CHAPTER XXII 

 THE POINTER 



IT has never been made quite clear in history why the Spaniards 

 had a dog that was very remarkable for pointing all kinds of 

 game. They have always been a pleasure-loving people, 

 certainly, but more inclined to bull-fighting than field-craft, 

 and yet as early as 1600 they must have had a better dog for 

 game-finding than could have been found in any other part of 

 the world. Singularly enough, too, the most esteemed breeds 

 in many countries can be traced from the same source, such 

 as the Russian Pointer, the German Pointer, the French 

 double-nosed Griffon, and, far more important still, the English 

 Pointer. A view has been taken that the Spanish double- 

 nosed Pointer was introduced into England about two hundred 

 years ago, when fire-arms were beginning to be popular 

 for fowling purposes. Setters and Spaniels had been used to 

 find and drive birds into nets, but as the Spanish Pointer 

 became known it was apparently considered that he alone had 

 the capacity to find game for the gun. This must have been 

 towards the end of the seventeenth century, and for the next 

 fifty years at least something very slow was wanted to meet 

 the necessities of the old-fashioned flintlock gun, which 

 occupied many minutes in loading and getting into position. 

 Improvements came by degrees, until they set in very rapidly, 

 but probably by 1750, when hunting had progressed a good 

 deal, and pace was increased in all pastimes, the old-fashioned 

 Pointer was voted a nuisance through his extreme caution and 

 tortoise-like movements. 



There is evidence, through portraits, that Pointers had been 



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