THE MOLOSSIAN GROUP. 727 



In those wild countries of Asia, where no law exists to pro- 

 tect the weak, where robbery and murder are but common 

 events, and where every stranger is presumed to be an enemy, 

 the dogs manifest inexorable severity. Families, in order to 

 protect themselves, rear numerous dogs of this race, which, 

 when the men are absent, are the only guardians of the 

 children and women. These dogs will not spare the stranger, 

 who, however incautiously, enters the forbidden precincts. 

 Even in Greece, and all over Turkey in Europe, the large 

 dogs kept for protecting dwellings and herds, and which are 

 a kind of mastiffs, are often very troublesome and dangerous. 

 They will set upon the traveller and stranger the instant he 

 appears; and who, if not well armed, will do well to sit 

 down upon the ground, throwing away his stick, or whatever 

 may appear to be a weapon. The dogs will place themselves 

 around, keeping stern watch over the slightest motion of the 

 captive, until the owners arrive. Such was the device which, 

 we are informed, was practised by Ulysses, when, in the 

 garb of a beggar, he was assailed by the dogs of his faithful 

 Eumseus. 



Although the Mastiff may be trained to the destruction 

 even of man, yet, in his natural temperament, he is nothing 

 like the fierce and savage creature which he is supposed to 

 be. He is more slowly moved to anger than other dogs far 

 inferior to him in strength of body. No dog submits so 

 patiently as he to the teasing petulance of curs, even when 

 they purloin his food. Conscious of his strength, he seems 

 to despise what would rouse other dogs to rage. He has 

 been known to take a little dog which tormented him in his 

 mouth, shake it roughly, and then drop it in any collection 

 of mud or water within reach. He is remarkably docile 

 towards children, who frequently pull him by the ears and 

 tail, mount on his back, and perform other dangerous freaks. 

 He has been known, when children have strayed from home, 

 to take them gently by the clothes, and lead them to their 

 nurse. No dog exhibits more steady attachment to any one 



