40 Modern Dogs. 



taken accordingly. These dogs are kept therefore 

 for the preservation of the convent, and to find 

 dead bodies in the snow ; for many perish in 

 attempting to cross the Alps, whose bodies are 

 found by these dogs and receive decent interment." 



I think the above quotation particularly interesting, 

 especially as it is about the time when we appear to 

 have little knowledge of the St. Bernard. It would 

 be by no means difficult to bring about such a 

 change in the duties of a hound, who, when seeking 

 the dead bodies of travellers, would not unfre- 

 quently discover other travellers who had not quite 

 succumbed to the rigours of an Alpine storm, and 

 so be the means of their preservation. Such cases 

 occurring once or twice, and the kind-hearted monks 

 would not be unwilling to discern that some refresh- 

 ment placed around the neck of the dog would be 

 seen and gratefully appreciated by the poor man 

 who required such assistance. 



It has been said that it was not until 1815 that 

 the first St. Bernard was imported to this country, 

 this being a specimen that went to Leasowe Castle, 

 in Cheshire, the seat of the Cust family. Many 

 years, however, passed over before the great dog 

 began to force himself upon the public. Landseer 

 painted him on one of his canvasses, but this great 

 artist called him the Alpine mastiff. Still, even 



