IinEAKIXO.] 



roK :\U)UM'AK\, I'll". LI), AND FARM. 



[tuainino. 



exhibit in tho midst of a brilliant display of 

 lireworks, and nothing could exceed the cou- 

 rn'^e ho preserved when wholly surrounded by 

 flumes, or the resolution ho manifested not to 

 quit his position until tho iire was entirely 

 extinguished. All this was tho result of 

 gentleness. 



"' Many a s^ooA 

 And useful (luality, nnil virtue too; 

 Fiilelity that neither bribe nor throat 

 Can move nor warp; and i^ratitude for small 

 And trivial favours, lasting as the life, 

 And glistening even iu the dying eye.' " 

 "We must now, however, return to the spiked 

 collar. Tho impression produced by tliis in- 

 strument is never eflaced ; so much so, that a 

 Biuooth-haired, high-bred pointer will not re- 

 fuse to go into a river in the coldest and 

 severest weather iu winter, although he will, 

 perhaps, shiver on the bank at the very sight 

 of it, before plunging in. AVe have beard of 

 dogs of this description, which had been 

 thoroughly broken by compulsory means, and 

 they never refused to go into the water, 

 although they might sometimes hesitato in 

 frosty weather; but the instant the magic 

 words ''Collier deforce'" were uttered, tlicy 

 plunged in with all the alacrity imaginable. 

 Such dogs, however, ought not, as a rule, to be 

 taken out on such occasions. ^ It may be 

 further questionable whether pointers ought 

 to be taught to retrieve ; and as a rule it is 

 perhaps wrong ; but, in a country where snipes 

 are abundant, and are the principal objects of 

 the sportsman's pursuit, it is, we think, advis- 

 able that all his dogs should be taught to fetch 

 and carry, in case of accident to the regular 

 retriever ; because it will occur every day that 

 some few snipes will fall in places not easily, 

 and sometimes not safely, accessible to the 

 sportsman ; and all sportsmen know how vex- 

 atious it is to lose a bird after he has been 

 kiUed, and how tantalising it is to see him lying 

 almost within reach, and yet be obliged to 

 leave him. This will occur even in grousing, 

 in the case of a towering bird falling into a 

 fresh-water loch ; and where there is no re- 

 triever the bird must be left and lost. This, 

 however, is a rare occurrence ; but in snipe- 

 shooting, in most marshes, it will happen often 

 to the sportsman, if he has not a retriever with 

 him : in fact, no sportsman of any experience 

 will either go out snipe or duck-shooting with- 



out being accompanied by a first-rato retriever ; 

 and even then ho must make u|) hi>i mind to 

 lose Bomo few birds, if ho is shooting in tho 

 immediate vicinity of tho sea, as both widgeons 

 and ducks will occasionally fly aoino diMlanco 

 when they are wounded, and drop dead ; and, 

 if they happen to fall in a strong outwanl 

 current, they aro soon carried beyond tho 

 power of any retriever. Indeed, sometimes 

 blackcocks, which have towered after being 

 shot, and lallen out a good distance at sea, liavo 

 been lost ; and woodcocks also (as these birds 

 tower sometimes) arc apt to be lost in tlie ab- 

 sence of retrievers. 



Leaving this incidental digression, we 

 now return to tho system of training. 

 The two great advantages arising from tho 

 compulsory system, when it has been carried 

 thoroughly into ellect by a first-rate hand, 

 consists, in the first place, in the complete 

 obedience and thorough docility exhibited 

 on all occasions on tho part of the dog, as he 

 never refuses to search for and bring his game 

 when ordered to do so, either on land or from 

 the water, irrespectively of the weather ; and, 

 in the next place, which is an important feature 

 characterising this system, he invariably picks 

 up his game at once, without mouthing it, and 

 returns to his master immediately. The re- 

 verse of this, it is said, is the case with dogs 

 taught by gentle means — even with the spaniel 

 and ^Newfoundland ; and some very good ones, 

 excellent in every respect, with the one excep- 

 tion of not returning directly and promptly 

 with the game they had in their mouths to 

 their master, have been known. 



AVith regard to dogs instructed by children 

 to fetch and carry, a writer says, he had the 

 ill-luck to be the purchaser of one through 

 the instrumentality of a friend ; and the result 

 is so much to the purpose, that he relates some 

 of the circumstances connected with the pur- 

 chase, possession, and trial of the said dog. 

 Having taken up quarters for a little snipe 

 and duck-shooting, in a favourite locality, he 

 found himself much in want of a good re- 

 triever, and applied to u friend resident in 

 London, giving him carte blanche as to price. 

 The friend shortly replied, stating that he had 

 purchased a first-rate retriever for £10— a 

 beautiful Newfoundland, warranted to retrieve 

 perfectly on land and from the water. He 



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