168 THE ALPINE SPANIEL. 



or overwhelmed traveller. The sagacity of the dogs by which 

 they are generally accompanied, is so extraordinary, that they, 

 too, as if conscious of their performing a high duty, will roam 

 alone the day and night through in those desolate regions, 

 discover the victim buried in the snow, and lie on him and lick 

 him to impart warmth. They bear with them some refreshing 

 liqueur around their necks for the poor traveller whom they 

 may find, if he should have still sense enough left to use it j 

 they then bark or howl their signals for assistance, or, if the 

 distance be too great, return to seek it."* 



Mrs. Starke relates that one of these dogs saved the lives 

 of fifteen travellers, and another is said to have been decorated 

 with a medal in commemoration of his having saved the lives 

 of twenty-two persons who, but for his sagacity, must have 

 perished. 



Miss M. L. Beevor says that while some young lads were 

 bathing in the vicinity of London, a friend of hers happened to 

 pass the spot with a large, handsome dog of the Mount St. 

 Bernard breed. The animal watched with much anxiety the 

 boys in the water, and when he saw one dive down beneath it, 

 in he plunged, seized him gently by the leg, and drew him to 

 the shore. The lad was not in the least hurt, but rather 

 alarmed, fancying the dog meant him an injury j but, in truth, 

 the noble creature, believing he beheld a human being nearly 

 drowning, only rushed into the water to save him. 



THE NEWFOUNDLAND DOG. 



The great strength, hardihood, and patience of the Newfound- 

 land dog, together with its sagacity and affection, have rendered 

 it one of the most generally useful, as well as social, of the 

 whole race. In Newfoundland, from whence it originally came, 

 it is employed to draw carts and sledges, laden with wood and 

 fish, and to perform a variety of useful offices, in place of the 



* Brockedon's Excursions in the Alps, 



