Historical 27 



Rhodiginus and Alexander of Alexandria, who write as 

 follows : 



" The faithfulnesse of a dog hath been the cause that 

 many have chosen to trust their lives with that beast, and 

 to commit themselves to the good of him rather than of 

 reasonable men. As we read of King Massinissa, who by 

 the barking of dogs freed himself many times from the 

 ambuscadoes that were laid for him, discovered afar off 

 the coming of his enemies, stood upon his guard, and, by 

 the helpe of dogs, sometimes carryed away the victorie. 

 Plinie reporteth to this purpose, that the Colophonians 

 tooke great care to traine their dogs and make them fit 

 for warre, insomuch as they made squadrons of them, 

 which fought in the first rankes with a wonderful boldnesse, 

 and would never give back : above all, they did good service 

 in the night. We read also that the King of the Gara- 

 mantes, driven by sedition out of his realme, was re- 

 establisht againe by the helpe of two hundred hunting dogs. 

 It may bee that Henry the VIII., King of England (accord- 

 ing to the purport of a letter which his Ambassadour sent 

 from Spire to the King of Polonia, An. 1544, by the report 

 of Olaus Magnus) had an eye to this prompt fidelitie of 

 dogs, when in the armie which he sent to the Emperour 

 Charles the Fifth against the French King, there were foure 

 hundred souldiers that had the charge of the like number 

 of dogs, all of them garnished with good yron collers after 

 the fashion of that countrey : no man being able to say, 

 whether they were appointed to be sentinels in the night, 

 or to serve for some stratagem for obtaining the victorie. 

 Strabo saith, that the like was practised in old time, and 

 that the English dogs went to warre with the Gaules : 

 and there is mention of a Procurator or Commissarie that 

 had charge of the dogs of Britanie, in the Emperour's behalfe. 



