CH. ix.] POINT CONTINUED. 163 



after the other, while by continuing his eloquent atti- 

 tude he assures you that some still remain unsprung, to 

 which he is prepared to lead you, if you will but attend 

 to them and him, and, instead of pot-hunting after those 

 you have killed, wait until his discriminating nose in- 

 forms him that having no more strangers to introduce, 

 he is at liberty to assist you in your search. 



276. To revert, however, to the point particularly 

 under discussion, viz., whether you prefer that your 

 dog go direct to the fallen bird, or (as I strongly re- 

 commend) that he first join you, pray be consistent ; 

 exact which you will, but always exact the same, if you 

 are anxious to obtain cheerful unhesitating obedience. 



277. I have seen the advantage of the latter method very 

 strikingly exemplified in America, in parts of which there is capital 

 snipe-shooting. In the high grass and rushes on the banks of the 

 Eichelieu, many a bird have I seen flushed and shot at, of which 

 the liver and white pointer, ranging at a little distance, has known 

 nothing. As he was well broken in, he, of course, dropped in- 

 stantly, on hearing the report of the gun. If the bird had fallen, 

 his master, after reloading, used invariably to say " Dead," * in 

 a low tone of voice, on which the dog would go up to him ; and 

 then his master, without stirring from the spot where he had fired, 

 directed him by signals to the place where the bird fell, to reach 

 which the dog often had to swim the stream. His master then 

 said "Find." At that word, and not before it, his intelligent 

 four-footed companion commenced searching for the bird, nor did 

 he ever fail to find and bring ; and so delicate was his mouth 

 that I have often seen him deliver up a bird perfectly alive, with- 

 out having deranged a feather, though, very probably, he had 

 swam with it across one of the many creeks which intersect that 

 part of the country. If the shot was a miss, his master's silence 

 after reloading, and a wave of his arm to continue hunting (or the 

 command to " Hie on," if the dog was hidden by the rushes per- 

 haps a low whistle would have been better), fully informed his 

 companion of the disappointment. He was quite as good on the 

 large quail, and small wood-cock found in Canada, which latter 

 makes a ringing noise on rising, not unlike the sound of a distant 



* In order to work in silence, sede the word "dead." It might 



I advised (xi. of 141) that the be necessary to sing out with a 



signal to "heel," whenever the boatswain's voice should the dog 



dog could observe it, should super- be far off. 



M2 



