A CHAPTER ON DOGS. 



But even with us, the dogs who hunt on their own account, display an ingenuity which is 

 seidom attained by those who hunt for a master. The wily lurcher, who, more than any 

 other dog, is addicted to poaching, when he puts up a rabbit, makes for her burrow, and 

 there awaits her arrival. M. Blaze had two dogs that hunted by stealth, of whom one 

 started the hare, and the other, concealed behind a fence, pounced on her as she passed 

 through her accustomed run. A story is told of a pointer and a greyhound who combin- 

 ed together — the greyhound availing himself of the scent of the pointer to find the game, 

 the pointer of the speed of his associate to catch it. The pointer becoming suspected was 

 furnished with a chain to impede his movements; and still continuing his roving life, it 

 was at length discovered that the greyhound, in order to enable him to hunt us usual, car- 

 ried the chain in his mouth, till he himself was called upon to take up the chase. The 

 skill of the common hound, though less striking, is still proportioned to the exigencies of 

 the service, and is something more than a mere instinct; for when a young dog is entirely 

 at fault, one experienced in the craft, will detect the doublings of the fox or the stag, the 

 devices to break the scent, or the attempts to divert it, by starting another animal. It is 

 practice which has taught him to unravel the intricacies of the chase, to distinguish be- 

 tween conflicting scents, to divine the rwse of a fugitive that is fertile in resources. In one 

 thing, however, old dogs and young, tame dogs and wild, are all alike, and that is in the 

 interest they take in sport. The symptoms of preparation never fail to produce in them 

 the most lively transports. The dog whose master is accidentallj^ prevented from taking 

 the field, will often seek out a neighboring sportsman, and enlist in his service for the day, 

 though it would be a vain effort to entice him for any other object, and equally vain to at- 

 tempt to retain him when the sport was at an end. Even in the company of his master, 

 true as he is to his allegiance, he will attach himself for the occasion to a total stranger, 

 who chances to be a better shot; and j-et, far from deriving any advantage from the re- 

 sult, he entertains a dislike for the bones of game, which he eats, when he eats them at 

 all, with the reluctant air that shows them to be distasteful. 



As a carrier of merchandize, the most delicate task which a dog has to perform is in the 

 inland smuggling trade of the Continent. In this arduous service, which is constantly fa- 

 tal to him, he shows a wonderful sagacity. Loaded with goods he sets out in the night, 

 scents the custom-house officer, attacks him if he can take him at a disadvantage, and 

 conceals himself, if escape is difficult, behind a bush or tree. On his arrival at his desti- 

 nation he will not show himself till he has first ascertained that the coast is clear, and 

 while he remains gives warning of the approach of the common enemy. It is manifest 

 that a whole army of custom-house officers can do little towards exterminating smugglers, 

 of whom the supply is unlimited, who cross the frontiers in silence and darkness, whose 

 road is the pathless wood and plain, who snuff" danger in the wind, and who either evade 

 it by their swiftness, or find a lurking place in every hedge row. 



We turn with pleasure from the illicit functions in which the monopoly of guilt and pro- 

 fit is to the man, and that of peril and suff'ering to his faithful animal. The shepherd's 

 dog in his own department, is a perfect miracle of intelligence. lie understands the sign, 

 the voice, the look of his master. He collects the scattered sheep at the slightest signal, 

 separates any one that is indicated from the rest of the flock, drives them wherever he is 

 told, and keeps them all the while under perfect control, less by his active exertions than 

 by the modulations of his voice, which expresses every tone, from gentle instruction to 

 angry menace. These are his ordinary performances, visible every day in a thousand pas 

 tures. But he can do greater wonders. It chanced one night that seven hundred lambs, 

 committed to the keeping of the Ettrick Shepherd, broke loose from his control and scam- 



