THE NEWFOUNDLAND DOG. 



263 



the creature be of a uniform color, it must be free from the least spot of white ; and 

 even a white stain on the breast is held to deteriorate from its perfection. The color 

 which is most in vogue is a golden fawn ; and the white and red Dog takes the last place 

 in the valuation of color. 



It is a pretty little creature, active and graceful to a degree, and affectionate to those 

 who know how to win its affections. Even in the breed of our British smooth Grey- 



ITALIAN GREYHOUND. Caa/s famlllarls. 



hounds, this little animal has been successfully employed, and by a careful admixture 

 with the larger Dog, takes away the heavy, clumsy aspect of the head which is caused by 

 the bull-dog alliance, and restores to the offspring the elastic grace of the original Grey- 

 hound. It is generally bred in Spain and Italy, and from thence imported into this 

 country, where the change of climate is so apt to affect its lungs, that its owners are forced 

 to keep it closely swathed in warm clothing during the changeable months of the year. 



THE LARGE and handsome animal which is called from its native country the NEW- 

 FOUNDLAND DOG, belongs to the group of spaniels, all of which appear to be possessed 

 of considerable mental powers, and to be capable of instruction to a degree that is rarely 

 seen in animals. 



In its native land the Newfoundland Dog is shamefully treated, being converted into 

 a beast of burden, and forced to suffer even greater hardships than those which generally 

 fall to the lot of animals which are used for the carriage of goods or the traction of 

 vehicles. The life of a hewer of wood is proverbially one of privation, but the exist- 

 ence of the native Newfoundland Dog is still less to be envied, being that of a servant 

 of the wood-hewer. In the winter, the chief employment of the inhabitants is to cut fuel, 

 and the occupation of the Dogs is to draw it in carts. The poor animals are not only 

 urged beyond their strength, but are meagrely fed with putrid salt fish, the produce of 

 some preceding summer. Many of these noble Dogs sink under the effects of fatigue 

 and starvation, and many of the survivors commit sad depredations on the neighbor- 

 ing flocks as soon as the summer commences, and they are freed from their daily toils. 



