8 EARLY HISTORY OF THE DOG. 



the house, or to follow the owner on any excursion of business or of plea- 

 sure. Gratius says of these dogs, that they have no pretensions to the 

 deceitful commendation of form ; but, at the time of need, when courage is 

 required of them, most excellent mastiffs are not to be preferred to them. 



The account of the British pugnaces of former times, and also of the 

 sagaces and celeres, will be best given when treating of their present state 

 and comparative value. In describing the different breeds of dogs, some 

 anecdotes will be related of their sagacity and fidelity ; a few previous 

 remarks, however, may be admissible. 



A young man lost his life by falling from one of the precipices of the 

 Helvellyn mountains. Three months afterwards his remains were dis- 

 covered at the bottom of a ravine, and his faithful dog, almost a skeleton, 

 still guarding them. Sir Walter Scott beautifully describes the scene : 



Dark-green was the spot, 'mid the brown mountain heather 



Where the pilgrim of nature lay stretched in decay ; 

 Like the corpse of an outcast, abandoned to weather, 

 Till the mountain winds wasted the tenantless clay ; 

 Nor yet quite deserted, though lonely extended, 

 For, faithful in death, his mute favourite attended, 

 The much-loved remains of her master defended, 



And chased the hill-fox and the raven away. 

 How long didst thou think that his silence was slumber ? 



When the wind waved his garments how oft didst thou start ? 

 How many long days and long weeks didst thou number 

 Ere he faded before thee, the friend of thy heart ? 



Burchell, in his Travels in Africa, places the connexion between man 

 and the dog, and the good qualities of this animal, in an interesting point 

 of view. A pack of dogs of various descriptions formed a necessary part of 

 his caravan, occasionally to provide him with food, but oftener to defend 

 him from wild beasts or robbers. " While almost every other quadruped 

 fears man as his most formidable enemy/' says this interesting traveller, 

 " there is one who regards him as his companion, and follows him as his 

 friend. We must not mistake the nature of the case. It is not because 

 we train him to our use, and have made choice of him in preference to 

 other animals, but because this particular species of animal feels a natural 

 desire to be useful to man, and, from spontaneous impulse, attaches him- 

 self to him. Were it not so, we should see in various countries an equal 

 familiarity with other quadrupeds, according to their habits, and the taste 

 or caprices of different nations ; but, everywhere, it is the dog only that 

 takes delight in associating with us, and in sharing our abode. It is he 

 who knows us personally, watches over us, and warns us of danger. It is 

 impossible for the naturalist not to feel a conviction that this friendship 

 between creatures so different from each other must be the result of the 

 laws of nature ; nor can the humane and feeling mind avoid the belief that 

 kindness to those animals, from which he derives continued and essential 

 assistance, is part of the moral duty of man. 



" Often in the silence of the night, when all my people have been fast 

 asleep around the fire, have I stood to contemplate these faithful animals 

 watching by their side, and have learned to esteem them for their social 

 inclination towards mankind. When, wandering over pathless deserts, 

 oppressed with vexation and distress at the conduct of my own men, I have 

 turned to these as my only friends, and felt how much inferior to them was 

 man when actuated only by selfish views." 



Of the stanchness and incorruptible fidelity of the dog, and his disre- 



