DISEASES OF THE DOGS. 195 



every dog kept in and about Melbourne a kind of 

 douceur, I fancy, to the police ; and each dog must be 

 registered and wear a collar. Although fewer diseases 

 prevail among the dogs out here than at home, I have 

 heard it remarked, that they are far more difficult to 

 cure. Hydrophobia is unknown. The worst and most 

 common sickness is a species of distemper, not at all like 

 the distemper at home, but a kind of spasmodic affection 

 in the loins, which comes on at all ages. It is to be 

 cured ; but I never knew a dog worth much after it. 

 The receipt which I got from a sporting " Vet " was to 

 cut the roof of the mouth across, from gum to gum, so 

 that it may bleed freely, and give a dose of garlic every 

 morning for four days. I do not know what it is owing 

 to, but dogs either get very soon worn out in this 

 country, or very cunning ; for a sporting dog is worth 

 little or nothing after about his fourth season. 



How imperceptibly and closely does a man become 

 attached to old localities, and old companions, even if 

 they are but dumb animals ; for, childish as it may 

 appear, it was with feelings of deeper emotion than any 

 one can imagine who has not, like myself, spent year after 

 year in the solitude of the bush, that I parted from my 

 mates and the old bush-tent, and for the first time in my 

 life drove my dogs back, who followed me when I left 

 with half-imploring, half-incredulous looks. As I turned 

 my back upon the forest, I felt that my sporting career 

 in Australia had ended ; that I was parting with friends 

 whom in all probability I should never see again ; that I 

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