2j6 British Dogs. 



mastiff, although, the rough dense coat and black colour is quite a 

 contrast to the rich fawns and fallows of our home breed, with their 

 close-lying short and shining jackets. 



The subject of our engraving is a remarkably fine specimen, one of 

 two exhibited by His Eoyal Highness the Prince of Wales at the Alex- 

 andra Palace Show, December, 1875. The pair were exceedingly well 

 matched, and were much admired, Siring, whose portrait we give, being 

 perhaps a shade the better. 



In size they are not quite equal to our native mastiffs, although the 

 long coat gives them an advantage in appearance, but both the specimens 

 shown by His Eoyal Highness were well formed, strong in the back 

 and loins, deep ribbed, with well developed quarters, and standing on stout 

 straight legs with no lack of bone"; the coat is about as longaa a New- 

 foundland's and very dense, not sleek and glossy, but rough, without 

 being harsh ; the colour is black, inclining to brownish-black on some 

 parts of the body ; the tail is large, well furnished with hair, and carried 

 pretty high and with a good swirl in fact, the term " gawcie," which 

 Burns uses to describe the Scotch colley's tail, pretty accurately applies, 

 but unfortunately I can find no exact equivalent in English. Bushy yet 

 showy comes near it, and the Thibet mastiff carries his stern much 

 higher than the colley in fact, well over the hips. 



The head, wherein the character of the animal is stamped, and where 

 we always look first in considering the type of dog, differs considerably 

 from that of his English namesake, and partakes somewhat of the 

 character of our bloodhounds, although equally distinct from that, and it 

 might fairly be described as a compromise between the two, as it possesses 

 features common to both the skull is shorter than that of the blood- 

 hound, and not so massive as that of our mastiff ; the ears are small, like 

 the latter, but the eyes are deep sunk, like the bloodhound's, and show 

 some haw ; there is also a good deal of flew, the lips falling very deep, 

 quite as much so as in an ordinary specimen of a bloodhound, and with 

 this there is the usual concomitant throatiness, although this latter 

 feature is not so noticeable under the thick ruff that surrounds the throat 

 and neck as it is in the smooth-haired hound ; the muzzle is a trifle 

 longer than in our mastiffs, and the nose is wide and capacious, showing 

 inherent ability to hunt, although that quality may not be developed, as 

 he ia principally used as a guard. The general appearance of the animal 



