Instinct 147 



He, moreover, is lifted into the region of the supernatural 

 by no less an authority than the Koran. Three animals, 

 and only three, are permitted to share the joys and repose 

 of Mohammed's paradise. The camel, on which the 

 prophet rode during his famous flight from Mecca, the ass 

 of Balaam, and Kitmer, the dog of the seven sleepers, who, 

 with his master, entered the cave in which, year after 

 year, they lay wrapped in mysterious slumber, who fell 

 asleep with them, and who, with them, was at last raised 

 to receive the reward of his care and fidelity. The Moham- 

 medan legend asserts, that, as the seven youths were on 

 their way to the cavern, in which they intended to take 

 refuge from their heathen persecutor (the Emperor Decius), 

 they passed Kitmer and attempted to drive him away, 

 upon which God caused him to speak, and he said : ' I 

 love those who are dear unto God ; go to sleep therefore, 

 and I will guard you.' So Kitmer ' stretched forth his 

 legs in the mouth of the cave,' and during his sleep of 

 three hundred years turned himself from side to side like 

 his masters." 



The Aryan races were also great dog lovers, and asso- 

 ciated the dog with some of the most solemn moments in 

 the human life. Thus we find there was a belief, that a 

 dog accompanied the departing soul on its journey to 

 heavenly places, as companion and guardian, and it was 

 the custom, very often, to introduce a dog into the death- 

 chamber, so that the dying person should be comforted by 

 the sight of the creature of whose race, a member would 

 keep him from loneliness on his journey. 



The whole basis of the training of the war dog rests on 

 recognizing, and cultivating, certain qualities of mind in 

 the animal. These are, among others, fidelity, courage, 

 honour, endurance, and the homing instinct. Hearing, 



10* 



