THE MASTIFF FOR BAITING PURPOSES. 1 19 



to separate them were of no avail ; the dog repeatedly fastened 

 on to the donkey's nose, and blood flowed profusely from both 

 animals, and at the end of half-an-hours fighting, the owner 

 appeared on the scene, and fresh attempts were made to part 

 them without success; the owner thereupon decided to have 

 the dog shot, as it had by that time fastened with a firm hold 

 on the donkey's nose. A gun was procured, and the services 

 of a good shot obtained, but so savage was the fight that it 

 was difficult to shoot one animal without killing the other 

 also, at last aim was taken and a bullet put into the dog's 

 head, and it dropped to the ground ; when the smoke cleared 

 away the dog was dead, but the donkey had returned to the 

 charge, kicking, trampling, and biting the dead dog, and was 

 driven off at last with great difficulty. 



It ma}- be useful here to say that there is sometimes consid- 

 erable and unnecessary difficuly in separating large dogs when 

 fighting, or getting them to release anything they have 

 attacked. The most effectual plan is to quietly throw a pinch 

 of snuff on their nostrils, which acts in a most magical 

 manner. But the days for carrying snuff being past, this 

 remedy is not always at hand ; aud the next best remedy is 

 to take a shovel and get a few live coals off a fire, and hold 

 it between the two animals, and if a little flour of sulphur 

 (an article that should be always at hand in every kennel) is 

 thrown on the coals it will soon cause the animals to stop 

 fighting to gain their breath, but one person alone should 

 never try to separate two large dogs when fighting. 



That a good aclive mastiff could kill a bear, was proved 

 at St, Ann's, South Owram, near Halifax, Yorkshire, about 

 1800. A mastiff bitch belonging to Thompson, Esq. (grand- 

 father of the late J. \V. Thompson of St. Anns) was chained 



