N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y. 



819 



laid the hare at his feet, and imme- 

 .diately turning round, Hew at the 

 men, but was then so weak, Im con- 

 sequencii of the successive exertions, 

 that he again dropped as if dead ; by 

 bleeding, and proper attention, he 

 was luckily recovered, and long 

 continued a faithful servant of an 

 affectionate master. 



In 1794, as a party of gentlemen 

 Avere coursing at Finchingfield, in 

 Essex, a hare was suddenly and un- 

 expectedly started, when a brace of 

 greyhounds, coming in opposite di- 

 rections, ran against each other with 

 such velocity, that both were killed 

 on the spot. 



In February, 1798, a brace of 

 greyhounds, belonging to a gentle- 

 man of (,'arlisle, coursed a hare from 

 the Swcft, and killed her at Clem- 

 niell, a distance of seven miles: both 

 the dogs were so exhausted, that, 

 with every possible means of assist- 

 ance, they were with difficulty reco- 

 vered. The field consisted of nearly 

 t«T) hundred horsemen, and much 

 money was sported upon the occa- 

 sion : betting was even at starting, 

 although the hare was the favourite 

 against the greyhounds, she having 

 been repeatedly coursed, but always 

 beat her pursuers easy. She was, on 

 the day cf her death, given two hun- 

 dred yards law, and, when killed, 

 found to weigh eight pounds eleven 

 ounces ; rendering erroneous the 

 opinion that light hare-i are the best 

 runners. 



Some few years since,thegreyhound 

 ol a gentlt'Mian wiio was delayed at 

 Dover, waiting for a wind, was 

 taken by the owner and a small 

 party, in search of a Iiare of some 

 *Ioral notoriety, who had escaped her 

 previous pursuers of every descrip- 

 tion ; wlien found, the greyhound 

 soon proved hiaiself !o superior in 



speed, that she instantly ran for the 

 cliff, as the only chance of escaping; 

 but, throwing himself at her some 

 yards with the most incredible and 

 determined ferocity, he caught her 

 exactly on the brink, and unfortu- 

 nately went with her in his mouth to 

 the bottom, where, as may be natu- 

 ral!}' concluded, they were literally 

 daslied to pieces. 



The mild, affable^ and serene as- 

 pect of the greyhound, in its domes- 

 tic state, constitutes no drawback to 

 its innate sagacity, or grateful atten- 

 tion to its protector ; of which the 

 unfortunate king Charles the first 

 V. a-s so truly observant, that the re- 

 mark he made during his troubles is 

 upon record, and strictly just, as 

 applicable to the instinctive fidelity 

 of the animal, as well as its satirical 

 effects upon the herd of sycophants 

 who surrounded him. In the course 

 of a faniiliar conversation, respect- 

 ing the canine species in general, a 

 doubt was started, what particular 

 kind of dog was entitled to pre-emi- 

 nence, when it was universally ad- 

 mitted to rest between the spaniel 

 and the greyhound : to which the 

 monarch gave a polished finish, in 

 favonr of the latter, by saying it 

 possessed all the good-nature and 

 solicitous affability of the spaniel, 

 without the fawning. 



The natural simplicity and peace- 

 able demeanour of the greyhound has 

 sometimes induced a doubt, whether 

 the instinctive sagacity of this particu- 

 lar race has been equal to some others 

 of the species ; circumstances, per- 

 haps, have not often occurred, by 

 which a fair criterion could have 

 been formed ; one, however, witliia 

 tlie personal knowledge and remem- 

 brance of the writer, seems admira- 

 bly calculated to throw an additional 

 light upou that part of Lh* subjetK 



3G2 A Als. 



