The Reason of his Intelligence. 27 



hundreds and bring them within any compass that may be 

 required. 



" The sheep dog is so completely absorbed in what seems 

 the sole business and employment of his life, that he does 

 not bestow a look, or indulge a wish beyond the constant 

 protection of the trust reposed in him, and to execute the 

 commands of his master, which he is always incessantly 

 anxious to receive, and in fact is invariably looking for by 

 every solicitous attention it is possible to conceive. 

 Inured to all weathers, fatigue, and hunger, he is the least 

 voracious of his species, subsists upon little, and may be 

 considered truly emblematical of content. Though there 

 is an appearance of somniferous indolence in the exterior, 

 it is by no means a constitutional mark of habitual inability; 

 on the contrary, the sagacity, fidelity, and comprehensive 

 penetrations of this kind of dog is equal to any other, but 

 that there is a thoughtful or expressive gravity annexed to 

 this particular race, as if they were absolutely conscious 

 of their own utility in business of importance, and the value 

 of the stock so confidently committed to their care." 



No doubt a really good collie, well trained and accus- 

 tomed to his work, is the most sensible quadruped in 

 creation, the huge elephant alone excepted. But the 

 reader must not get into his mind that all collies are equally 

 good alike; as in other races of dogs, there are both good, 

 bad, and indifferent. The continual association of the 

 shepherd's dogs with their owners have given them their 

 unusual degree of intelligence : they live in the house with 

 him, they accompany him on his daily rounds to look after 

 the flocks or the herds, they feed with their master as a rule, 

 and are looked on by him as a part and parcel of his farm 

 stock. They were thus a hundred years ago and more, 



