THE MASTIFF FOR BAITING PURPOSES. IOQ 



slipped without any collar, and if well trained w.ent straight 

 at the bear, trying to knock him backward with the rush, 

 and fastening on to his throat, pin him down and worry him, 

 keeping out of reach of his powerful claws, or still more 

 terrible hug. 



One good determined mastiff has before now proved a 

 match for a bear, but in a general way the bear constantly 

 managed to disable one or both of his assailants. 



Caius states that three mastiffs were more than a match for 

 a bear, and four for a lion, but the latter appear to have been 

 baited only very seldom, and then with picked dogs, bear 

 baiting however was very frequent all over the country. 



In further proof that three mastiffs were sufficient to 

 overcome a bear, my friend, Mr. John Lyall, of Glasgow, 

 (whose fondness for the mastiff, combined with his skill in 

 drawing and painting, together with sound and varied reading, 

 have been the means of much pleasurable intercourse, as 

 well as assistance to me in my investigation of historical facts 

 connected with the breed) kindly sent me a sketch and 

 particulars of an etching some 250 years old, by either a 

 Flemish or German master, representing a hunter, three 

 mastiffs, and a vast bear lying dead. Mr. Lyall describes 

 the mastiffs as having immense skulls, very short, broad, and 

 deep muzzles, their bodies rather lighter than the modern 

 mastiff, but heavier in build than the boarhound. These 

 dogs he judged to have been about 30 inches at shoulder, 

 with great bone, smooth coated, and their ears cropped. The 

 engraving was large, and the dogs drawn large. Mr. Lyall 

 with his usual good judgment in such works of art commis- 

 sioned a party to buy the engraving for him, but it sold high, 

 being one of a lot of an old collector's etchings and engravings. 



