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FOR I\r O U N r A I N, F 1 E L 1 ), A .\ I) F A K M. 



[lEUUIXttS. 



flock- watcher of the mountains. In the points 

 of size and strength, however, the Scotch and 

 English breeds are much inferior to those of 

 Bonie other countries. In the Alps and tiie 

 Pyrenees, for example, the breeds are much 

 larger and stronger; whilst, in the neigliboiir- 

 hood of the Caucasian range, there is an equally 

 large and powerful variety. 



Tiio " Colley" of France boars a strong 

 resemblance to the English breed in form and 

 size. His disposition is, also, similar ; and he 

 possesses all the attributes of the other, lie 

 likewise, in his puppyism, is denuded of that 

 graceful appendage — the tail — a practice which 

 we cannot help stigmatising as inhuman, and 

 by no means counterbalanced by the additional 

 benefits supposed to be derived from it by 

 their masters. 



Nearly allied to the " Colley" is the dog of 

 the drover, somewhat larger, but equally saga- 

 cious. He would seem to be the produce of a 

 cross with the lurcher. Ho has great courage 

 and strength, and will attack the fiercest bul- 

 lock, and hold him, if commanded so to do by 

 his master. 



The cur is a mongrel sprung from the Colley. 

 He is a tantalising, barking, apparently spi- 

 rited, but cowardly animal. He is the biter of 

 the horses' heels, but the vigilant watch-dog 

 of the humble dwelling of the cottager. His 

 voice is always heard the moment an invader 

 of the precincts of that tenement appears. 

 The tail of the cur is mostly cut short ; but 

 Bewick says that many are whelped with short 

 tails, which seem as if they had been cut, and 

 these are called, in the North, "self-tailed dogs." 

 Though this writer thinks the cur-dog to be a 

 true or permanent breed, it seems to us that 

 it is a cross between the shepherd's dog and 

 Bome other race, perhaps the terrier. 



TERRIERS. 



Supposing the shepherd's dog to be the repre- 

 sentative of a small section of the domestic 

 canine race, the next to which we may turn is 

 that of the terriers. These are a very hardy 

 race, full of courage and spirit, and Avill face 

 anything, without the slightest indication of 

 fear. They are a small breed of dogs, but have 

 an amazing degree of strength, a sharp bite, 

 and have, to a great extent, the power of 

 "holding on" to whatever they get within the 



grasp of their teeth. The property for which 

 they are nio»t diatingui«hed is for hunting uu 

 such animals as burrow undi-r ground, presaiu" 

 them from their earths, and then attacking 

 them with the utmost fierceness and determi- 

 nation. Wo have seen some Scotch terriers 

 fight untd they were lacerated in the most 

 dreadful mannor; and even then they would 

 not give up the contest, however unequal, 

 and had to bo lifted and taken away. They 

 will even face a badger with the most reso- 

 lute spirit. All wild animals they will attack 

 indiscriminately, although, properly speaking. 

 they are what are called vermin dogs, llats, 

 mice, weasels, polecats, and badgers, they will 

 fall upon on the instant ; hence their value in 

 the country, where the stock of the farmer is 

 so frequently a prey to some of these maraud- 

 ing animals. To the rat they are a most deter- 

 mined foe ; and well that it is so, for the great 

 fecundity of these noxious animals is one of 

 the circumstances which renders them so for- 

 midable in their destructive propensities. "Go," 

 says a writer, " into a barn or granary, where 

 hundreds are living, and you shall not see one ; 

 go to a rick that may be one living mass within, 

 and there shall not be one visible ; or dive into 

 a cellar that may be perfectly infested with 

 them, rats you shall not see ; no, not so much 

 as a tip of a tail, unless it be that of a stray 

 one ' popping across for a more safe retreat.' 

 As men seldom see them, they seldom think of 

 them. But this I say," continues the writer, 

 " that if rats could, by any means, bo made to 

 live on the surface of the earth, instead of in 

 holes and corners, and feed and run about the 

 streets and fields in open day, like dogs and 

 sheep, the whole nation would bo horror- 

 stricken ; and ultimately there would not be a 

 man, woman, or child able to brandish a stick, 

 but would have a dog, stick, or gun for their 

 destruction, wherever they met with them. 

 These midnight marauders and common ene- 

 mies of mankind, devour the food, to the star- 

 vation of our fellow-creatures," The writer 

 does not altogether ignore the argument of the 

 friends of the rat — that these vermin destroy 

 in the sewers much matter that would other- 

 wise give out poisonous gases. Sewer rats, ho 

 admits, are not the very worst of the race ; but 

 even they should be slain wherever they may 

 be caught. But the rats of the cellar, the 



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