92 



SECOND DIVISION OF THE 



does not soon become foot-sore. He may even answer the purpose of a 

 springer for pheasants and woodcocks, and may be valuable in recovering 

 a wounded bird. His scent may frequently be superior to that of the 

 pointer, and sufficiently accurate to distinguish, better than the pointer, 

 when the game is sprung ; but the steadiness and obedience of the pointer 

 will generally give him the preference, especially in a fair and tolerably 

 smooth country. At the beginning of a season, and when the weather 

 is hof , the pointer will have a decided advantage. 



Of the difference between the old English setter and the setters of the 

 present day, we confess that we are ignorant, except that the first was the 

 pure spaniel improved, and the latter the spaniel crossed too frequently 

 with the pointer. 



It must be acknowledged, that of companionableness, and disinterested 

 attachment and gratitude, the pointer knows comparatively little. If he 

 is a docile and obedient servant in the field, it is all we want. The setter 

 is unquestionably his superior in every amiable quality. Mr. Blaine says, 

 that a large setter, ill with the distemper, had been nursed by a lady 

 more than three weeks. At length he became so ill as to be placed in a 

 bed, where he remained a couple of days in a dying state. After a short 

 absence, the lady, re-entering the room, observed him to fix his eyes atten- 

 tively on her, and make an effort to crawl across the bed towards her. 

 This he accomplished, evidently for the sole purpose of licking her hand, 

 after which he immediately expired. 



THE POINTER. 



I . 



The pointer is evidently descended from the hound. It is the fox-hound 

 searching for game by the scent, but more perfectly under the control of 



