2S4 SHEET HLSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 



very active horse, saved the rider's throat and his life— but so na "^wly 

 nad he escaped, that he felt the gnashing teeth of the fronzier. urute 

 scrape down his dress, where they came in contact with and closed iipoi.' 

 his watch, tearing it away with the ailjacent clothing. The horseman fled 

 for Ills life, while the baffled dog vented his rage on the gold /c-atca 

 which he had captured, by chewing it into atoms ! The cause of this ter 

 rible onset not bemg disclosed at the time, Mr. R., though convinced from 

 the character of the dog that he had not been the aggressor, felt constrain- 

 ed to give orders to have him shot. 



The Hungarian Sheep-Dog. — The following description of the Hunga- 

 rian Sheep-Uog, occurs in Paget's " Hungary and Transylvania :"* 



" It would be unjust to quit the subject of llie Piiszta Shepherd without iniikiiii: due and 

 lionorab'.e mention of his constant conijiiinioii and friend, ilie jnljdsz-hiitya — tlie Hungarian 

 sliepherd dog. The shepherd dog is cotninonly white, sometimes inchned to a reddish 

 brown, and about the size of our Newt()undland dog. His sharp nose, short erect ears, 

 shaggy coat, and bushy tail give him nnich the ap[)earanceof a wolf; indeed, so great is the 

 resemblance, that I have known a Hung-uian gentleman mistake a wolf for one of liis own 

 dogs. Except to their masters, they are so savage that it is un^safe for a stianger to enter the 

 court-yard of a Hungarian cottage, without arms. I speak fiom experience ; for as 1 was walk- 

 ing through the yard of a post-house, where some of these dogs were lying about, apparently 

 asleep, one of them crept after ine, and inflicted a severe wound on my leg, of which I still 

 bear t'.ie marks. Before I could turn round, tlie dfsg was already far off; for, like the wolf, 

 tiiey bite by snapping, but never hang to the object like the bull-dog or mastiff. Their saga- 

 city in driving and guarding the sheep and cattle, and their courage m protecting them from 

 wolves and robbers, are highly praised; and the shepherd is so well aware of the value of a 

 ii'tod one, that it is difficult to induce him to part with it." 



T have little doubt that the Hungarian dogs above described are the 

 descendants of the Spanish ones, introduced into Hunga'y with the Meri- 

 no sheep, though possibly they maybe somewhat crossed by interbreeding 

 with the dogs of the country. # 



The Mexican Sheep-Dog. — The following acccount of these ntible dogs 

 appears as a communication from Mr. J. H. Lyman, lu ii\f^ third volume oi 

 the American Agriculturist :t 



'•' Although Mr. Kendall and some other writers have describei^ Inif wonderful animal 88 

 a cross of the Newfoundland dog, such, I think, cannot be the fa< ■.: on the contrary, I have 

 no doubt he is a genuine descendant of the Alpine mastiff, or m ■ (^ 7.foperly, Spanish shep- 

 herd dog introduced by them at the time of the Conquest. H'j 'i only to be found in the 

 sheep-raising districts of New Mexico. The other Mexican dof.--, which number more than 

 a thousand to one of these noble animals, are the results of a v.oss of everything under the 

 sun having any affinity to the engine race, and even of a still nobler class of animals if Mexi- 

 can stories are to be credited. It is believed in Mexico, that the countless mongrels of that 

 country owe their origin to the assistance of the various kinds of wolves, i lonntain cats, 

 lynxes, and to almost if not every class of four footed carnivorous animals. Be this as it may, 

 those who have not seen them can believe as much as they like ; but eye-witnesses can assert, 

 that there never was a country blessed with a greater and more abundant variety of miser* 

 rable, snarling, cowardly packs, than the mongrel dogs of Mexico. Th«*.t country of a surety 

 would be the plague-spot of this beautiful world, were it not for 'he redeeming character ol 

 the truly noble shepherd dog, endowed as it is with almost hu-nan intellect. I have ofteu 

 thought, when observing the sagacity of this animal, that if wry many of the human rati 

 possessed one half of the power of inductive reasoning whi'.b seemii *" be the gift of thii 

 »nimal, that it would be fin- better for themselves and fiir the;/- ♦ellow-creatur'is. 



The peculiar educati(ui of these dogs is pne of the most important and intcesling steps 

 pursued by the shepherd. His method is to select from a multitude of pups a few of the 

 healthiest and finest-looking, and to put them to a sucking ewe, first depriving her of her 

 own laml). By force, as well as from a natural desire f>he has to be relieved of the con- 

 tents of her udder, she soon learns to look upon the little interlopers with all the affection 

 Bhe would manifest for her own natural offspring. For the first f- w days the pups are kept 

 !n the hut, the ewe suckling them morning and evening only; but gradually, as she h** 



• Hungo'^- -Ji") Trari«ylvani«, by John Pnget. Esq., vol. ii., p t?, a supr* * Pt#B MI 



