268 NEWFOUNDLAND AND FOX. [CH. xv. 



over the ledge as a lure to the fish. He remained so stationary 

 that it acted as a very attractive bait ; and whenever curiosity or 

 hunger tempted any unwary fish to approach too close, the dog 

 plunged in, seized his victim, and carried him off to the foot of 

 a neighbouring tree; and, on a successful day, he would catch a 

 great number. 



476. I have another anecdote of a young Newfoundland, told me 

 by General Sir H d D s, to whose scientific attainments 



\yy^ the two sister-services, the army and the navy, are both so greatly 



\. indebted. He bred the dog in America, having most fortunately 



\, taken the dam from England ; for, to her address in swimming, and 



, willingness to "fetch," he and his surviving shipwrecked companions 



syere, under Providence, chiefly indebted for securing many pieces 



ol salt pork that had drifted from the ill-fated vessel, and which 



constituted their principal food during their six weeks' miserable 



detention on an uninhabited island. 



477. At a station where he was afterwards quartered as a subaltern, 

 in '98, not far from the falls of Niagara, the soldiers kept a tame 

 fox. The animal's kennel was an old cask, to which he was at- 

 tached by a long line and swivel. The Newfoundland and the fox 

 soon scraped an acquaintance, which, in due course, ripened into an 

 intimacy. 



478. One day that Sir H d went to the barracks, not seeing 



anything of the fox, he gave the barrel a kick, saying to a man 

 standing by, " Your fox is gone ! " This sudden knock at the back- 

 door of his house so alarmed the sleeping inmate, that he bolted 

 forth with such violence as to snap the light cord. Off he ran. The 



soldiers felt assured that he would return, but Sir H d, who 



closely watched the frightened animal, had the vexation of observing 

 that he made direct for the woods. 



479. Sir H d bethought him to hie on Neptune after Eeynard, 



on the chance of the friends coming back together in amicable con- 

 verse. It would, however, appear that the attractions of kindred 

 (more probably of freedom) had greater influence than the claims 

 of friendship ; for, instead of the Newfoundland's returning with 

 Pug as a voluntary companion, after a time, to the surprise and 

 delight of many spectators, the dog was descried, with the end of 

 the rope in his mouth, forcibly dragging along the disappointed fox, 

 who was struggling, manfully but fruitlessly, against a fresh introduc- 

 tion to his military quarters. 



480. "Nep"was properly lauded and caressed for his sagacity; 



and Sir H d was so satisfied that he would always fetch back 



the fox perfectly uninjured and un worried, however much excited 

 in the chase, that the next day, after turning out Reynard, he 

 permitted the officers to animate and halloo on the dog to their 

 utmost. When slipped, though all eagerness for the fun in hand, 

 "Nep" took up the trail most accurately, hunted it correctly, and 

 in due course, agreeably to his owner's predictions, dragged back 

 the poor prisoner in triumph, having, as on the previous occasion, 

 merely seized the extremity of the cord. 



