A"NECDOTES.] 



THE DOG, AND ITS VAEIETIES; 



[buffon. 



dog, deserting his usual station in tbe shop, 

 placed himself close to the chamber-door where 

 the chest was deposited, and kept up an inces- 

 sant barking. The moment the chamber-door 

 was opened, the dog flew to the chest, against 

 which it scratched and barked with redoubled 

 fury. They attempted to get the animal out 

 of the room, but in vain. Galling in some 

 neighbours, and making them eye-witnesses of 

 the circumstance, they began to move the 

 trunk about ; when they immediately dis- 

 covered that it contained something that was 

 alive. Suspicion becoming very strong, they 

 were induced to force it open ; when, to their 

 utter astonishment, they found in it their new 

 lodger, who had had himself thus conveyed 

 into the house with the intention of robbing it. 



In the Life of James Sackington^ it is stated 

 that Mr. C. Hughes, a son of Thespis, had a wig 

 which generally hung on a peg in one of his 

 rooms. He one day lent the wig to a brother 

 player, and, some time after, called on him. Mr. 

 Hughes had his dog with him, and the man 

 happened to have the borrowed wig on his 

 head. Mr. Hughes stayed a little while with 

 his friend ; but, when he left him, the dog re- 

 mained behind ; for some time he stood, look- 

 ing full in the man's face ; then making a sud. 

 den spring, leaped on his shoulders, seized the 

 wig, and ran off with it as fast as he could ; 

 and, when he reached home, he endeavoured, 

 by jumping, to hang it up in its usual place. 

 The same dog was one afternoon passing 

 through a field in the environs of Dartmouth, 

 where a washerwoman had hung out her linen 

 to dry. He stopped, and surveyed one par- 

 ticular shirt with attention ; then seizing it, he 

 dragged it away through the dirt to his master, 

 whose shirt it proved to be. 



Some nations are partial to the dog as food. 

 In some of the South Sea islands dogs are 

 fattened with vegetables, which the natives 

 Bavagely cram down their throats when they 

 will voluntarily eat no more. They become 

 exceedingly fat ; and are allowed, by Europeans 

 who have overcome their prejudices, to be very 

 palatable. They are killed by strangling ; 

 and the extravasated blood is preserved in 

 cocoa-nut shells, and baked for the table. The 

 negroes of the coast of Guinea are so partial 

 to these animals as food, that they frequently 

 give considerable prices for them : a larf'e 

 390 



sheep for a dog was, at one time, a common 

 article of exchange. Even the ancients esteemed 

 a young and fat dog to be excellent eating. 

 Hippocrates ranks it with mutton or pork. 

 The Komans admired sucking whelps, esteem- 

 ing them a supper in which even the gods de- 

 lighted. 



When Lieutenant Fremont was at Eorb 

 Lamarie, on the Platte — a station of the 

 American Eur Company — the Indians in the 

 neighbourhood gave him an invitation to a 

 feast of honour — a dog feast. " The women 

 and children," says the lieutenant, "were 

 sitting outside the lodge, and we took our seats 

 on buflalo robes spread around. The dog was 

 in a large pot over the fire, in the middle of 

 the lodge, and, immediately on our arrival, was 

 dished up in large wooden bowls, one of which 

 was handed to each. The flesh appeared very 

 glutinous, with something of tlie flavour and 

 appearance of mutton. Feeling something 

 move behind me, I looked round, and found 

 that I had taken my seat among a litter of fat 

 young puppies. Had I been nice in such 

 matters, the prejudices of civilisation might 

 have interfered with my tranquillity ; but, for- 

 tunately, I am not of delicate nerves, and con- 

 tinued quietly to empty my platter." 



Bufibn has bequeathed us an excellent de- 

 scription of the dog, the substance of which is 

 here given. 



" The dog," he says, "independently of the 

 beauty of his form, his vivacity, force, and 

 swiftness, is possessed of all those internal 

 qualifications that can conciliate the aflections 

 of man, and make the tyrant a protector. A 

 natural share of courage, an angry and fero- 

 cious disposition, renders the dog, in its savage 

 state, a formidable enemy to all other animals : 

 but these readily give way to very different 

 qualities in the domestic dog, whose only am- 

 bition seems to please : he is seen to como 

 crouching along, to lay his force, his courage, 

 and all his useful talents at the feet of his 

 master ; he waits his orders, to which he pays 

 implicit obedience; he consults his looks, and 

 a single glance is sufficient to put him in 

 motion ; he is more faithful even than the 

 most boasted among men ; he is constant in 

 his affections, friendly without interest, and 

 grateful for the slightest favours ; much more 

 mindful pf benefits received than injuries 



