CRUELTY SPEED OF THE TERRIER ANECDOTE. 



away, leaving the upper to shew the fury of the beast! or all its teeth were 

 broken out ! A convenient earth was then dug- for these mutilated and agonized 

 creatures, large enough, for two terriers to enter and engage them. Doubtless 

 there may be besotted and custom-blinded individuals, who without consideration 

 perpetrate atrocities like these upon helpless beasts ; but from those who can coolly 

 and deli berately either act or countenance such cruelties, must surely have at first 

 been drawn the characters of those imaginary devils which exist in print. 



The rough short legged Terrier particularly, is very slow, but all have great 

 powers of continuance. The smooth, or those with most of the hound cross, are 

 best able to run with the pack. Mr. Daniel relates a match with a terrier against 

 time, in 1794, in which the dog, a small one, ran six miles the first mile in two 

 minutes, the second in four, the third in six, the fourth in eight, and the fifth and 

 sixth in eighteen minutes. He afterwards ran six miles in thirty -two minutes 

 an immense falling off doubtless, considering his wonderful speed, and the known 

 stoutness of the terrier. Perhaps this terrier might have a Greyhound cross in 

 him, according to the old notion remarked above ; but another perhaps will be 

 fully appropriate, that either the watch-maker, or the watch-holder, might be 

 unsteady ; for the idea of a terrier running a mile in two minutes, is not very re- 

 concileable to our daily experience. 



Another story is told of the Terrier still more incredible, or altogether incompre- 

 hensible. A terrier of a valuable breed was sent from the Isle of Arran, N. B. 

 confined in a coach, to South Audley Street in London. The dog remained con- 

 tented three days, and disappeared on the fourth morning. After ineffectual 

 search and reward offered, it was ascertained that, on the fifth day of his being 

 missed from London, he had arrived at his old home in Arran, a distance of two 

 hundred and forty miles, exclusive of seven miles across the sea -, and this wonderful 

 dog must have travelled one hundred and twenty miles, each day and night, and 

 afterwards swam nearly seven miles over the sea, from the main-land of Scotland 

 to the Isle of Arran, without being noticed either upon land or water, by man, 

 woman, or child. It seems, the strictest enquiry was made to no purpose, whether 

 the dog had been seen crossing the water, or had slyly got a passage in the Boat. 

 Terriers do not take water very readily, at any rate, are never inclined to remain 

 in it long, or swim far. Now the most satisfactory way, we apprehend, of recon- 

 ciling ourselves, in this, and in all such marvellous cases, is to determine that, it is far 

 more probable, the search should have failed, than the clog succeeded in swimming 

 seven miles, and in so short a time. All wonderful stories indeed, require exami- 

 nation previous to credit. 



Terriers are endowed with a great share of native ferocity and courage, and ex- 

 clusive of the purposes of the field, are almost always kept for those of wanton 

 and useless barbarity, such as badger-baiting^ fighting, and that abominable act, 

 hunting the domestic cat. In truth, there are too many untutored and unlicked 



