ANECDOTE OP A PERSIAN GREYHOUND. J 23 



above water, is curtailed in its length, as being less necessary, 

 but tapering gradually to a point, that on shutting it may 

 offer less opposition. (The length of the upper mandible is 

 three inches and a half; that of the lower four and a half.) 

 To prevent inconvenience from the rushing of the water, the 

 mouth is confined to the mere opening of the gullet ; which, 

 indeed, prevents mastication taking place there, but the sto- 

 mach or gizzard, to which this business is solely allotted, is 

 of uncommon hardness, strength, and muscularity, far sur- 

 passing in these respects any other water bird with which I 

 am acquainted. To all these is added a vast expansion of 

 wing, to enable the bird to sail with sufficient celerity while 

 dipping in the water. The general proportion of the length 

 of our swiftest hawks and swallows to their breadth is as one 

 to two ; but in the present case, as there is not only the re- 

 sistance of the air but also that of the water to overcome, a 

 still greater volume of wing is given, — the Sheerwater mea- 

 suring nineteen inches in length and upwards of forty-four 

 in extent*. In short, whoever has attentively examined this 

 curious apparatus, and observed the possessor with his ample 

 wings, long bending neck, and lower mandible occasionally 

 dipt into and ploughing the surface, and the facility with 

 which he procures his food, cannot but consider it a mere 

 playful amusement, when compared with the dashing im- 

 mersions of the tern, the gull, or the fish-hawk, who, to the 

 superficial observer, appear so superiorly accommodated." 



ANECDOTE OF A PERSIAN GREYHOUNDf. 



[From Sir Robert Kerr Porter's Travels in Georgia, Persia, &c] 



M At this point of my journal 1 cannot refrain from mention- 

 ing an instance of uncommon sagacity in a greyhound of our 

 company; that sort of dog not, in general, being celebrated 

 for anything beside fleetness in the chase. Soon after we 

 had advanced into the uneven country, by some negligence or 

 other, the horse-keeper allowed a fine spirited animal he was 

 leading to break away. The horse set off at speed up the 

 hills ; and, from the darkness of the night, and the few peo- 

 ple 1 could spare to pursue, I at first despaired of his reco- 



* The wandering albatross (JDiomedea exulans,) measures in length 

 nearly four feet, and in extent about ten feet or upwards (Shaw's Zoo- 

 logy) ; nearly the same proportions as those of the sheerwater. 



f A fine specimen of this elegant, and, as it appears, sagacious and cou- 

 rageous variety of dog, may be seen at the Zoological Gardens, Regent's 

 Park. 



