INSTINCT OF DOGS. 181 



and never to lay a tooth upon game. Had he seen me fire 

 and had afterwards stumbled upon the rabbit, he would from 

 his breaking have thought he had no business to touch it ; 

 but, not having seen the shot, he fancied he had a right to 

 bring what he had himself found upon the moor. Any person 

 who was no judge of dogs would have said, " Why, this is no 

 more than what any retriever puppy would have done." It 

 is not, however, the mere act alone, but the connecting cir- 

 cumstances, which often show the superior instinct of the 

 canine species. 



The performances of the retriever are more showy, and the 

 generality of observers would immediately on that account 

 pronounce him the more sagacious dog. In taking a walk 

 with him one winter, I met a friend who had dropped a whip : 

 if this had happened to myself, there would have been no 

 difficulty, as I had only to send the dog off upon my track ; 

 but, upon trial, he immediately ran back upon that of my 

 friend, recovered the whip, and brought it to me. Another 

 time, when he was following an open carriage, a shawl was 

 dropped : no one perceived the loss until the dog was seen 

 carrying it in his mouth behind. Not long after, a bouquet 

 of flowers was missed : I immediately looked round for the 

 retriever, and, to be sure, there he was with the bouquet most 

 jauntily carried in his mouth. But perhaps the following 

 instance may serve still better to show the influence of temper 

 and education upon the instinct of dogs. Having taken sea- 

 bathing quarters for my family, about forty miles from my 

 residence in Perthshire, I walked thither over the hills, accom- 

 panied by my faithful retriever. When I returned for a week's 

 shooting, I ordered old Gruff to remain behind. After wait- 

 ing three days, and finding I did not come back as he expected, 

 he started off one night about nine o'clock, made his way 

 through the most intricate bypaths and short cuts of all de- 

 scriptions, across a deep ferry, and arrived at home about five 

 next morning, when he was discovered lying at the door. 



