306 THE MASTIFF. 
In all tasks where persevering courage is required, the Bull-dog is quietly eminent, 
and can conquer many a Dog in its own peculiar accomplishment. The idea of yielding 
does not seem to enter his imagination, and he steadily perseveres until he succeeds or 
falls. One of these animals was lately matched by his owner to swim a race against a 
large white Newfoundland Dog, and won the race by nearly a hundred yards. The owners 
of the competing quadrupeds threw them out of a boat at a given signal, and then rowed 
away as fast as they could pull. The two Dogs followed the boat at the best of their speed, 
and the race was finally won by the Bull-dog. It is rather remarkable that the Bull-dog 
swam with the whole of his head and the greater part of his neck out of the water, while 
the Newfoundland only showed the upper part of his head above the surface. 
According to the authority which has already been quoted, a well-bred Bull-dog ought 
to present the following characteristics of form. “The head should be round, the skull 
high, the eye of moderate size, and the forehead well sunk between the eyes; the ears 
semi-erect and small, well placed on the top of the head, and rather close together than 
otherwise ; the muzzle short, truncate, and well furnished with chop; the back should be 
short, well arched towards the stern, which should be fine, and of moderate leneth. Many 
Bull-dogs have what is called a crooked stern, as though the vertebrae of the tail were 
dislocated or broken; I am disposed to attribute this to in-breeding. The coat should 
be fine, though many superior strains are very woolly coated ; the chest should be deep 
and broad, the lees strong and muscular, and the foot narrow, and well split up like a 
hare’s.” 
The Mastirr, which is the largest and most powerful of the indigenous English Dogs, 
is of a singularly mild and placid temper, seeming to delight in employing its great 
powers in affording protection to the weak, whether they be men or Dogs. It is averse to 
inflicting an injury upon a smaller animal, even when it has been sorely provoked, and 
either looks down upon its puny tormentor with sovereign disdain, or inflicts just suffi- 
cient punishment to indicate the vast strength which it could employ, but which it would 
not condescend to waste upon so insignificant a foe, 
Yet, with all this nobility of its gentle nature, it is a most determined and courageous 
animal in fight, and, when defending its master or his property, becomes a foe which few 
opponents would like to face. These qualifications of mingled courage and gentleness adapt 
it especially for the service of watch-dog, a task im which the animal is as likely to fail 
by overweening zeal as by neglect of its duty. It sometimes happens that a watch-dog is 
tpo hasty in its judgment, and attacks a harmless stranger, on the supposition that it is 
resisting the approach of an enemy. Sometimes the bull-dog strain is mixed with the 
Mastiff, in order to add a more stubborn courage to the animal; but in the eyes of 
good judges this admixture is quite unnecessary. 
Tt has already been mentioned that the Mastiff is fond of affording the benefit of its 
protection to those who need it. As, however, the Dog is but a Dog after all, it some- 
times brings evil instead of good upon those who accept its guardianship. 
During my school-boy days, a large Mastiff, called Nelson, struck up a great friend- 
ship with myself and some of my schoolfellows, and was accustomed to partake of our 
hebdomadal banquets at the pastrycook’s shop, and to accompany us in our walks. One 
summer, as we were bathing in the Dove, a man pounced upon our clothes, and would 
have carried them off, had it not been for the opportune assistance of some older lads of 
the same school, who captured the offender after a smart chase, and tossed him into the 
river until he was fain to cry for mercy. 
In order to prevent a repetition of a similar mischance, we determined to take Nelson 
with us, and put him in charge of our clothes. The old Dog was delighted at the walk, 
and mounted sentry over the pile of garments, while we recreated ourselves in the stream, 
and caught crayfish or tickled trout at our leisure. Unfortunately, a number of cows had 
lately been placed in the field, and, after the usually inquisitive custom of cows, they 
approached the spot where Nelson was lying, in order to ascertain the nature of the 
strange object on the river bank. Nelson permitted them to come quite close, merely 
uttering a few warning erowls, but when one of the cows began to toss a jacket with her 
eee 
