WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



it at liberty. He soon lost sight of it, and on the 

 Wednesday following he received a letter from his 

 mother, stating that the dog had returned to her. 

 Now you will see that the dog went first by road, 

 then by market-boat, then through streets, then by 

 rail, then by steamer, then through streets again, 

 then by rail again, then through streets again, it 

 being dark at the time/' Whether the animal 

 really did follow the back-track with all this exact- 

 ness or not, one thing is certain, he had sagacity 

 enough to find his way, and (as is noteworthy in 

 all these incidents) did so with astonishing speed. 

 The second instance is still more striking, and 

 illustrates very forcibly the strong love of home in 

 the dog, which is the motive in all these extraor- 

 dinary and difficult journeys. "A gentleman in 

 Calcutta wrote to a friend living near Inverkeith- 

 ing, on the shore of the Frith of Forth, requesting 

 him to send a good Scotch collie dog. This was 

 done in due course, and the arrival of the dog was 

 duly acknowledged. But the next mail brought 

 accounts of the dog having disappeared, and that 

 nothing could be seen or heard of him. Imagine 

 the astonishment of the gentleman in Inverkeith- 

 ing when, a few weeks later, friend Collie bounced 

 into his house, wagging his tail, barking furiously, 



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