218 SHOOTING. 



of game is thus conveyed from Yorkshire and the northern parts 

 of England to places situated at a distance, or more to the 

 southward ; and when the weather becomes cold, and the game 

 \vill keep, immense quantities are brought from Scotland. The 

 quantity of grouse killed in England will not bear a comparison 

 with the numbers annually destroyed in Scotland, where thii 

 game literally abounds. Last year (1820) Sir Thomas Graham 

 (now Lord Lynedoch) bagged seventy brace per day, for the 

 four first days of the season. 



I shall conclude this sketch with some observations a* to the 

 dog best calculated for the pursuit of grouse. Various opinions 

 exist on this subject ; some preferring the setter, and others the 

 pointer. Although excellent dogs of both kinds are to be met 

 with, there are some leading characteristics which eminently 

 distinguish the long and the short haired dog. The setter is a 

 hardy, impetuous, unruly animal ; which, if taken into the field 

 while very young, will frequently set intuitively ; but no sooner 

 does he acquire strength, than he shows a turbulent spirit, and 

 can only be kept sufficiently obedient by constant exercise. On 

 account of their long coat, setters are more affected by heat, 

 and consequently sooner become thirsty than their sleek thin- 

 coated rival ; and, in very dry weather, suffer very much from 

 want of water on the grouse mountains. The well bred pointer, 

 on the contrary, is a docile creature, very easily reduced to obedi- 

 ence, and, when once well trained, requires neither very hard 

 work, nor severe correction, to keep him submissive and tract- 

 able. The pointer, however, is more liable to become foot-sore, 

 either from the wiry lacerations of the heath, or from running 

 upon hard or stony ground ; consequently, in a sharp frost, he 

 is unable to hunt : the olfactory organs of the pointer are un- 

 questionably superior to, and more acute than, those of the set- 

 ter ; which will generally be found pre-eminently conspicuous 

 in a harsh dry wind, blowing from north or easterly directions, 



