2 62 ZOOLOGICAL SKETCHES. 



often a cock-pit, and sometimes a pigeon-shooting-gal- 

 lery, but nearly always a dog-ring. He keeps fighting- 

 dogs of all kinds, gryffhonds, terriers, and pinchers, 

 but permits his guests to make his ring the arena of 

 their private honds. Some of these fighting-dogs have 

 achieved a national reputation. The competition for 

 the puppies of a favorite gryffhond rivals the wrangle 

 over the bulbs of the famous tulips of old, and the pro- 

 fessional fanciers keep regular blue-books of dog-pedi- 

 grees. A fighting-dog does not lose caste by being 

 overpowered in one or two rounds : only death, a per- 

 manently disabling wound, and the refusal to " come to 

 the scratch," constitute an absolute defeat. Even a 

 defeated hond, though his rank is lost, may recover a 

 quasi prestige by killing his adversary in the next fight ; 

 but there are dog-dynasties that have preserved a clean 

 record for five or six generations ; and in Amsterdam 

 my brother once procured me an introduction to the 

 most invariably triumphant warrior of his age, Klaas, 

 the Koning, a mastiff of doubtful descent, but of a most 

 indubitable superiority over all his living rivals. His 

 owner, a choleric old skipper, had inherited him from a 

 relative who took no interest in pedigrees, but the Ko- 

 ning's victories had founded a new peerage, and his 

 descendants began to eclipse the ci-devant aristocracy 

 of the neighboring towns. The " King" deserved his 

 rank. He had never lost a fight. His owner had pitted 

 him against boars, bulls, and several of the outlandish 



