DOGS OF CHINA AND JAPAN 



letter from the Duke of Milan to his Ambassador : " We 

 were especially fond of Brebur, whom the King sent, but 

 whether from change of air or some other accident he fell 

 sick, and though we gave him every care he died. This has 

 caused us much grief. We beg His Majesty to send another 

 dog of the same race, as nothing would give us greater pleasure. 

 We send the present bearer for no other reason." Sforza, 

 the Duke of Milan, wrote to King Henry in 1487 : " The 

 two noble dogs which we desired from your island have 

 arrived safely, and nothing could please us better." * In 

 1584 Stafford wrote to Walsingham to " entreat you for some 

 greyhounds, especially Irish, or the largest sort of English 

 ones ... for the Cardinal de Medicis." f 



A little later the East India Company began to take energetic 

 steps for the opening up of trade with Japan and China. 

 In doing so it made use of the high reputation of the then 

 existing British breeds of dogs, and they became a common 

 article of export on the British ships. There can be little 

 doubt that greyhounds from England reached China at this 

 period. 



In 1614 Captain Saris recommended the sending of a 

 " fine greyhound " to the son of the Daimio of Hirado. In 

 the same year the Governor of Surat requested the East 

 India Company to send as presents for the Great Mogul 

 " looking-glasses, figures of beasts or birds made of glass, 

 mastiffs, greyhounds, spaniels, and little dogs." 



In 1615 the Company's factor wrote that King James's 

 letters had been delivered to the King of Acheen and other 

 parts of Sumatra, and suggested" a corslet and helmet will be 

 well accepted by him ; he takes great delight in dogs, and also 

 in drinking and making men drunk." The King of Acheen 

 replied to King James begging him " to send him ten mastiff 



* " Calendar of State Papers," Milan, 1471. f Ibid., 1583-4. 



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