198 PARTRIDGE SHOOTING. 



sant sight to see poor Ponto at the close of the 

 evening walking at heel as if treading upon burn- 

 ing ploughshares, while the the tip of his tail 

 bears painful traces of having been in the wars. 

 We wonder whether his ancestors were har- 

 dier in this latter respect, as old writers seldom, 

 if ever, allude to the circumstance. No doubt 

 the dog has softened and degenerated, some- 

 what like his masters ; and as Thackeray said 

 of poverty, it so far resembles death as to set 

 in at the extremities, the hat, shoes, and gloves 

 going first ; so the pointer has become effemi- 

 nate in his legs and his tail, and indeed weak 

 in his nose, if we are to believe the annals of 

 his olfactory deeds as chronicled in ancient 

 records. 



