VARIETIES OF THE DOG. 93 



the sportsman, repressing his cry of joy when he finds his game, and his 

 momentary pause, and gathering himself up in order to spring upon it 

 artificially, converted into a steady and deliberate point. There still re- 

 mains a strong resemblance, in countenance and in form, between the 

 pointer and the fox-hound, except that the muzzle is shorter, and the ears 

 smaller, and partly pendulous. > 



Seventy or eighty years ago, the breed of pointers was nearly white, 

 or varied with liver-coloured spots ; some, however, belonging to the Duke 

 of Kingston, were perfectly black. This peculiarity of colour was sup- 

 posed to be connected with exquisite perfection of scent. That is not the 

 case with the present black pointers, who are not superior to any others. 



Mr. Daniel relates an anecdote of one of his pointers. He had a dog 

 taat would always go round close to the hedges of a field before he would 

 quarter his ground. He seemed to have observed that he most frequently 

 found his game in the course of this circuit." 



Mr. Johnson gives the following characteristic sketches of the different 

 breeds of pointer : 



THE SPANISH POINTER, 



originally a native of Spain, was once considered to be a valuable dog. 

 He stood higher on his legs, but was too large and heavy in his limbs, and 

 lad widely spread, ugly feet, exposing him to frequent lameness. His 

 muzzle and head were large, corresponding with the acuteness of his smell. 

 His ears were large and pendent, and his body ill-formed. He was natur- 

 ally an ill-tempered dog, growling at the hand that would caress him v 

 even although it were his master's. He stood steadily to his birds ; but it 

 was difficult to break him of chasing the hare. He was deficient in speed. 

 His redeeming quality was his excellent scent, unequalled in any other 

 kind of dog. 



THE PORTUGUESE POINTER, 



although with a slighter form than the Spanish one, is defective in the 

 feet, often crooked in the legs, and of a quarrelsome disposition. He soon 

 tires, and is much inclined to chase the hare. The tail is larger than that 

 of the spaniel, and fully fringed. 



THE FRENCH POINTER 



is distinguished by a furrow between his nostrils, which materially interferes 

 \viih the acuteness of smell. He is better formed and more active than 



a The author of The Field Book says 

 that he saw an extremely small pointer, 

 whose length, from the tip of the nose to 

 the point of the tail, was only two feet and 

 half an inch, the length of the head being 

 six inches, and round the chest one foot 

 and three inches. He was an exquisite 

 miniature of the English pointer, being in 

 all respects similar to him, except in his 

 size. His colour was white, with dark 

 liver-coloured patches on each side of the 

 head, extending half down the neck. The 

 oars, with some patches on the back, were 

 also of the same colour, and numerous 





small dark-brown spots appeared over his 

 whole body and legs. 



This beautiful little animal had an ex- 

 quisite sense of smell. Some of the same 

 breed, and being the property of the Earl 

 of Lauderdale, were broken-in and made 

 excellent pointers, although, from their 

 minute size, it could not be expected that 

 they would be able to do much work. 

 When intent upon any object, the dog as- 

 sumed the same attitude as other pointers, 

 holding up one of his feet. The Field 

 Book, p. 399. 



