142 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



A canine sheep-stealer. 



the man intended to steal any sheep, he did not 

 do it himself, but detached his dog to perform 

 the business. With this view, under pretence of 

 looking at the sheep, with an intention to pur- 

 chase them, he went through the flock, with the 

 dog at his heels to whom he secretly gave a sig- 

 nal, so as to let him know the individuals he 

 wanted, to the number of ten or twenty, out of a 

 flock of some hundreds: he then went away, 

 and at a distance of several miles sent back the 

 dog by himself in the night time; who selected 

 the individual sheep that had been pointed out 

 to him, separated them from the flock, and drove 

 tbem before him till he overtook his master." 



The following instance of docility and faith- 

 fulness, is copied from T. Young's Essay on Hu- 

 manity, which is given by the author on the au- 

 thority of a friend. It occurred some years ago, 

 in that part of Scotland which borders on Eng- 

 land: A shepherd had driven a part of his flock 

 to a neighbouring fair, leaving his dog to watch 

 the remainder during that day and the next 

 night; expecting to revisit them the following 

 morning. Unfortunately, however, when at the 

 fair, the shepherd forgot both his dog and his 

 sheep, and did not return home till the morning 

 of the third day. His first enquiry was, Whe- 

 ther his dog had been seen ? The answer was, No, 

 " Then," replied the shepherd, with a tone and 

 gesture of anguish, " he must be dead, for I 

 know he was too faithful to desert his charge." 

 2 



