ESQuiMArx Doa.] THE DOG, AND ITS VAEIETIES; 



[wATER-DOa, 



man who yisited a Lap encampment, thus 

 writes : — 



" While I sojourned on the Island of Tromso, 

 learning that on the neighbouring mainland 

 some Laplanders were encamped, I resolved 

 to pay them a visit. Procuring a boat, I rowed 

 over to the opposite shore, where I met with a 

 Nordlander, who informed rae that the Lap 

 encampment might be found somewhere toward 

 the extremity of Tromsdal — a magnificent 

 ravine commencing at no great distance from 

 the shore, and running directly inland. He 

 stated that the Laps had a noble herd of reiyis 

 (the name universally given to reindeer), about 

 eight hundred in number, and that, when the 

 wind blew from a certain quarter, the whole 

 herd would occasionally wander close to his 

 house, but a rein-Jiund (reindeer-dog) was kept 

 by him to drive them back. * * * # * 

 " Onward we went, driving the herd, in which 

 I gleefully helped, the three little dogs at times 

 barking and fetching up stragglers. The Laps 

 occasionally gave a short cry or urging shout 

 to the reins, and I burst forth with my full- 

 lunged English hallo, to the evident amuse- 

 ment of my companions. The scene was most 

 exciting. The brilliant sunlight, the green 

 grass, the spai-kling, murmuring Elv, the pic- 

 turesque glen, the figures of the Laps, the 

 moving herd of reins — the novelty of the whole 

 was indescribably delightful. I found the reins 

 did not make such a ' clicking' noise as most 

 travellers have asserted. Here were hundreds 

 of reins striking their hoofs together,- and yet 

 the noise was certainly anything but loud from 

 their cloven feet and horny fetlocks, and would 

 hardly have been noticeable had I not par- 

 ticularly listened for it. But another thing, of 

 which I had never read any notice, struck rae 

 much — the loud, snorting noise emitted by the 

 deer at every step. Uupoetical as my fancy 

 may seem, it reminded me most strongly of the 

 grunting of swine, but was certainly not so 

 coarse a noise, and, at the same time, partook 

 much of the nature of a snort. The cause of 

 the noise is this : when the deer are heated, 

 they do not throw off their heat in sweat— 

 their skin is too thick for thatj but, like the 

 dog, they emit the heat through the mouth. 

 The size of some of the reins astonished me. 

 In many instances they were as large as Shet- 

 land ponies, and some had most magnificent 



branching antlers of a very remarkable size. 

 This is the only animal of the deer genus 

 which invariably has a horizontal branch from 

 the main antlers, projecting in a line over each 

 eye. These antlers are covered with a short 

 grey hair. Some of the herd in question had 

 broken pieces off their antlers, which hung 

 down, bleeding, by the skin. The does also 

 have antlers, but very small, and generally 

 straight, which, when skinned and dried, can 

 be distinguished from those of the male by 

 their whiteness. All the herd were casting 

 their winter hair, and consequently their coats 

 looked rather ragged and parti-coloured — the 

 new colour being generally a dark, and the old 

 a light grey. In some cases, however, the deer 

 are white ; and, in winter, all are more or less 

 of a light colour. There were many pretty 

 young does running among the herd." 



THE GREAT ROUGH WATER-DOG. 



This dog has a long and curled coat ; a large 

 and round head ; well covered ears ; somewhat 

 short legs ; and is generally of a black, black- 

 and-white, . or brown colour. His sagacity is 

 considerable, and he has sufiicient courage to 

 attempt anything when backed by his master. 

 The water is his element. Here he delights 

 to move in ; and when swimming, he seems 

 rather to float, and make his way without 

 either motion or exertion of the limbs. He is 

 capable of being made a good retriever, but his 

 training would require to be conducted with 

 great care, as he is apt to mangle his bird, 

 from the severity with which he uses his teeth. 



The water-dog is a very difierent animal 

 from either the Grermau or French poodle, and 

 has an originality of his own. Eegardiug this 

 dog, Mr. Eichardson gives the following anec- 

 dote : — " I recollect a singularly large dog of 

 this breed, about ten years ago, in possession 

 of Mr. Grierson, of North Hanover-street, 

 Edinburgh, near the foot of the Mound, 

 which was possessed of unusual intelligence. 

 Amongst other eccentricities, this dog followed 

 the profession of mendicancy, and regularly 

 solicited the charity of the passers-by. On 

 receiving a halfpenny, his habit was, if hungry, 

 to proceed at once to the shop of Mr. Nelson, 

 at the corner of Eose-street, and purchase a 

 biscuit; but it sometimes happened that he 

 put by his halfpence until the calls of appetite 



