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CHAPTER VI. 

 THE NEWFOUNDLAND. 



BY CAPTAIN J. H. BAILEY. 



Near this spot 



Are deposited the remains of one 



Who possessed Beauty without Vanity, 



Strength without insolence, 



Courage without Ferocity, 



And all the Virtues of Man without his Vices. 



This Praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery 



If inscribed over human ashes, 



Is but a just tribute to the memory of 



Boatswain, a Dog, 



Who was bom at Newfoundland, May 1803, 



And died at Newstead Abbey, Nov. 18, 1808. 



Byron's Epitaph on his Newfoundland Dog. 



THE dogs which take 

 their name from the 

 island of Newfound- 

 land at the mouth of the 

 great St. Lawrence river ap- 

 peal to all lovers of animals, 

 romance, and beauty. A Newfoundland 

 formed the subject of perhaps the most 

 popular picture painted by Sir Edwin 

 Landseer ; a monument was erected by 

 Byron over the grave of his Newfound- 

 land in proximity to the place where the 

 poet himself hoped to be buried, at New- 

 stead Abbey, and the inscription on this 

 monument contains the lines so frequently 

 quoted : 



" But the poor dog in life the firmest friend, 

 The first to welcome, foremost to defend, 

 Whose honest heart is still his master's own, 

 Who labours, fights, lives, breathes for him 



alone. 



****** 

 To mark a friend's remains these stones 



arise : 

 I never knew but one — and here he lies." 



Robert Burns, also, in his poem, " The 

 Twa Dogs," written in 1786, refers to a 

 Newfoundland as being an aristocrat 

 among dogs in the following verse ; 



" The first I'll name, they ca'd him Caesar, 

 Was keepit for his honour's pleasure : 

 His hair, his size, his mouth, his lugs, 

 Show'd he was nane o' Scotland's dogs ; 

 But whalpit some place far abroad, 

 Where sailors gang to fish for cod. 

 His locked, letter'd, braw brass collar 

 Show'd him the gentleman and scholar : 

 But though he was o' high degree, 

 The fient a pride — na pride had he." 



Doubtless, other breeds of dogs have been 

 the subjects of popular pictures and have 

 had their praises sung by poets, but the 

 Newfoundlands have yet a further honour, 

 unique amongst dogs, in being the subject 

 for a postage stamp of their native land. 

 All these distinctions and honours have 

 not been conferred without reason, for no 

 breed of dogs has greater claim to the title 

 of friend of man, and it has become famous 

 for its known readiness and ability to save 

 persons in danger, especially from drown- 

 ing. It is strong and courageous in the 

 water, and on land a properly-trained New- 

 foundland is an ideal companion and guard. 

 Innumerable are the accounts of Newfound- 

 lands having proved their devotion to their 

 owners, and of the many lives saved by 

 them in river and sea ; and when Sir Edwin 

 Landseer selected one of the breed as the 



