214 7ERTEBRATA. 



Iii's absen '■ bis dog had been home, and, on receiving his allowance of food, instantly departed. 

 For tour successive days the shepherd continued his search with the same bad fortune, the dog 

 as readily coming for his meal and departing. Struck by this singular circumstance, he deter- 

 mined to follow the dog, who departed as usual with his piece of cake. The animal led the way 

 to a cataract al some distance from the spol where the child had been left. It was a rugged 

 and almost perpendicular descenl which the dog look, and he disappeared in a cave, the mouth 

 of which was almost on a level with the torrent. The shepherd with difficulty followed; but, <>n 

 entering the cavern, whal were his emotions when he beheld the infant eating the cake which 

 the >\>>^ had just broughl to him, while the faithful animal stood by, eyeing his young charge 

 with the utmost complacency! from the situation in which the child was found, it appeared 

 that he had wandered to the brink of the precipice, and then either fallen or scrambled down, 

 the torrent preventing his return. The dog, by means of Ids scent, had traced him to the 

 spot, and afterward prevented him from starving by giving up a part, or, perhaps, the whole of 

 his own dailj allowance. He appears never to have quitted the child night or day, except for 

 food, as he was seen running at full speed to ami from the cottage. 



Hogg tells us, and very truly, that a single shepherd and his dog will accomplish more in 

 gathering a flock of sh p from a Highland farm than twenty shepherds could do without 

 dogs ; in tact, that without this docile animal the pastoral life would be a mere blank. It would 

 require more hands t<> manage a flock of sheep, gather them from the hills, force them into 

 houses and folds, and drive them to markets, than the profits of the whole flock would b< 

 capable of maintaining. Well may the shepherd feel an interest in his dog: he it is indeed 

 that earns the family bread, with the smallest morsel of which he is himself content, — always 

 grateful, and always ready to exert his utmost abilities in his master's interests. Neither 

 hunger, fatigue, uor the worst treatment will drive him from his side, and he will follow him 

 through every hardship without murmur or repining. If one of them is obliged to change 

 masters, it is sometimes long before he will acknowledge the new owner, or condescend to work 

 for him with the willingness that he did for his former lord ; but, if he once acknowledges hitn, 

 he continues attached to him until death. 



Buffon gives the following eloquent portrait of the sheep-dog: "This animal, faithful to man, 

 will always preserve a portion of his empire and a degree of superiority over other beings, lie 

 is at the head of his flock, and makes himself better understood than the voice of the 

 shepherd. Safety, order, and discipline are the fruits of his vigilance and activity. They are a 

 people submitted to his management, whom he conducts and protects, and against whom ha 

 never employs force but for the preservation of good order. If we consider that this animal, 

 notwithstanding his ugliness and his wild and melancholy look, is superior in instinct to all 

 rs; that he has a derided character in which education has comparatively little share ; that 

 he is the only animal born perfectly trained for the service of others; that, guided by natural 

 powers alone, he applies himself to the care of our flocks, a duty which he executes with 

 singular assiduity, vigilance, and fidelity; that he conducts them with an admirable intelligence 

 which i> a part and portion of himself; that his sagacity astonishes at the same time that it 

 gives repose to his master, while it requires great time and trouble to instruct other dogs for 

 the purposes to which they are destined: — if we reflect on these facts, we shall be confirmed 

 in tie' opinion that the shepherd's dog is the true dog of nature, the stock and model of the 

 whole Bpecies." 



The 1 1 \i.i \n "l Pomeranian \Yolf-Dog is mostly covered with grayish hair, short on the head, 

 I al-, and feet, and long and silky on the body and tail. It is a superior breed, greatly attached 

 to it- master, and i- used as a sheep-dog, especially in countries where the sheep are liable to 

 attack- from the wolf. 



The Drover's I >oa is common in fin-land, and possesses all the docility of the sheep-dog. Tie 



following story, among many similar s, is proof of his sagacity and fidelity : A butcher was 



accustomed to purchase si p ami kine in the vicinity, which, when fattened, he drove to Alston 



market and sold. In these excursions he was frequently astonished at the peculiar sagacity "I 

 hi- dog, and at the mop thai mmon readiness and dexterity with which he managed the cattle; 



