CUBAN Mvsxn-p.] FOR MOUNTAIN, FIELD, AND FAXl^i. [tjuet doo. 



termed a blooilhouiul. TIio pcMitliilous car, not 

 8(1 l:irf;e in tlio ninstilV as in tho liound ; tlio 

 thick haiiLjiii!^ lipn, tlio broad moist iioso, 

 brinillo niarkinj^a, atid tlio j^'cnoral lii^'uiv, atlost 

 the allinity. Tlic niastill" is hirj;i'r and Htronj^cr 

 than the hound, and useless for llio chase ; this 

 latter cireuinstance, however, is no proof of 

 diversity of origin. It must bo reuieinbered 

 tliat partieular instincts and qualities aro ac- 

 quireii, and that tho excellences of tho hound 

 are the result of long-continued and judicious 

 culture. We do not say that tho niaslilf can 

 be converted into tho hound, but merely that 

 two branches from the same root may bo so 

 cultured as to assume, to a given point, diverse 

 characteristics. This auima4 is by no means 

 to be confounded with the Cuban bloodhound. 

 lie is quite a different dog. 2s'or is the Cuban 

 bloodhound and the British bloodhound the 

 same, although Sommerville seems to have 

 thought them identical. 

 •' Soon the sagacious brute, his curling tail 

 Flourish'd in air, low-bending, plies around 

 His busy uose, the steaming vapour snuffs 

 Inquisitive, nor leaves one turf untried 

 Till conscious of the recent stains, his heart 

 Beats quick ; his snuffing nose, his active tail, 

 Attests his joy ; then, with deep-opening uioutb. 

 That makes the welkin tremble, he proclaims 

 Th' audacious felon ; foot by foot he marks 

 His winding ways, while all the listening crowd 

 Applaud his reas'nings. O'er the wat'ry {ord^ 

 Dry, sandy heaths, and stony barren hills ; 

 O'er beaten paths, with men and beasts disdained, 

 Unerring he pursues, till at the cot 

 Arriv'd, and seizing by his guilty throat 

 The cailift'vile, redeems the captive prey." 



"The Spanish or Cuban mastiff," Mr. Eich- 

 ardson says, " is a very powerfully-built dog, 

 and is supposed to be a breed between 

 the masliti and the pointer, lie stands from 

 twenty-six to twenty-eight inches high, with 

 extraordinary development of bone and muscle. 

 His head is of prodigious size, even apparently 

 too large in proportion to his body : hig 

 eyes are placed very I'ar apart ; his upper lip 

 pendulous, but not so much so as iu the 

 British mastitY; the ear is small, and not per- 

 fectly pendulous, being erect ac the root, but 

 the tip falling over; colour usually tawny or 

 light rufus ; the under jaw is also undershot : 

 and I do not think I can give my readers a 

 better idea of the dog, than by describing hiin 

 a.s a gigantic bulldog, occupying precisely tho 



Hame position with regard to tho prodigious 

 mastiff of the Alps, which our own British 

 bulldog does iu reference to tho English 

 mastiir." Tliis animal is a dog of great 

 courage; in Spain he is used in tho combats 

 of tho amphitheatre, and is commonly known 

 on tho continent as tho " Spanisii bulldog." 

 Colonel 11. Smith conceives this race to have 

 been identical with tho broad-mouthed dogs 

 for which Biitaiu was celebrated during the 

 llomau era. 



THE DOG OF TIBET, 



The huge Tibet watch -dog belongs to the 

 present group. This dog {Canis fainiliaris, 

 var. Mulosus Thibetanus) is kept by the na- 

 tives of the Tibet range of hills as a guardian 

 of their flocks and their villages. It is very 

 fierce, and its bark is loud and terriOc. The 

 colour is generally black. 



Ilis head is largo and broad. Jlis iips arc 

 very full and pendulous ; and the skin, from the 

 eyebrows, forms a fold towards the outer edge 

 of the eyes, ending in the jowl ; the neck is 

 remarkably full, and the chest is furnished with 

 a dcidap. This species was originally noticed 

 by Marco Polo, who described them as being 

 " as large as asses," a description contradicted 

 by some subsequent travellers, but since amply 

 confirmed. 



The probable cause of these varying accounts 

 is, that the Tibet mastiff rapidly degenerates 

 if removed to a milder climate; and several 

 inferior, thougb similar breeds, exist in dif- 

 ferent portions of the liinialayau chain of 

 mountains. Colonel Smith refers to this dog as 

 the typical mastiff — tho Canis Urcanus de- 

 scribed by Oppian. 



THE DOG OF ST. BERXAUD, OR ALPINE 

 MASTIFF. 



This dog is placed under the spaniel group 

 by Mr. Biaine, and Mr. Ivichardaon classes it 

 with the mastiffs. AVe have adhered to the 

 arrangement of the latter. 



Colonel Smith classes it with the wolf-dog 

 group. He, however, says that more than ono 

 description of dog is trained by the monks of 

 the Great St. Bernard, with the view of rescuing 

 the unfortunate from the horrors of death 

 amid the dreary depths of Alpine snows. One 

 Bort he describes as having a long coat, with 



409 



