HOW ANIMALS GET HOME. 211 



lost sight of it, and on the Wednesday following he re- 

 ceived a letter from his mother, stating that the dog had 

 returned to her. Now you will see that the dog went first 

 by road, then by market-boat, then through streets, then by 

 rail, then by steamer, then through streets again, then by 

 rail again, then through streets again, it being dark at the 

 time." Whether the animal really did follow the back- 

 track with all this exactness or not, one thing is certain, 

 he had sagacity enough to find his w r ay, and (as is note- 

 worthy in all these incidents) did so with astonishing speed. 

 The second instance is still more striking, and illustrates 

 very forcibly the strong love of home in the dog, which is 

 the motive in all these extraordinary and difficult journeys. 

 "A gentleman in Calcutta wrote to a friend living near 

 In verkei thing, on the shores of the Frith of Forth, request- 

 ing him to send a good Scotch collie dog. This was done 

 in due course, and the arrival of the dog was duly acknowl- 

 edged. But the next mail brought accounts of the dog 

 having disappeared, and that nothing could be seen or 

 heard of him. Imagine the astonishment of the gentle- 

 man in In verkei thing when, a few weeks later, friend 

 Collie bounced into his house, wagging his tail, barking 

 furiously, and exhibiting, as only a dog can, his great joy 

 at finding his master." Inquiry showed that the dog had 



