire, would, after the first burst, find himself
alone — the dogs and horses far out of sight.

A larger breed of hounds, now passing into disuse,
was employed till within the last few years for hunting
the stag. This breed was the result of a cross between
the fleet foxhound and the large old English or southern
hound, now almost extinct. The Royal, the Derby, the
Englefield, the New Forest, and the Darlington packs
of staghounds wrere formerly celebrated ; and during the
reign of George III., a monarch who was devoted to the
chase of the stag, several of the most tremendous runs on
record took place ; at some of which His Majesty, wrho
was a daring horseman, was present. It often happened
that out of a field of upwards of a hundred horsemen, not

HOUNDS.

m

more than from twelve to twenty were in at the death or
capture of the stag. The following extract from the
c Sportsman's Cabinet' will give some idea of one of
these hunts : — M The deer was liberated at the starting-
post of Ascot Heath, and, after making Bagshot Park,
proceeded, without head or double, over the open country
through Finchamstead Woods, Barkham, Arborfield,
Swallowfield, Mortimer, across the river Kennett, and
over the intervening country to Tilehurst below Reading
in Berkshire ; where the deer was taken unhurt, after a
most incredible and desperate run of four hours and
twenty minutes — horsemen being thrown out in every
part of the country through which they passed. One
horse dropped dead on the field ; another immediately
after the chase, before he could reach the stable ; and
seven more within the week. Of such severity was this
run, that tired horses in great danger, and others com-
pletely leg weary or broken down, were unavoidably left
at various inns in different parts of the country." The
humanity of such a hunt is very questionable indeed.

Of the old breeds of hounds for which our island was
formerly celebrated, we may mention the talbot, the old
English or southern hound, and the bloodhound.

The Talbot, the cognizance of the ancient house of
Shrewsbury,* was a large hound of a white colour, with
a large head, broad muzzle, and large pendulous ears.
Colonel H. Smith thinks it to have been allied to the

* A magnificent MS. folio, in fine preservation, in the Bri-
tish Museum, formerly presented by the valiant Talbot to
Margaret of Anjou, queen of Henry VI., represents, in the
illuminated titlepage, the veteran warrior kneeling before the
queen, in the act of presenting that very folio, with his dog in
attendance.

m HISTORIC DOG.

white breed of St. Hubert's dogs, anciently of repute on
t^^fefiinfr3 M* 31 0afiJ ni «»ino«l- *

It appears that there Mere two breeds of St. Hubert's
hounds, a black and a white race : the black race was
established in the Ardennes in the sixth century, and
was brought thither by St. Hubert from the south of
France, but is supposed to have been introduced originally
by pilgrims from Palestine ; subsequently the white
race was brought from the same country, and was more
prized than the black, which it exceeded in size ; and
though not introduced by St. Hubert was nevertheless
named after the patron of hunting. A third breed of
hounds, of considerable stature and with large ears, was
brought from Palestine by St. Louis, about the middle of
the thirteenth century. This breed was swift, bold, and
vehement ; the prevailing colour was rufous grey. A
large red-haired breed of hounds was employed on the
Continent in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries for
hunting the wild boar and wolf.

With respect to the talbot, it appears to have merged
into other breeds, and so to have become lost ; if, indeed,
it was really distinct from the old bloodhound.

" The deep-flewed hound
Bred up with care ; strong, heavy, slow, but sure ;
Whose ears down-banging from his thick round head
Shall sweep the morning-dew ; whose clanging voice
Awake the mountain-echoes in her cell,
And shake the forests — the bold Talbot kind ;
Of these the prime as white as Alpine snows,
And great their use of old."

The old English or southern hound, which is de-
scribed by Whitaker, in his 4 History of Manchester/
as the original breed of our island, is now very rarely to

be found in a state of purity. Some years since we saw
a fine specimen in Lancashire. It was tall and robust,
with a chest of extraordinary depth and breadth, with
pendulous lips and deeply set eyes ; the ears were large
and long", and hung very low ; the nose was broad, and
the nostrils large and moist. The voice was deep, full,
and sonorous. The general colour was black or brownish
i black, passing into tan about the muzzle and along the
inside of the limbs. Shakspere's description of the
hounds of Theseus, in the ' Midsummer Night's Dream,'
is true to the letter as a delineation of this breed, with
which the poet was doubtless well acquainted : —

<( My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind —
So flew'd, so sanded; and their heads are hung
With ears that sweep away the morning dew ;
Crook-kneed, and dew-lapp'd like Thessalian bulls;
Slow in pursuit, but match'd on mouth like bells,
Each under each/'

Among our forefathers, in the good old times, when
ithe " simple plan" was in operation — viz. 11 that they
may take who have the power, and they may keep who
can," the bloodhound, or sleuth-hound of the bor-
derers, was a dog in great request. Its exquisite deli-
cacy of scent, its unwearied perseverance, its courage and
jj power, rendered it extremely valuable. It was not only
I trained to the chase of the deer, but to be a hunter of
men; and was employed in tracking fugitive felons,
I marauders, and political offenders, whom it would pursue
with unflinching pertinacity for days together, over

" Dry sandy heaths and stony barren hills,
O'er beaten paths, with men and beasts distain d.
Unerring."

The breed in the possession of Mr. J. Bell, of Oxford-

194 HISTORY OF- THE DOG.

'•<?(>' tffil J»rw h

Bloodhound-

Street, supposed to be of great purity, is of a reddish tan,
darker on the upper parts, and often passing into black
on the back. The form is very robust, and the height
at the shoulders is not less than twenty-eight inches.
" The muzzle," says Mr. Bell, " is broad and full, the
upper lip large and pendulous, the vertex of the head
prominent; the expression stern, thoughtful, and noble j
the breast broad, the limbs strong and muscular ; the
original, colour is a deep tan with large black spots."

We may readily justify the employment of the blood-
hound in tracking marauders, deer-stealers, and " lifters"

HOUJS'DS.

of cattle — especially in times when the land was lawless
— but, to thedisgrace of human nature, they were em-
ployed for other purposes. They were set on the track
of fugitives after a lost battle, and were used in the
furious wars between England and Scotland, when
Wallace fought for freedom, and Bruce for a throne.
Henry VIII. employed them in France, and Elizabeth
in Ireland, when the Earl of Essex had no less than
eight hundred of them in his army.

Formerly the chiefs and nobles of the border countries
kept bloodhounds in all their castles and strongholds,
and well has Sir Walter Scott depicted their mode of
jpursuit ; as we read his animated description we fancy
(ourselves at the scene — we hear the bugle's notes — the
jcries of the men — the tramp of the horses, and the deep
baying of the hounds as they thread the mazy way with
lundeviating accuracy. In his delineation of the " stark
|moss-trooper," Sir William of Deloraine, " good at
iiieed," he gives as proof of the warrior's merit, that he

" By wily turns and desperate bounds
Had baffled Percy's best bloodhounds."
jAnd the same accomplished knight, his stern nature
itouched by sorrow at the sight of Sir Richard Musgrave
slain, thus eulogizes his dead enemy —

" Yet rest thee, God ! — for well I know
I ne'er shall find a nobler foe !
In all the northern countries here,
Whose word is snaffle, spur, and spear,
Thou wert the best to follow gear.
'Twas pleasure as we looked behind,
To see how thou the chase could'st wind ;
Cheer the dark bloodhound on his way,
And with the bugle rouse the fray .
I'd give the lands of Deloraine
Dark Musgrave were alive again."

Lay of the Last Minstrel.

196

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

In the same poem we have the following vivid de-
scription. The young heir of Branksome has lost his
way in the forest —

" — — Starting oft, he journeyed on,

And deeper in the wood is gone,
For aye the more he sought his way,
The farther still he went astray ;
Until he heard the mountains round
Ring to the baying of a hound.
And hark, and hark ! the deep-mouthed bark

Comes nigher still and nigher —
Bursts on the path a dark bloodhound,
His tawny muzzle track'd the ground,

And his red eye shot fire."

Colonel H. Smith says, in reference to the blood-
hound:— "This species is silent while following the
scent, and thence easily distinguished from other hounds."
On the contrary, an able writer in the 1 Penny Cyclo-
paedia' says that when in pursuit " the hound opens
with a voice deep and sonorous, that may be heard down
the wind for a very long distance." Indeed, if the
bloodhound did not open with a deep voice, we cannot
tell how those whom it pursued could be aware of the
chase, and consequently endeavour to baffle pursuit.
When in full sight of the dogs and men, all attempts at
evading capture, except by force of arms, must be out
of the question. Sir Walter Scott, in his Notes to the
poem from which we have quoted, says— " Barbour in-
forms us that Robert Bruce was repeatedly tracked by
sleuth-dogs. On one occasion he escaped by wading a
bowshot down a brook, and thus baffled the scent. The
pursuers came up —

" Rycht to the burn thai passyt ware,
Bot the sleuth-hund made stentingthar

That he na certain gate couth ga :

Till at the last Jhon of Lorn

Perseuvit the hund the sleuth had loine."

Cuban Blood hounds and Chasseur.

" A sure way of stopping the dog was to spill blood

K

198

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

upon the track, which destroyed the discriminating fine-
ness of his scent. A captive was sometimes sacrificed
on such occasions. Henry the Minstrel tells us a ro-
mantic story of Wallace, founded on this circumstance.
The hero's little band had been joined by an Irishman,
named Fawdon or Fadzean, a dark, savage, and suspi-
cious character. After a sharp skirmish at Black-Erne
side, Wallace was forced to retreat with only sixteen
followers. The English pursued with a border sleuth-
bratch, or bloodhound. In the retreat, Fawdon, tired,
or affecting to be so, would go no farther. Wallace
having in vain argued with him, in hasty anger struck
off his head, and continued the retreat. When the
English came up, their hound stayed upon the dead body."
Surely in these instances the baying of the hound must
have been heard.

The bloodhound breed, according to Sir Walter Scott,
was kept up by the Buccleuch family on their border
estates till within the eighteenth century, and not with-
out need. During the last century, when deer-stealing
was very common, bloodhounds were kept by the rangers
and park-keepers of all the large parks, and were em-
ployed successfully in detecting the poachers ; and we
find it recorded in the ' Sportsman's Cabinet,' about
forty years since, that " the Thrapston Association for
the prevention of felony in Northamptonshire have pro-
vided and trained a bloodhound for the detection of
sheep-stealers. To demonstrate the unerring infalli-
bility of this animal, a day was appointed for public
trial. The person he was intended to hunt started in
the presence of a great concourse of people, about ten
o'clock in the forenoon, and at eleven the hound was

HOUNDS.

199

laid on. After a chase of an hour and a half, notwith-
standing a very indifferent scent, the hound ran up to
the tree in which he was secreted, at the distance of
fifteen miles from the place of starting, to the admiration
and perfect satisfaction of the very great number assem-
bled on the occasion." To the present group has been
referred by some naturalists a dog of Spanish descent
termed the Cuban bloodhound. A hundred of these saga-
cious but savage dogs were sent, in 1795, from the Ha-
vanna to Jamaica, to extinguish the Maroon war, which
at that time was fiercely raging. They were accompa-
nied by forty Spanish chasseurs, chiefly people of colour,
and their appearance and that of the dogs struck terror
nto the negroes. The dogs, muzzled and led in leashes,
rushed ferociously upon every object, dragging along the
chasseurs in spite of all their endeavours. Dallas, in his
* History of the Maroons,' informs us that General Wal-
pole ordered a review of these dogs and the men, that
he might see in what manner they would act. He set
out for a place called Seven Rivers, accompanied by
Colonel Skinner, whom he appointed to conduct the
attack. " Notice of his coming having preceded him, a
parade of the chasseurs was ordered, and they were
taken to a distance from the house, in order to be ad-
vanced when the general alighted. On his arrival, the
commissioner (who had procured the dogs) having paid
his respects, was desired to parade them. The Spaniards
soon appeared at the end of a gentle acclivity drawn out
in a line, containing upwards of forty men, with their
dogs in front unmuzzled and held by cotton ropes. On
receiving the command fire, they discharged their fusils
and advanced as upon a real attack. This was intended

k 2

200

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

to ascertain what effect would be produced on the dogs if
engaged under afire of the Maroons. The volley was no
sooner discharged than the dogs rushed forward with the-
greatest fury, amid the shouts of the Spaniards, who
were dragged on by them with irresistible force. Some
of the dogs, maddened by the shout of attack while held
back by the ropes, seized on the stocks of the guns in the
hands of their keepers, and tore pieces out of them.
Their impetuosity was so great that they were with diffi-
culty stopped before they reached the general, who
found it necessary to get expeditiously into the chaise
from which he had alighted ; and if the most strenuous
exertions had not been made, they would have seized
upon his horses." This terrible exhibition produced the
intended effect, the Maroons at once capitulated, and

Cuban Bloodhounds or Mastiffs.

HOUNDS.

201

Cuban Bloodhound or MastiiF.

were subsequently sent to Halifax, North America.
We might enter, had we inclination, into many details
tending to prove the courage and ferocity of these dogs,
but such revolting narratives are not to our taste ; yet are
not the dogs to be condemned, but those who trained
them to the vile purpose of hunting down the defenceless
Indian or the runaway slave. Many discrepant accounts

202

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

respecting these Cuban bloodhounds have been pub-
lished ; some exaggerating their powers, others decrying
them. We have had abundant opportunities of scruti-
nizing the specimens which from time to time have been
kept in the Zoological Gardens, and we hesitate not to
regard them as mastiffs rather than hounds, though they
have not the heavy head and extremely pendulous lips
of the English mastiff. Their colour is tawny, with
black about the muzzle ; the ears are comparatively small,
but pendent ; the muzzle is shorter, and the jaws thicker
than in the hound, yet not so truncate as in the bulldog.
The limbs are remarkably powerful, and the general con-
tour is compact, indicating both activity and strength ;
the chest is very broad ; their height at the shoulder is
about two feet. In their disposition they are faithful
and attached, and, unless irritated, very gentle ; they
make excellent guard-dogs, and will attack both the bull
and the bear with determined resolution. It will be seen
that in our arrangement of dogs we place these fine ani-
mals in the mastiff group.

There appears to exist a race of most beautiful hounds
in Central Africa, of which Colonel (then Major) Den-
ham brought over three, two males and one female, on
his return to England from that country, and presented
them to the then existing royal menagerie in the Tower,
under the care of Mr. Cops. The colonel informed
Mr. Cops that he had himself hunted the gazelle with
them, and that they displayed great cunning, frequently
quitting the circuitous line of scent for the purpose of
cutting off a double, and recovering the scent again with
ease. They would hit off, and follow a scent after the
lapse of two hours from the time when the animal had

HOUNDS.

203

been on the spot; and this delicacy of nose had not
escaped observation, for they were employed, like the
English bloodhound, in tracing a flying enemy to his
retreat. We cannot but regret that these dogs, which in
symmetry and action were perfect models, were kept in
confinement. What a change from scouring the plains
of Africa in pursuit of the gazelle to a den in the Tower !
No wonder that they never bred, or that their temper
became spoiled, which was more particularly the case
with the female.

We have hitherto said nothing of the pointer, the
sportsman's favourite. The present pointer, of hand-
some form, is derived from a heavy dog, possessing the
sense of smell in wonderful perfection, known as the old
Spanish pointer, and decidedly related to the hound.
This dog is now seldom seen ; like the talbot or the old
southern hound, which have merged into our modern
foxhounds, the old Spanish dog has passed by degrees
into the intelligent, vigorous, and active pointer, the

i praises of which are in every sportsman's mouth. We
believe that a strain of the foxhound obtains in tne

ii modern breed, and that to this in a great degree their
|i energy and activity (points deficient in the old Spanish

dog) are owing. A well-bred pointer takes to its work
j! almost, we may say quite, intuitively ; of course a young
j dog requires checking, and to have the exuberance of its
| spirit moderated ; but upon drawing near game it stands
| immoveable ; with a similar instinct the setter crouches.
! Why should the pointer stand, or the setter crouch ?
! Are these actions instinctive in the two dogs — or are
j they the results of original training, by which, repeated

204

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

generation after generation, the very nature of the
animals has become modified ? We think the latter ;
and yet there is much worth consideration in Mr. Bell's
statement. This eminent zoologist says, " I have heard
my father, a man of close observation and an enthusiastic
sportsman, offer the opinion that the stand of the pointer
and the crouching of the setter are but the natural start
of surprise or interest which all dogs give when coming
suddenly upon the scent or sight of their natural prey,
modified, of course, by cultivation, and by transmission
through many generations, each by cultivation improving
upon the capabilities of the former." In opposition to
this he refers to the instance of the celebrated pointing
pig, broken in by Toomer, of the New Forest, the
account of which is fully detailed by Daniel. This,
indeed, was a singular circumstance, from which, being
isolated, no data can be deduced ; and the query arises, —
do dogs generally start when coming upon the scent of
their prey, and as it were recoil ? We may be wrong,
but we think not. Certainly the hound does not when
he first gets upon the track of the fox or hare. Besides,
the pointer backs his companion, and both, instead of
rushing forward, continue to stand immoveable as statues.
In Daniel's ' Rural Sports ' is an engraving, after Gilpin,
of two pointers, a black dog named Pluto, and a white
bitch called Juno, which kept their point during the
time in which Mr. Gilpin made the sketch of them, and
which occupied an hour and a quarter : all this while
they stood as if carved in marble, an instance of steadiness
of nerve and muscular endurance most wonderful, and
perhaps without a parallel. Still, however, the idea of

HOUNDS.

205

Mr. Bell is worth consideration ; the point at issue being
whether the propensity of this dog in the field to stand
before his game be absolutely superadded to the original
instinct of the animal, or merely a modification of it pro-
duced by discipline.

There is a breed of very handsome dogs called Dal-
matian or coach dogs, of a white colour thickly spotted
with black, which are classed among the hounds by
Buffon, and also by Colonel Hamilton Smith ; and
though these dogs are not remarkable for fineness of
scent and intelligence, the place assigned them by BufFon
we think to be correct ; our opinion, however, is con-
trary to that of Mr. Bell. The origin of this dog

206

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

appears to be obscure : the French call it Brague de
Bengale, and Colonel H. Smith believes it to be of
Indian extraction ; but this is not certain. The present
dog is generally kept in our country as an appendage to
the carriage, and is bred up in the stable with the horses ;
consequently it seldom receives that kind of training
which is calculated to call forth its best qualities.

( 207 )

CHAPTER IX.

ON THE MASTIFF RACE AND THE TERRIERS.

We now enter upon a group of dogs distinguished by
the shortness and the breadth of the head ; this latter
character resulting not from a corresponding development
of the brain, but from the magnitude of the temporal
muscles, which are attached to a bony ridge passing down
the median line of the skull. The expression of the eyes
is lowering ; the jaws have enormous strength ; the lips
are pendulous ; the limbs extremely muscular ; and the
general form thick-set and robust. This group compre-
hends the mastiff, the bulldog, and their allies. In
sagacity and intelligence these dogs are not equal to the
spaniel or shepherd's dog ; but they possess indomitable
courage, and have been from early times celebrated for
their prowess in the combat. It is well known that the
Romans exported fierce fighting dogs from England,
which were matched with wild beasts or men in the
amphitheatre, and by most writers these dogs have been
regarded as mastiffs. Colonel H. Smith, however, seems
to think that they were in reality bulldogs, of larger size
than the present breed, there being at the time in which
the Romans became masters of Britain but one breed of
thick-muzzled dogs ; and that the mastiff", originally from
the cold regions of Central Asia, has been imported
thence into Europe, and ultimately by the Cimbric Celtee

208

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

into Britain. However this may be, certain it is that
the mastiff is of old standing in our island, and has been
long renowned for its great powers and courage. The
English mastiff, when well grown, stands about thirty
inches high at the shoulder ; the head is thick, the lips
pendulous, the ears small but drooping, and the aspect

Mastiff.

grave, stern, and even melancholy. Conscious of their
great power, these dogs are quiet, and bear the petty
annoyances of snarling curs with cool indifference ; but
when once roused to combat, they become terrible. Dr.
Caius, a naturalist of the time of Elizabeth, who calls the
mastiff Canis urcanus, notices its ferocity in combat, its
sternness of aspect, its tenacity of tooth, and adds, " nec
lupum, nec taurum, ursum, aut leonem reformidat."
Stow gives us an account of an engagement between
three lions and a mastiff, which took place in the pre-
sence of James I. One of the dogs being put into the
den was soon disabled by the lion, which took it by the
head and neck, and dragged it about. Another dog was

ON THE MASTIFF RACE AND THE TERRIERS. 209

then let loose, and served in the same manner ; but the
third being put in, immediately seized the lion by the lip,
and held him for a considerable time, till being severely
torn by his claws, the dog was obliged to quit its hold,
and the lion, greatly exhausted in the conflict, refused
to renew the engagement, but, taking a sudden leap over
the dogs, fled into the interior part of his den. Two of
the dogs soon died of their wounds ; the last survived, and
was taken care of by the king's son, who said, H he that
had fought with the king of beasts, should never after
fight with any inferior creature."

A different feeling animated Henry VII. when he
ordered a mastiff to be hanged, because it had dared

Thibet Mastiff.

210

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

singly to engage with a lion, the sovereign of beasts !
and when he had one of his falcons killed, because it had
overcome an eagle ! " Si ces deux faits sont vrais," says
M. Blaze, " ils prouvent que Henri VII. etait un sot." *

The reis a story related of a mastiff, in the reign of Eliza-
beth, when Lord Buckhurst was ambassador at the court
of Charles IX., which, unassisted, successively engaged
a bear, a leopard, and a lion, and pulled them all down.

Though the mastiff has by no means the keen sense of
smell which the hound possesses, it has a finer scent
than most persons are aware of ; and its hearing is acute.
A dog of this breed chained to the premises, and never
suffered to wander about, nor treated as a friend and
companion, affords but a poor example of what the ani-
mal really is. Confinement spoils its temper, and cramps
the noble qualities of its mind. We knew a dog of this
kind (as purely bred as most in the present day), which,
possessing immense strength and indomitable courage,
was yet one of the gentlest of animals. He suffered the
children of the house and even strange children to pull
him about as they pleased ; they might sit upon him, or
pull his ears, and roughly too, as children will, and yet
he never manifested anger or impatience by voice or ac-
tion, but submitted quietly and good-humouredly ; small
dogs might snarl and snap at him, but he bore their pe-
tulance unmoved. This animal was the guardian of a
manufactory, and he knew every person on the establish-
ment. He would permit strangers to come in during the
day, merely regarding them with an attentive gaze, but
offering them no molestation. At night, when the gates

* " If these two stories are true, they prove that Henry VII.
was a fool."

ON THE MASTIFF RACE AND THE TERRIERS. 211

of the premises were closed, he seemed to assume a new
character : he was then as fierce as he had been gentle
during the day ; he would not allow even the ordinary-
workmen to enter the yard, and several times seized men
who attempted, on the strength of knowing him, to pass
through, holding them till succour arrived.

A personal friend of the writer's, some time since, on
a visit at a gentleman's house in the country, was taking
a moonlight walk through the shrubbery and pleasure-
grounds, when he was startled by a noise behind him ;
on turning his head, he perceived a large mastiff, which
was ordinarily let loose as evening closed, and which had
tracked him through the grounds. The dog with a fierce
growl roughly seized him ; our friend wisely deemed
passive obedience and non-resistance the most prudent
if not the most courageous part for him to play, and was
unceremoniously led back through the grounds to the
hall-door ; here he was relieved by the master of the
house. Subsequently assured that he had no cause to
fear, he repeated his walk ; he found the dog again at
his side, but the animal walked quietly with him, and
acknowledged in the usual way his words of conciliation.
On these instances of sagacity (sagacity of a kind very dif-
ferent from that displayed by the shepherd's dog or the
setter) there needs no comment.

The Thibet mastiff exceeds the English mastiff in
size, and has a still more lowering expression of coun-
tenance, from the skin of the eyebrows forming a fold,
running to the sides of the face, and from the thick pen-
dulous lips. These huge dogs are the watch-dogs of the
table-land of the Himalaya mountains about Thibet.
The body is covered with rugged hair, of a black colour,

212

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

passing into tawny red about the limbs, over the eyes,
and on the muzzle ; and the tail is well furred, and
arched over the back. To the Bhoteas these dogs are
strongly attached, but are stated to be very savage to-
wards strangers, and especially Europeans, whom they
attack with great ferocity. Several inferior breeds exist
in other parts of the Himalaya chain ; in fact, this breed
degenerates if removed to a milder climate ; it does not
prosper even in Nepal. A pair brought over to this coun-
try by Dr. Wallich, and presented to the Zoological
Society, died soon after their arrival. A few years since,
we saw a splendid pair in the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris.
The Thibet mastiff is noticed by Marco Polo. The.
Bhoteas, who possess the finest breed of these dogs, " are
a singular race, of a ruddy copper colour, indicating the
bracing air which they breathe ; rather short, but of an
excellent disposition. Their clothing is adapted to the
cold climate they inhabit, and consists of fur and woollen
cloth. The men till the ground and keep sheep, and,
at certain seasons, come down to trade, bringing borax,
tincal, and musk for sale. They sometimes penetrate as
far as Calcutta. On these occasions the women remain
at home with the dogs, and the encampment is watched
by the latter."

To the Cuban mastiff we have already paid some at-
tention.

The term ban-dog appears to be applicable to any of
the fierce animals of the present section, which are, in
ordinary cases, kept chained or secured in kennels.
Bewick, however, expressly applies it to a dog of which
he gives an excellent figure, and which he states to differ
from the mastiff in being lighter, more active and vigilant,

ON THE MASTIFF RACE AND THE TERRIERS. 213

but not so large and powerful ; its muzzle, besides, is not
so heavy, and it possesses in some degree the scent of the
hound. Its hair is described as being rather rough, and
generally of a yellowish grey, streaked with shades of a
black or brown colour. It is ferocious, and full of energy.
Bewick says that this dog is seldom to be seen in the
present day. We have, however, more than once had
occasion to notice varieties of the mastiff so closely agree-
ing with Bewick's figure and description, as to convince us
that he took both these from nature.

One of the dogs of this kind which we knew belonged
to a man living near Manchester. It was intelligent, and
very much attached to its master ; but very savage, and
not to be trusted by strangers. Its attack was sudden and
impetuous ; and once to offend it was to make it an un-
forgiving foe. On one occasion its master, to show its
attachment to himself and its courage in defending him,
having secured it properly, asked us to pretend to strike
him : we did so. The fury and the struggles of the dog
to get at us may be conceived, but can scarcely be de-
scribed, and dearly should we have paid for our pre-
sumption had it broken its fastenings. Previously to that
time we had been on friendly terms with the animal ;
ever afterwards it strove to attack us, and we never ven-
tured near the house without an assurance that the dog
was chained up.

Mr. Bell, in his t History of British Quadrupeds,'
does not notice this breed ; perhaps because it is not pure.
The individual to which we have alluded appeared as if
between the mastiff and bulldog, crossed with the drover's
dog. This, however, is only a supposition. Its master
regarded it as identical with Bewick's ban-dog ; and cer-

214

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

tainly nothing could be closer than it was to the figure he
has given.

Of all the dogs of this section, none surpass in obsti-
nacy and ferocity the bulldog. This fierce creature is
smaller than the mastiff, but more compactly formed ;
the breast is broad, the chest deep, the loins narrow, the
tail slender and arched up, and, with the exception of the
head and neck, the figure approximates to that of the
greyhound, the limbs being, however, shorter and more
robust. The head is broad and thick, the muzzle short
and deep, the jaws strong, and the lower jaw often ad-
vances, so that the inferior incisor teeth overshoot the
upper. The ears are short and semi-erect, the nostrils
distended, the eyes scowling, and the whole expression
calculated to inspire terror. Of the brutal use to which
this dog was formerly, nay, recently applied, we shall
say nothing : all have heard of the barbarous custom of
bull-baiting, so common in some countries, and but lately
abolished in England ; and all are aware of the manner
in which this dog attacks his enemy, and how tenaciously
he maintains his hold.

In all its habits and propensities, the bulldog is essen-
tially gladiatorial — it is a fighting dog, and nothing else :
its intelligence is very limited ; and though we have
known dogs of this breed attached to their masters, they
exhibited, even in their feelings of attachment, an apathy,
in perfect contrast to the Newfoundland, the watch-dog,
or the spaniel. These latter dogs delight to accompany
their master in his walks, and scour the fields and lanes
in the exuberance of delight ; the bulldog skulks at its
master's heels, and regards with a suspicious glance every-
thing and everybody that passes by ; nor, indeed, isv it

ON THE MASTIFF RACE AND THE TERRIERS. 215

safe to approach the animal, for it often attacks without
the slightest provocation.

A cross breed between the bulldog and the terrier is
celebrated for spirit and determination.

The Corsican and Spanish bulldogs closely resemble
the English breed, but are larger. A Spanish bulldog,
wrhich we had very recently an opportunity of examining,
was certainly the most powerfully formed dog we have
ever seen. In stature it was between the English bull-
dog and mastiff, but of massive build, with thick muscular
limbs, tremendous breadth of chest, and an awful head.
It was very gentle, excepting when urged to make an
attack, when its ferocity knew no bounds.

It has been usual to consider the pug-dog as a dege-
nerate variety of the bulldog, but we doubt the correct-
ness of this theory. It has, indeed, somewhat the aspect
of the bulldog on a miniature scale ; but the similarity is
more in superficial appearance than in reality. The pug
is a little round-headed, short-nosed dog, with a preter-
natural abbreviation of the muzzle, and with a tightly
twisted tail. We cannot help considering it as a specimen
of hereditary malformation. Not so the bulldog, in which
the bones of the skull and the temporal muscles are finely
developed, and in which the muzzle and head are in per-
fect harmony.

The pug-dog is timid, and by no means remarkable for
intelligence. Formerly it was in great esteem as a pet,
but is now little valued, and not often kept.

We now come to a group, of which the terrier may
be regarded as the typical example. Several breeds of
these spirited dogs exist in our island, all celebrated for
vigour, intelligence, boldness, and irrepressible ardour

216

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

in the destruction of the otter, the fox, the badger, the
rat, &c. They bite keenly and hesitate not to attack
any enemy. The different breeds of these dogs, which
are nowhere found in such perfection as in the British
Islands, may be reduced to three, viz., the smooth ter-
rier, the rough wire-haired Scotch terrier, and the long-
haired, short-legged terrier of the Isle of Skye. Most
probably all are descended from one original race, of
great antiquity, brought over by some of the earliest
colonists of our island. The smooth terrier varies in
colour ; some are black with tanned limbs and muzzle, a
tanned spot over each eye, and a black palate ; others
are white. The head is carried high, the nose is sharp,
the chest broad and the body compact and vigorous.
The wire-haired terrier is shorter in the limbs, rather
more robustly made, and generally of a white or sandy
colour. The Isle of Skye terrier is covered with long
coarse hair ; its limbs are very short, but muscular ; its
back is long, its ears erect ; the eyes large and bright ;
the muzzle short and pointed. The colour is sandy
brown, reddish, or white. The latter breed is much
used for otter-hunting on the wild shores of the western
isles of Scotland, and though the dogs are of small size,
their courage is equal to any encounter, while from their
peculiarity of form they are able to enter the holes be-
tween the rocks, into which a larger animal could not
manage to force its way. The following description of
an otter-hunt in the Hebrides will serve to show the
spirit of these admirable dogs : — " It was a fine morning
in September. Landing on one of the islands from a
boat, the terriers were loosened from their couples, and
left to their own instinct to find the otter's den. After

ON THE MASTIFF RACE AND THE TERRIERS.

217

scrambling a considerable distance over masses of rock
and loose pebbles, on a remarkably wild and beautiful
shore, the dogs, by their eagerness of manner and inces-
sant barking, convinced the party the game was within
scent. The gentlemen, with guns cocked, then arranged
themselves in convenient situations for intercepting the
passage of the otter, should he attempt to take refuge
in the sea ; some mounted on the tops of rocks, others
stood near the water, or in the boat which had accompanied
the party from the landing-place. The keepers in the
mean-time assisted the dogs in their efforts to discover
the lurking-hole of the prey. One of them, a thickset
Highlander, displayed very considerable enthusiasm.
Addressing the dogs in Gaelic, he set to work with all
the fervour of the animals themselves, tearing away large
stones from the hole, and half burying himself to enable
;the dogs to come at their object ; they in the mean time
ran about, yelping in the greatest excitement, and scratch-
ling at every aperture between the stones. While this
; action was going on at one hole, a large otter poked his
J head out of another, and looked about with as much as-

i tonishment as his countenance was capable of expressing,
j| until catching a glimpse of one of his enemies he sud-
denly retreated from the light. This incident having
ijbeen observed, the attention of the party was transferred
to the retreat thus betrayed. A large stone was first

I uplifted and hurled upon the top of the pile, with the
I intention of either forcing the inmate out by the shock,
or of breaking some of the stones. Then a pole was
(thrust into the crevice, which was enlarged so as to

ii admit a dog. One of the canine besiegers immediately
j rushed in, and after a few seconds spent in grappling

218

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

with his antagonist, an otter was dragged forth, al whom
the whole body of dogs ran a tilt. His defence was
most heroic, many of his assailants exhibiting evidences
of the power of his bite. The battle was continued for
several minutes ; and to those who delight in the display
of animal ferocity, the noise of enraged combatants, and
the sight of wounds and death, must have afforded high
enjoyment. Dogs and otter, involved in one compact
group, rolled down a precipitous ledge of crags, at the
bottom of which, the power of numbers prevailing, the
poor otter yielded up his life, dying very hard, as it is
called." The otter is in fact a fearful opponent, and
the dogs receive most terrible wounds, which, however,
do not daunt their inflexible courage for an instant.
All have heard of the Pepper and Mustard breeds
celebrated by Sir Walter Scott ; and most are familiar
with the instructions of Dandie Dinmont respecting the
mode of training them.*

A brace of terriers usually accompanies every pack of
foxhounds, for the sake of unearthing the game, an act
requiring no little courage and resolution. Mr. Daniel,
in his ' Rural Sports/ gives the following account of the
ferocity and affection of a terrier bitch : — After a very
severe burst of more than an hour, a fox was by Mr.
Daniel's hounds run to earth at Heney Dovehouse, near
Sudbury, in Suffolk ; the terriers were lost, but as the
fox went to ground in view of the headmost hounds, and
it was the concluding day of the season, it was resolved
to dig him. Two men from Sudbury brought two ter-
riers for that purpose, and, after considerable labour, the

* ' Guy Manneriug.'

ON THE MASTIFF RACE AND THE TERRIERS. 219

hunted fox was got and given to the hounds. While
they were breaking the fox, one of the terriers slipt
back into the earth, and after more digging a bitch fox
was taken out. The terrier had killed two cubs in the
earth, but three others were saved from her fury. These
the owner of the bitch begged to have, saying he should
make her suckle them. This was laughed at as impos-
sible ; the man, however, was positive, and had the
cubs : the bitch fox was carried away and turned into
an earth in another part of the country.

Mr. Daniel then relates that, as the terrier had be-
haved so well at earth, he some days afterwards bought
her, with the cubs which she had fostered. The bitch
continued to suckle them regularly, and reared them
until they were able to shift for themselves : what adds
to the singularity, Mr. Daniel observes, is that the ter-
rier's whelp was nearly five weeks old, and the cubs
could just see, when this exchange of progeny was made.
He also states that a circumstance partly similar to the
foregoing occurred in 1797, at the Duke of Richmond's,
at Goodwood, where five foxes were nurtured and
suckled by two foxhound bitches.

The same author states, that in April, 1784, his
hounds found at Bromfield-Hall wood. By some acci-
dent the whipper-in was thrown out, and after following
the track two or three miles, gave up the pursuit. As
he returned home, he came through the fields near the
cover where the fox was found. A terrier that was with
him whined and was very busy at the foot of a pollard
oak, and he dismounted, supposing that there might be a
hole at the bottom harbouring a polecat or some small
vermin. No hole could he discern. The dog was eager

220

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

to get up the tree, which was covered with twigs from
the stem to the crown, and upon which was visible the
dirt left by something that had gone up and down the
boughs. The whipper-in lifted the dog as high as he
could, and the terrier's eagerness increased. He then
climbed the tree, putting up the dog before him. The
instant the terrier reached the top the man heard him
seize something, and, to his surprise, found him fast
chapped with a bitch fox, which he secured, as well as
four cubs. The height of the tree was twenty-three
feet ; nor was there any mode for the fox to go to or
from her young, except the outside boughs: the tree
had no bend to render the path easy. Three of the
cubs were bagged, and bred up tame to commemorate
this extraordinary case : one of them belonged to Mr.
Leigh, and used to run tame about the coffee-room at
Wood's Hotel, Covent Garden.

Colonel H. Smith says, in reference to the daring and
spirit of the terrier, "It is often noticed in India that,
when the bulldog pauses, British terriers never hesitate
to surround and grapple with the hyaena, the wolf, and
even the panther." With this courage, the terrier is at
the same time very affectionate and intelligent, and
makes an admirable house-dog. We have seen one
guard his master's coat or hat or gloves during his
absence, and prevent every one from touching a single
article. There are many degenerate mongrel races, in
which more or less of the terrier blood prevails ; as in
some of the drovers' and butchers' dogs, which are often
very savage.

To the present group of dogs may be added the old-
fashioned turnspit, of mongrel origin ; the hairless Bar-

ON THE MASTIFF RACE AND THE TERRIERS. 221

bar}' dog, also a mongrel ; and the skulking mongrel dogs
of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. So valuable to the
savages of those wild and dreary regions are these
animals, that in times of famine they sacrifice the oldest
woman of the tribe, and become cannibals rather than
destroy a single dog. Dogs, say they, catch otters ;
old women are good for nothing ! The dogs of these
savages are of a very mixed race, from various breeds of
European origin ; they are strong, fierce, and cunning.
With them the natives guard their huts, hunt otters, or
catch sleeping or wounded birds. Those of Patagonia
have much resemblance to the lurcher ; while those of
the Fuegian Indians somewhat resemble terriers, or a
mixture between a terrier and shepherd's dog. They
bark furiously at strangers, and keep a most vigilant
watch.

Here, then, we conclude our history of the Dog, an
animal given to man to be his assistant and friend. To
his service is the dog devoted ; by him are its very in-
stincts modified ; to him it looks up for encouragement,
and his good word or kind caress throws it into a rapture
of delight. The dog enjoys to walk out with its master ;
it listens for his footstep, it whines in his absence, and
it greets his return. Fidelity, courage, and intelligence
are its attributes. It is the only animal which from a
spontaneous impulse allies itself to the human race,
shares with equal devotion the cottage of the peasant
and the palace of the noble, and claims a return of the
attachment it manifests, a return which every wrell-
ordered mind will willingly accord.

In conclusion, we may, perhaps, not improperly add
the following characteristics of a high-bred dog, whatever

L

222

HISTORY OF THE DOG.

the race be to which it belongs : — A large full eye, bold
and sparkling, not linear or oblique ; a neck well raised
from the bust ; high shoulders thrown back, with the hu-
meral joints prominently marked ; the breast broad ; the
chest deep ; the loins arched, broad, and muscular ; the
tail gradually tapering and rushlike ; the limbs clean and
sinewy and firm ; the feet catlike and rounded ; the tarsus,
or length from heel to foot, short ; the thighs muscular
and set back ; no superabundant loose skin about the body ;
no thick joints, disproportionate to muscle. These are
points that every well-bred dog, from the shepherd's
faithful assistant to the finest setter, hound, or pointer,
must exhibit. They are the characteristics of strength
and energy.

THE END.

London: tinted by W, Clowe* & Sons, Stamford Street.