SPECIES AND VARIETIES. 687 



They hurried forward, and, with feelings not to be expressed, 

 beheld the sleeping child, the dog couched beside it, so as to 

 protect it from the snow which was then fast falling. 



But volumes might be filled with anecdotes of the sagacity 

 which these animals evince, under the different conditions in 

 which their faculties are exercised. In the chase, but espe- 

 cially when the animals hunt alone, and are thus permitted 

 to exercise their powers uncontrolled, it is seen how admi- 

 rably they meet the varying arts of their victims, and adapt 

 their own actions, singly or in combination with their fel- 

 lows, to the cases that arise. The old Lurcher, a crafty 

 dog, intermediate between the shepherd's cur and the grey- 

 hound, was the favourite dog of the poachers of the last 

 generation. When employed in his unlawful trade, he was 

 aware of the necessity of concealment, and used all his arts 

 to escape detection for himself and his master. The latter 

 concealing himself in some convenient place, the dog entered 

 the preserve to be plundered, pursuing the game in dead 

 silence, and bringing the booty, as it was secured, faithfully 

 to the rendezvous. The Tumbler was a little dog employed 

 to plunder rabbit-warrens. He affected indifference to the 

 game, and rolling himself about as in play, pounced suddenly 

 upon his victims, when thrown off their guard. When two 

 were employed, one resorted to the usual arts, while the 

 other kept watch at the burrows, to intercept the prey which 

 escaped his companion. When dogs of different kinds hunt 

 together, they combine their efforts to assist one another ; 

 so that, while one is pursuing the game, the others are keep- 

 ing watch at the places by which it is likely to pass. The 

 Esquimaux dogs are in use to scatter pieces of carrion about, 

 so as to lure their game. 



The dog of the Blind Beggar is one whose actions we have 

 sometimes the means of observing in this country, but much 

 more in those parts of Europe where mendicity is the habit 

 of the poorer classes. The dog either conducts his blind 

 master to the place where he takes his stand to solicit the 



