230 DOGS 



brindle, and that, to my taste, is the best colour, 

 though some fancy dogs have been Hght grey or 

 fawn. I kept him in the house : he slept on a rug 

 in my bedroom, and he would have been an un- 

 objectionable inmate in the best regulated family, 

 had it not been for his size, which he could not 

 help. In the frolicsome gambols of which he was 

 rather fond, he would upset the tables and smash 

 the crockery. Altogether he was an expensive 

 friend, but had I not been going abroad, I should 

 never have parted with him. He was so handsome 

 that I got a handsome price from an English 

 gentleman who leased a forest. But he only passed 

 one other season in his native north, and I believe 

 he ended his days in Hertfordshire. 



Deerhounds are death on wounded deer, because, 

 unlike the greyhounds, they hunt by scent as well 

 as sight — an invaluable quality on broken ground 

 among the glens and rugged hills of the Highlands. 

 They were much in use before the improvement 

 of the rifle made the average stalker's aim more 

 fatal, and the breech-loading multiplied his chances. 

 Moreover, in former days, before deer were strictly 

 preserved and good stalking grounds fetched fancy 

 rents, the forests were of greater extent, and the 

 cry of the hounds did little harm, for the herds only 

 shifted from one part to another. In the actual 

 chase they always run mute, but when the stag 

 is brought to bay they awaken the echoes far and 

 near with their deep-throated baying. There was 

 no dog Landseer so much delighted to paint, and 



