63 



CHAPTER V. 



THE ST. BERNARD. 



BY FREDK. GRESHAM. 



Behold this creature's form and state, 

 Which Nature therefore did create. 

 That to the world might be expressed 

 What mien there can be in a beast ; 

 And that we in this shape may find 

 A lion of another kind. 

 For this heroic beast does seem 

 In majesty to rival him, 



I 



the late CH. FLORENTIUS 



BY PRINCE OF FLORENCE 



BELLINE III. 



THE PATRIARCH OF 



MRS. JAGGERS KENNELS. 



^HE his- 

 tory of 

 the St. 

 Bernard dog in 

 this country 

 would not be 

 complete with- 

 out reference 

 being made to 

 the noble work 

 that he has done 

 in Switzerland, 

 his native land : 

 how the Hos- 

 pice St. Bernard kept a considerable num- 

 ber of dogs which were trained to go 

 over the mountains with small barrels 

 round their necks, containing restoratives, 

 in the event of their coming across any 

 poor travellers who had either lost their 

 way, or had been overcome by the cold. 

 We have been told that these intelligent 

 creatures saved many lives in this way, 

 the subjects of their deliverance often 

 being found entirely buried in the snow. 

 In such cases they were, however, gene- 

 rally too late to rescue the unfortunate 

 victims, whose bodies were placed in the 

 morgue at the Hospice, where they may be 

 seen undecayed, although they may have 

 rested there several years. 



The stuffed skin of the dog Barry, who 

 rescued no fewer than forty wanderers who 

 had lost their way crossing the Alps, is to 

 be seen at the Museum at Berne. The 



And yet vouchsafes to man to show 

 Both service and submission too. 

 From whence we this distinction have 

 That beast is fierce, but that is brave. 

 This dog hath so himself subdued 

 That hunger cannot make him rude, 

 And his behaviour does confess 

 True courage dwells with gentleness." 



Katherine Philips. 



poor dog died in harness when fifteen years 

 old. It is stated that he was shot when in 

 the act of going to the aid of a benighted 

 wayfarer, who mistook him for a wolf. 



Handsome as the St. Bernard is, with his 

 attractive colour and markings, he is a 

 cross-bred dog. From the records of old 

 writers it is to be gathered that to refill 

 the kennels at the Hospice which had been 

 rendered vacant from the combined catas- 

 trophes of distemper and the fall of an 

 avalanche which had swept away nearly all 

 their hounds, the Monks were compelled 

 to have recourse to a cross with the New- 

 foundland and the Pyrenean sheepdog, the 

 latter not unlike the St. Bernard in appear- 

 ance. Then, again, there is no doubt what- 

 ever, that at some time the Bloodhound has 

 been introduced, and it is known for a cer- 

 tainty that almost all the most celebrated St. 

 Bernards in England at the present time are 

 closely allied to the Mastiff. 



The result of all this intermixture of 

 different breeds has been the production of an 

 exceedingly fine race of dogs, which form 

 one of the most attractive features at our 

 dog shows, and are individually excellent 

 guards and companions. As a companion, 

 the St. Bernard cannot be surpassed, when 

 a large dog is required for the purpose. 

 Most docile in temperament and disposition, 

 he is admirably suited as the associate of a 

 lady or a child. 'Well does the writer re- 

 member a once well-known champion, who, 

 when quite a puppy, used to carry his little 



