118 LESSONS IN BREAKING. 



vided with all the necessary implements of instruction, of reward, and of correc- 

 tion. These are chiefly the Gun and Ammunition, for the report and smell of 

 powder, a few heads of dead Game, Pheasant and Bird, with the scent of which 

 to gratify the olfactory feelings of the learner, some food to humour his palate, 

 and the whip, in the last resort, to insure his obedience. Mr. Professor may then 

 proceed with his DOWN ! BACK ! COME HERE ! HEY ON ! HOLD UP ! DEAD ! 

 WARE BIRD ! and all the rest and residue of it, with a prospect of success 

 commensurate with his own judgment, and the good breeding and ability of his 

 pupil. But let him not flatter himself with the too common silly notion of being 

 able to make after amends for his own incapacity as a breaker, or for the natural 

 incapacity of the dog, by any of the relics of barbarism, at the head of which stands 

 the infallible Puzzle-Peg, the purpose of which is to force an animal to hold up his 

 head, which at every moment of his life, saving and excepting those during which 

 he wears the said peg, he is compelled by nature to hunt with it downwards. In 

 order to insure success from the Puzzle Peg, let its advocates hunt their Pointers 

 with it to the end of the chapter. 



When the young Pointer is first entered in the field, it is generally held prefer- 

 able, that, he should be alone, or unaccompanied by other dogs ; and much of his 

 success in future, depends upon his being initiated under an experienced and patient 

 Sportsman, as well as his having arrived at the proper age, which is full twelve 

 months old. Too early labour debilitates the animal, and detracts from that 

 hilarity and exalted sensibility to the sport, which ought to be his great distinction. 

 The grand point is to teach him the method of finding his game, by regularly and 

 patiently quartering his ground, in this mode ; which is, to hunt in a line of sixty 

 or seventy yards, in the front of the Gunner, transversely; by taking about half 

 the distance to the right, and then, repassing him, taking a similar distance to the 

 left ; where, again turning, he continues that routine in such proportions, as not to 

 make his crossings and recrossings more than thirty odd yards from each other. 

 It may well be conceived a matter of no small difficulty, to teach a young dog, 

 first, how to comprehend, and afterwards, to execute with punctuality and 

 precision, the lesson of these various and regular crossings. And the reader is not 

 to take it for granted that, every Pointer, however well spoken of, is an exact and 

 able performer at this game ; but whenever such is the case, the Dog is of the 

 highest possible character as a Pointer ; and it is really a wonderful proof of the 

 sagacity and docility of brute animals ; and the sight of two or three brace of 

 Pointers, regularly quartering their ground and backing each other, may be 

 reckoned among the most interesting, grand and wonderful. 



