708 MANUAL OF MODERN FARRIERY 



Sagacity, and a peculiarly faithful attachment to 

 the human species, are characteristics inseparable from 

 this dog ; and hence he is ever on the alert to ward 

 off from his master every impending danger, and to 

 free him from every peril to which he may be exposed. 

 He is endowed with an astonishing degree of courage,, 

 whether to resent an insult or to defend his friends, 

 even at the risk of his own life. 



As a proof of the intellectual superiority of the 

 Newfoundland dog, we may mention, that innumer- 

 able instances have occurred of their having saved 

 persons from drowning, of their own accord, which 

 the following facts will prove : — 



A farmer's servant man, passing a deep water on 

 horseback, with a woman behind him, the latter 

 slipped off, and after a few struggles sank to the 

 bottom, unperceived by the clown, who rode on. 

 Some spectators at a distance hastened to the water- 

 side, and beheld the efforts of a Newfoundland dog 

 which attended the careless servant. The friendly 

 animal had perceived the woman fall, and instantly 

 swam to the place and dived after her. At first he 

 brought her cap to the shore, but looking at it he 

 dived again, and brought up her cloak : when he 

 had brought it to the water side, he looked at it for 

 some moments as if with the anger of disappoint- 

 ment, and rushed back to the place the third time, 

 and, to the wonder of the people present, he brought 

 up the woman, over whom he expressed every de- 

 monstration of joy. She soon recovered, and was 

 afterwards housekeeper to a clergyman in Norfolk. 



In the summer of 1792 a gentleman went to 

 Portsmouth for the benefit of sea-bathing. He was 

 conveyed in one of the machines into the water ; but 

 being unacquainted with the steepness of the shore. 



