522 BRITISH DOGS 



It is nothing out of the common for a Border Terrier to go down 

 a rent in a rock after a fox, and be unable to climb back, neces- 

 sitating continued digging or quarrying for three or four days. Of 

 course many are never seen again. Whether they venture farther 

 than the fox and fall down some slit, or whether both are lost, it is 

 impossible to say. 



To face the moss-holes (long runners of water) formed at the 

 bottom of the mosses and often a quarter of a mile long, hard coats 

 are a necessity. Many of even the very hardiest die of starvation 

 after coming out of these holes, and before they can be carried to 

 the shelter and warmth of the nearest fireside, which may be five 

 or six miles distant, so sparsely populated is that part of the Border- 

 land. 



Border Terriers are often left in an earth at a fox many miles 

 from home, but are generally found to have returned next morning, 

 though sometimes they do not arrive for several days, and then 

 are frequently badly bitten. 



As stated, the Border Terrier has a good nose, is a keen holer, 

 and he will go to ground in places that almost any other Terrier 

 would not look at. He can follow a horse over the roughest ground 

 of his native country, and yet he is small enough to follow a fox 

 through any rocky earth. He can stand wet and cold as well as 

 any breed, and better than most, is very sharp at rats and other 

 vermin, and at the same time is a sensible, affectionate, and cleanly 

 companion. 



With regard to the dogs shown in the illustration (Fig. 105), Flint, 

 the dog on the right, was whelped in 1894. He was by Mr. Jacob 

 Robson's (Byrness) Rock out of Mr. Tom Robson's (Bridgeford) Rat. 

 Fury, the bitch on the left, whelped in 1898, was by Flint out of the 

 good old bitch Vene. Of Flint Mr. Dodd thus writes : 



" Flint was lost one January during severe weather, along with a 

 young dog by him. They went off rabbiting on their own account, 

 and were never seen or heard of again ; they must have got into 

 some strong fox-earth and been unable to get out again. Friends 

 and others searched the whole district for them. Fancying that bark- 

 ing was heard in one hole, willing helpers set to work digging, and 

 after working a few hours and getting the hole fairly opened out, it 

 was found that there was room for a man to creep in thirty or forty 

 yards ; but the hole was too narrow to proceed farther. The task 

 was given up as hopeless, and whether the dogs were in the hole 

 or not remains a mystery. On the following day, however, when 

 out with hounds and again looking for them, a fox was found by 

 the same hole very badly bitten, and nearly dead. 



Flint was a marvellous working Terrier. He had a splendid nose, 

 and was never beaten to find his fox in either crag or moss-hole. 



