THE POINTER. 119 



often beaten before he lias really gotten to work, by his 

 more showy and dashing competitor. 



So long as field trials are conducted under artificial 

 rules, thoroughly at variance with practical and continued 

 work, and so long as the tendency to run fast from the 

 word "go" is considered the point of highest excellence, 

 the Pointer may preferably be kept in the background^ for 

 the use of those gentlemen who were not born with wings, 

 who do not hunt j on horseback, and who require a careful, 

 moderately fast dog, possessed of excellent nose, thoroughly 

 stanch, and capable of doing a whole day's work, or more, 

 without tiring. 



It is generally admitted that the Pointer is more natu- 

 rally inclined to point, and at an earlier age, than the Setter; 

 that he is more easily broken, more obedient, retains his 

 training longer, and endures punishment with greater forti- 

 tude than the Setter. It is also our observation and expe- 

 rience, that the Pointer is fully as fond of the water as the 

 Setter, and can be as easily trained to enter it for retriev- 

 ing purposes. 



Many instances have been related illustrating the re- 

 markable stanchness of the Pointer. Pluto and Juno, 

 Pointers owned by Colonel Thornton, an early sportsman 

 of England, are said to have held a point for one hour 

 and a quarter, while being sketched by Mr. Gilpin, by 

 whom they were afterward painted for their owner. 



" Idstone" tells us of other Pointers that did not break 

 their point for five and twelve hours, respectively; and 

 also relates the case of another Pointer, who, in 1814, was 

 frozen to death while on point, quoting as authority a rela- 

 tive of his own, who claims to have witnessed the fact, 

 while journeying from Leicester to Oxford, during the 

 memorable frost of that year. 



With regard to the field qualities of the modern Pointer, 

 a great deal of nonsense has been written by men who 

 ought to have known better. "Frank Forester" has been 

 the means of handing down a great many fallacies promul- 

 gated by early writers, an^. has himself given utterance to 



