44 Varieties of the Dog- 



of the late Mr. T. Assheton Smith) ; at Charbro' Park, 

 Dorset (the seat of Mr. Drax) ; at Olantigh Towers, in 

 Kent, and at Holnest House, in Dorset (both seats be- 

 longing to the same gentleman) ; whilst Kingston Lacey, 

 in Dorset (tlie property of the Bankes family), produces 

 both morels and truffles. Truffles are also found at East- 

 well Park, Kent; at Sir J. Sebright's, in Beechwood Park; 

 at Lord Barrington's ; at Lord Jersey's ; at Longleat, 

 AVilts ; at the Countess Bridgewater's ; at Lord Winchil- 

 sea's; and, we believe, at the Earl of Abingdon's seat, near 

 Oxford. 



In Italy, this fungus is hunted with a pig (a fact con- 

 firmed by Youatt) ; in France (as with us) the truffle- 

 hunter depends upon his dog. The breed is rare, and 

 the men dislike to sell them. It is said that, about two 

 hundred year^ ago, an old Spaniard brought two dogs into 

 Wiltshire, and made a great deal of money by the sale of 

 truffles which his dogs found for him ; that at his death 

 he left his money and his dogs to a farmer from whom he 

 had received some kindness, and that the hunters derive 

 their dogs from those he left that farmer. 



The truffle dog is a small poodle (nearly a pure poodle), 

 and weighing about 15 lbs. He is white, or black and 

 white, or black, with the black mouth and under-lip of his 

 race. He is a sharp, intelligent, quaint companion, and 

 has the " homeing " faculty of a pigeon. When sold to a 

 new master, he has been known to find his way home for 

 sixty miles, and to have travelled the greater part of the 

 way by night. 



It is mute in its quest, and should be thoroughly broken 

 from all game. These are essential qualities in a dog 

 whose owner frequently hunts truffles at night — in the 

 shrubberies of mansions protected by keepers and watch- 

 men, who regard him with suspicion. In order to dis- 

 tinguish a b/nck dog on these occasions, the liunter fur- 

 nishes his animal with a white shirt, and occasionally 

 hunts him in a Hne. 



These dogs are rather longer on the leg than the true 

 poodle, have exquisite noses, and hunt close to the 

 ground. On the scent of a truffle (especially in the 



