HISTORY OF QUADRUPEDS. 337 



We have a curious account, recorded in Stow's 

 Annals, of an engagement between three Mastiffs 

 and a Lion, in the presence of James the First. 

 " One of the Dogs being put into the den, was soon 

 disabled by the Lion, which took it by the head and 

 neck, and dragged it about: another Dog was then 

 let loose, and served in the same manner: but the 

 third being put in, immediately seized the Lion by 

 the lip, and held him for a considerable time; till 

 being severely torn by his claws, the Dog was 

 obliged to quit its hold : and the Lion, greatly ex- 

 hausted in the conflict, refused to renew the 

 engagement: but taking a sudden leap over the 

 Dogs, fled into the interior part of his den. Two 

 of the Dogs soon died of their wounds: the last 

 survived, and was taken great care of by the king's 

 son; who said, <he that had fought with the king 

 of beasts, should never after fight with any inferior 

 creature/ ' 



The Mastiffs of Great Britain were noted in the 

 time of the Roman Emperors, who appointed an 

 officer, whose sole business it was to breed and 

 send from hence such as would prove equal to the 

 combats of the amphitheatre. 



The following anecdote will shew, that the Mas- 

 tiff, conscious of its superior strength, knows how 

 to chastise the impertinence of an inferior: A 

 large Dog of this kind, belonging to the late M. 

 Ridley, Esq., of Heaton, near Newcastle, being 

 frequently molested by a Mongrel, and teazed 

 by its continual barking, at last took it up in 

 his mouth by the back, and with great composure 

 dropped it over the quay into the river, without 

 doing any further injury to an enemy so much his 

 inferior. 



VOL. in. 2 u 



