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POR MOU^'TAIN, FIELD, AND FARSI. 



[B£Tni£y£It, 



been used as a snipo douj tlio nrt'oeilii)j» winter, 

 w ill bring a man iluwn from iho top of a grouse- 

 bill, in August, to the well-known bog, for a 

 worthless suipe ; and a spaniel will n\ako for 

 anything iu the shape of water, to potter on 

 the stale scent ol' water-hens, and soon acijuire 

 the vile habit of hunting btraightforward, 

 without tack or traverse. 



"AVhlle making my annual collection of 

 brown feathers, during the late frost," says a 

 follower of the angle, " I was reminded, more 

 than once, of the device which has often enabled 

 lue, vrheu fonder of wild-fowl than at present, 

 to recover a mallard lying on the edge of 

 dangerous ice, without risking the loss of a 

 valuable retriever. Teu-to-one other men 

 have had recourse to the same Jlcelle ; but, as 

 it may be new to some, I will mention it. 

 Having nearly lost a valuable retriever, and 

 risking my own life to save his, I bethought 

 myself of an old salmon-rod, to which I at- 

 tached a suflG.ciency of whipcord, with four large 

 hooks tied, back to back, at the end of it. Tlie j 

 rod was an old stiff travelling jack-of-all- | 

 trades, in five pieces, portable, and fit for ser- 

 vice at once. My attendant carried this, of 

 course, and, when required, mounted it while 

 I was loading. Very little practice enabled 

 me to hook a duck within five-and-twenty 

 yards. "When feathers were scarce, and I was 

 particularly anxious to secure a drake, if be- 

 yond the reach of my line, I attached a cord to 

 the retriever's collar before sending hira into 

 dangerous ice. 



" AVhen ascending a river I kept about half 

 a gun-shot from the bank, my nian following 

 rather more than a gun-shot iu the rear, and 

 close to the river. When ducks had been 

 marked down, I approached at right angles to 

 the direction of the stream, making allow- 

 ances for the birds swimming up, which they 

 generally do after alighting. 



"I think I have observed, that when a duck 

 rises wild, and, after making several circles in 

 the air, settles near the place from which he 

 rose, there is reason to expect others near 

 bim — very often a single bird of the other sex. 

 In this case, both birds will occasionally be 

 very close, if no noise be made when the 

 single bird rose. At all events, a duck that ' 

 drops in a hedge, or other thick cover, at 

 Borne distance from a pond or river, will gene- 



rally lot you get near enough to be picked up, 

 or recovered by the retriever." 



The value of a retriever is Bometiinea 

 very considerable. " At the Kingston assizes, 

 an action (Clegg v. llobbler) was tried 

 to recover tlio value of a dog shot by de- 

 fendant. Tho dog was a retriever i)up[)y, 

 three months old, and very well bred, [it- 

 stayed away from home, and nothing was 

 heard of him for several days, when be was 

 brought homo dead. The dog had gone into 

 a field belonging to tho defendant, where 

 there were some sheep ; and, while he was 

 chasiug them about, defendant came with a 

 gun, and at once shot him dead.— Baron 

 Aldersou inquired of the plaintiff what kind of 

 retriever the dog was.— The plaintiff replied, 

 that he really was unable to tell how he was 

 bred. All he knew was, that he was a re- 

 triever, and that his father was a very valuable 

 animal. — Baron Alderson said, that all sorts 

 of dogs might be trained as retrievers; and 

 he had even heard of a pig being a retriever. 

 — Mr. James : Yes, my lord, for truffles ! — 

 The learned judge said he should like to 

 hear something more respecting the breed 

 of the dog. — Mr. James : My lord, the father 

 of the dog is here, and he shall be pro- 

 duced presently, — Witnesses were examined 

 to prove that the dog was shot by the de- 

 fendant, and the deceased's father was then 

 placed on the counsel's table. lie was a fine 

 handsome animal, and it was stated that his 

 sporting qualities were first-rate. He ap- 

 peared very much dissatisfied with his novel 

 position among so many wigs. — Mr. Brooks, 

 on behalf of the defendant, said, that at tho 

 time in question, the sheep that were in the 

 field were fat, and ready for the butcher. 

 They had been worried by a dog two or three 

 nights before ; and, on this night, he supposed 

 it was the same dog ; and, on his going into 

 the field, he found him chasing the sheep 

 about, and shot him. — Baron Alderson said, 

 that lie had acted iUegallij. Even if ilie dog had 

 icorned (he sheej), a person teas not justified in 

 destroying him until he had tried to get him 

 away by fair means. Ultimately, on the 

 learned judge's suggestion, it was decided 

 that defendant should pay all plaintiff"s costs 

 out of pocket, and a certain sum as the 

 nominal value of the dog." 



445 



